No Better Death

by John Crawford

  [MSX 2549]

  Esbet-el, Zeitoun

  near Cairo

  10 December 1914

  My dearest,

  Here I am in my tent on the Zeitoun desert sand and stones, not a weed, shrub or tree of any sort. It is 7pm and I squatting on the ground on a bag and using the leather trunk as a table. The whole New Zealand Force is camped here. My Regiment is on the outside desert flank. I sent you a letter per Maunganui from Alexandria on 4th Inst. We stayed there until Sunday the 7th Inst midday or rather most of my men did. The disembarkation arrangements were no better than the embarkation ones so instead of the whole Regiment getting away in two trains, it was split up into four lots (main) and we still have to get our wagons. Still I won’t bore you with our blunders. We saw the country between Alexandria and this place which we reached at 6pm just dark. That country is flat and seems very fertile, covered with green crops, here and there Arab villages, date palm groves, mixed towns with good buildings, modern and mud houses and shrines. We crossed the Nile twice, also the Mahmoudieh [Mahmûdîyeh] fresh water canal, no fences, irrigation channels everywhere, water wheels, earth roads or paths, plenty of people in the fields and along the roads all natives riding on donkeys and camels or cows or bullocks. They sit right back on the donkeys’ hips and ride without bridle or stirrups. Zeitoun was a small oasis about five miles from Cairo. Now there is a railway station and a small town with a good road and many suburban residences. It is close to Heliopolis, the fashionable suburb of Cairo. Houses and streets and gardens are spreading out into the desert. The houses are built of stone in good moorish style, squares with flat roofs, porticos. I will send you a photo of a sample by next mail. We have been and are very busy fixing our camp. We find that by watering the sand floor of our tents, that it sets solidly, there being a lot of lime in the sand. Tramping makes it quite hard. I have bought for 4/-two large squares of native matting each about 12 feet by 8 feet and covered my floor with them. Tomorrow I get a few boxes, etc, and will then be comfortable. I am so glad I brought my stretcher. It is very cold here at night and we have had quite a lot of rain. The days, when the sun is out, are quite hot. It is winter. Don and Billy2 are in splendid condition and stood the voyage well. I have not ridden them yet as no doubt their legs are tender, for seven weeks they were on their feet. The Regiment is together again and I am pleased with it. The Company and the 1/2 Company that were away are not as good as the rest but will soon come right. We have had the compliment paid us by the General of having joined to us a 5th Company, 231 strong, the Ceylon Planters Rifles. They, I am told, are all gentlemen of means. They equipped themselves, transported themselves and do without pay so they are the most exceptional lot of all His Majesty’s Forces. They have been here three weeks and are at present in barracks. They come to us as soon as tents arrive from England in a day or two.3 I have now 1,350 men under my command. May they do good work. Our Brigadier told me yesterday that he expects that we will be in action against the Turks in less than a month. We are all pleased and hope to do well. We may go across into Palestine and cut the railway to Mecca. There has been fighting already near Mt Sinai. It will do us a world of good to have been in action.

  Malone’s sketch map of the New Zealand Infantry Brigade camp at Zeitoun above) and a more detailed map of his battalion’s section of the camp (dwon).

  Alexander Turnbull Library

  This big horse, probably Don, towers over his master. Malone told his eight-year-old son Denis that his horse ‘generally wants to run away with me when I am riding in the desert’. Herbert Hart, who succeeded Malone in command of the Wellington Battalion, took over Don and used him as his personal charger until the end of the First World War.

  Malone Family Collection Wellington (now in ATL)

  Captain McDonnell is all right now but he will have to keep in his place. I have got rid of my Quartermaster, Sergeant Dallinger. He is incompetent. He was insolent to me last night. I put him under arrest and am sending him up for court martial. He will, I believe, get dismissed [from] the Force. These Staff Corps and soldier men are a nuisance. If I had my way, I would have none of them bar my Regiment Sergeant Major, Mr Parks. He is a good man. I haven’t seen much of Cairo. I went in with my assistant Adjutant [Captain John Rose] on Monday afternoon to get some materials and gear that we needed. We went by tram, first class single fare two piastres say 5d. The town at Cairo (Pont Limoun) Railway Station is very repulsive to my mind. A wide open space, the crossing of many roads and tram lines, all covered with litter and dirt, swarms of dirty natives squatting, standing or walking about. They are dressed in various coloured long robes or gowns reaching to the ground, mostly black or dirty white, their heads muffled up in dirty wraps, black or white. The women are mostly veiled. You can just see their eyes and a bit of forehead. Between and above the eyebrows they carry a brass roll about one inch in diameter, so from this hangs the yashmak or veil. Over their heads they wear a shawl. Everything is black. You see some leg without stockings, the ankles encircled with silver bangles, the feet in slippers without heels. Their skin is sallow, dirty yellow to brown. There is however a better part of the town, nearer to the Nile, Place de L’opera and Esbekiah [Ezbekiyeh] Gardens, some fine streets with fine buildings and shops, French and Italian. Wherever you have Arabs and Egyptians, you have squalor and dirt. The European parts of all these towns are decent and in many parts fine. I have had no time to see any sights. My assistant Adjutant and I did our business and then had afternoon tea at “Shepheards”, the tourist Hotel, 1/3d each! Not as good as Ellingfords. I took in my films for development and printing and will try and get them tomorrow and sent to you.

  When at Alexandria ... I went to mass at a church near the docks, an Italian church I was interested in and was of interest to the congregation. I called on the priest and had a yarn with an assistant in French. I shall with practise soon speak fluently.

  All these towns seem full of drinking places where all the men nearby sit at little tables and play cards or dominos, smoke and drink very often coffee, etc. The streets in native parts are filthy and most malodorous. Some of the buildings are evidently hundreds of years old but out of repair and tumble down. I send you a lot of postcards which give you the general effect of everything except the dirt and malodorous. It is so good to get out in the desert where the air is sweet and the ground clean. There are lots of natives round and about the camp. They are carting night and day in one horse little carts our supplies, forage, food, baggage and ammunition. You here “Gee-ee-ah” all times. It means “Gee up”. Our own transport is not fit, the horses too tender yet.

  So far no letter from you. I do so hope to hear from you soon. I trust that all is well with you and that you are not forgetting all about me. I am very well but feel the cold in the early morning. We turn out at 5.30am in the dark and only candle light. A cold bath in the open desert in the dark sounds romantic but it is not very interesting or luxurious. I have, however, bought a spirit lamp and some Bovril and have a good pannikin full after my bath and that is a luxury.

  I haven’t seen Edmond or Terence since we left Alexandria – been too busy. But they are not far away, 1/2 a mile or so. There are 40,000 troops round here, Indians, Britishers, New Zealanders and Australians, not to mention my Ceylonese. The Turks have 100,000 but we are deemed to be good enough to tackle them.

  My candles (2) are burnt down to the sockets and I am at the end of my news.

  I do so miss you. It is right enough through the busy day but evenings and mornings I spend thinking about you and the family. I hope all is well with you all. Just heard that the Scharnhorst, Gneisenau and Leipzig have been sunk. Good news!4

  With all my love,

  Your husband

  [MSX 2543]

  December 11th 1914

  Dull drizzly cold morning – day fine and hot. We didn’t exactly like turning out at 5:30am, still we ought to be thankful that we are not on Salisbury Plain where we hear the mud, slush and cold is awful. The
wet we are getting doesn’t amount to much, and is exceptional. I believe the annual rainfall here is less than 2 inches! Everybody cheerful but Home and I are rather worried at our sick – over 130 reported this morning – nasal catarrh, cough. One man is very bad with pneumonia in hospital and will probably die. We expected the change to send our numbers of sick up but it ought to have eased off by now. I think it must be at its worst and will now mend. Let us hope so. The rest of us are all right. Deo Gratias.5 We are hard at work. I am very displeased with the West Coast Coy (Cunningham) the Coy that was on the Maunganui. They are far behind the men – we brought in the Arawa – From nearly the best Coy – they are now absolutely the worst. They seem indifferent and quite slack – the officers’ fault. I have now the job of straightening them up. The 1/2 Coy of Hawkes Bay that went on the Limerick are not so bad – not as good as the Arawa men but right enough.

  December 12th 1914

  Foggy morning but no rain – fine day – washing day. Everybody staying at home. England is deposing the Khedive and declaring his uncle one Hassain [sic, Hussein] an independent Sultan under the protection of England.6 Egypt will be a Protectorate of England. It will manage all its own internal affairs but cannot meddle with international matters and England will see that it is not meddled with. Turkey’s suzerainty is ended and everybody said a good job too. There is to be a ceremony of installation of the new Sultan tomorrow week with a procession through Cairo. We are to help line the streets and keep order if needs be. Every man will carry 20 rounds of ball ammunition.

  Malone sets out what he wants done during training in the Egyptian desert.

  Morison Album, Alexander Turnbull Library

  The proclamation of deposal of the Khedive and the constitution of the Sultanate or rather Protectorate has been issued.

  December 13th 1914

  Sunday – quite a fine morning. We (Catholics) went to Mass at Heliopolis. We marched with a Band at our head. The Church is like a tomb outside, sort of all domes built of buff coloured stone. So fresh, sweet and clean inside. Just as we got there, the people who had been to their own mass came out. Such a strange looking people all colours of brown, Egyptian Maltese, Italians, French, Levantines and a general mixture – not a real white man or woman among them. They stared at us some 600 stalwart men and we at them – our priest Father McMenamin7 said mass and preached. In the afternoon I and our Brigadier, Col F.E. Johnston who is a Catholic, went to Mataria [El-Matariyeh] – 10 minutes walk from here to take part in the annual pilgrimage.... Quite a number of our men were present and we and the English soldiers (Catholics) had a place in the procession. In our turn we sang hymns in English. There was a sermon in French, which I understood easily. The good priests gave our officers coffee and wine. It was a most interesting event and ceremony. People came from all parts of Egypt. Many interesting types.... The faith of the people is great but I don’t think they are very thorough.

  December 14th 1914

  Fine morning – cold – fine day. I went over with Col F.E. Johnston to watch an English Territorial Brigade of Infantry at work. The men seem all like boys so short, small and fair. It is astonishing. They are mostly very young. The officers seem a sort of their own – slow well done and not somehow or another altogether soldier like. I couldn’t help thinking of the Punch Volunteer officer. They reminded me in many cases of him. I suppose it is that they are “fish out of water” – our Colonial officers in most cases are practical men and more or less readily take to soldiering. The English chaps don’t appear to do so. I may be wrong and I ought not to express any opinion, but I have it all the same. They are good fellows I believe and anyway are doing their duty in volunteering to go to the front, and are I believe in earnest and doing their best. I had to meet Col Johnston at the Polygon Barracks, Abbasiah, and went across part of the desert. I met a General officer and I stuck him up to make sure of my way. He asked me to go along with him, as he was bound to the same place. He turned out to be General Prendergast of the Regular Army. He was very nice and is I diagnose a lover of practice[?]. We found the Territorial Brigade and I was asked to umpire one of the Battalions. The Brigade was attacking a position held by a real Force – another Brigade was cooperating in the attack starting from Mataria. I went along with my Battalion the 10th Manchesters and was quite pleased with the men or boys in the ranks. They trudged along, hardy and quietly and cheerfully with an air of its not being for them to ask the reason why. Their officers to my mind shied right off their objective and extended far too prematurely and generally acted somewhat unintelligently. Result the Battalion did a lot of tramping and running and laying down and getting up, all for nothing and were knocked off to go home just as the real show began to develop. The men never grumbled. I had a yarn with several of them as they trudged along. They nearly all came from Oldham Lancashire and had worked in the cotton mills there. With more age, they will make good soldiers. But the shortness of them is most striking. Our men seem like giants alongside of them.

  December 16th 1914

  ...I don’t think I have noted that a Company of Ceylon Planters Rifles have [on 8 December] been attached to my Regiment. They are organised on the British lines and are at full strength. They are all gentlemen Tea Planters, professional men, etc. We felt complimented at Genl Godley giving them to us. I had them over and inspected them and found them well-trained and really good hefty men. They put all their will into their work and every man uses his brains to do his bit thoroughly. They are alert and physically very fit. Their officers are really good. I wouldn’t mind swapping some of mine. Their Commander is Major Hall-Brown a Tea Planter, a good chap but he feels a little bit I think his having to give up his general independence. He took orders from nobody except his Government. Now he takes them from me. We get on quite all right and I handle him gently. My Regiment is now 1350 strong in round figures. The Ceylon chaps know nothing about camp order, etc, but they will learn all right.

  December 25th 1914

  Xmas day. Mass at 6:30am in Camp – Then I raked and swept and did up my tent and its surroundings until everything was tidy. My tent is quite homely now – my table with the NZ flag for a cover is a great comfort. I can sit and write with ease. I have been writing this up since the 8th, Spent most of the afternoon and all the evening up to now 9pm. I want to send it to Mater by mail leaving next Monday. I hope I shall get another letter from her soon.

  I am going to the Pyramids tomorrow, by tram, we have general holiday. We had quite a good dinner roast turkey, green (bottle) peas, plum pudding. I wonder where I shall be next Xmas. Capt Lampen8 and the New Zealanders from England arrived today. We gave them 3 cheers, and then some of them in wheeling around, walked over my garden plots. I gave them gip9 – while sitting here I heard one of the men describing the incident to his mates. Thus: “the NZ lot from London came in this morning and the Colonel called for 3 cheers for ’em, and they began to walk over his garden and then he gave them bally hell.” He didn’t know I could hear him. He thought it quite all right – Time I turned in.

  [MSX2549]

  Ezbet-El, Zeitoun

  Egypt

  28 December 1914

  My dear Norah,

  I was very glad to get your letter of 30th October last on Saturday week last. The mail goes out today. I too was very sorry to have missed you and Maurice on my leaving New Zealand. I am glad to hear that the car is running well. You are quite right to go on with your German, etc, but my dear daughter what about your music. You must go on with that too. It will always be a resource and I think it has always a refining and comforting effect. One sits and plays good music and one becomes possessed by the spirit of that music. Besides it may give pleasure to others. I am so glad to hear that Mater is well. You must always be a help and a comfort to her. I am sorry for Brian. I got a postcard from him. He didn’t growl. I am sorry to hear that our reinforcements are so indifferent. We will straighten them up when we get them. We are very well but are disappointed that the Turks
do not seem inclined to go on with their invasion of Egypt. We are certain to go to France by March next. Our camp is getting well settled down. My tent is quite comfortable. I have got a little table, for cover the New Zealand flag. I fold the Union Jack part in so that the part that shows is the blue with four red stars. I have Mater’s and your photo on it and the little picture of the departure of King Charles or Monmouth from England leaning up against my book case. I am sending some photos, two of which give the interior of my tent but they were taken before I got my table. My work case, etc, is at bottom, a tea box with a shelf and at top a corned mutton box also with a shelf. The table is to the left of them, right close up. I have the brown pot that Mater gave me and in which I kept the lilac from New Zealand to Hobart. I have actually some mignonette and some roses in it, most lovely and sweet. The bees keep visiting them....

  The ‘cultivation of domestic virtues’ required accommodation to be clean and in order. This is Malone’s tent at Zeitoun Camp, Egypt.