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Authors: B A Lightfoot
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assorted camel and horse units. This was a relatively small army for supporting their ambitious plan to seize the Canal and, ultimately, to remove the Allied troops from Egypt, but they had many problems to overcome and a larger force might have made the task impossible.
The Turkish army had to march across two hundred miles of desert and this had needed careful timing in order that they could complete it during the short rainy season. They had taken the central route across the Sinai, enduring a hard, exhausting ten day march. Their objective was to capture Ismailia and therefore the critical drinking water supplies.
As the Allies prepared themselves for the attack, Edward and his battalion were moved back to the barracks at Alexandria and artillery was put into place alongside the west bank of the Canal. The guns were mostly concealed by the pines that were growing within a hundred yards of the Canal.
British aircraft tracked the progress of the Turks and, on 28 January 1915, observers identified a large column of troops on the central route. British and French ships entered the Canal and opened fire on the tired and exhausted army whilst the infantry manned defensive positions. Allied patrols initially clashed with the Turks on 2 February, but a sandstorm eventually halted the action.
At 3.00am the following morning a force of around twelve thousand Turkish and German troops made an attempt to cross the Canal. Being happily unaware of the close presence of the Allied artillery, and gleefully congratulating themselves on their success in reaching the Canal, they were carelessly loud in their attempts to launch their steel pontoons. The echoing metallic clangs, the loud splashes and the excited chatter gave the grateful British gunner commanders the opportunity to find an accurate range and position in the dark.
When it started, the thunderous onslaught from the British artillery came as a complete surprise to the shocked and startled Turks and they quite sensibly responded with an early retreat.
Elsewhere, the Indians also inflicted a serious defeat on the Turkish and German troops and captured many prisoners. The enemy soldiers, hopelessly beaten, turned and fled. For the next two days the British and Allied soldiers followed the retreating army and, in total, 1,600 prisoners were taken.
Various units of the East Lancashire Division had been engaged in defending against this Turkish attack but, once this first threat had subsided, life in the Canal Zone for Edward’s regiment returned to its previous pattern. The officers resumed their training programmes with a renewed enthusiasm and the soldiers looked forward to any opportunity they could find to explore Cairo and its facilities.
The Turkish army, much to the irritation of Liam who accused them of deliberately trying to mess up the rugby matches that he had arranged, did make another attempt to take the Suez Canal on the 22 March. Once again they were routed fairly expediently by the Allied soldiers and the fixtures were only minimally affected.
***
Mustapha Barracks,
Alexandria,
Egypt.
20 February 1915
Dear Pippin,
I do still love you all just as much and miss you all the time. I get very sad as well, Darling, but hope that this job will be finished soon and then we can all come home.
It is very hot here during the day but then it gets very cold at night and we have to put our coats on top of our blankets.
Some parts of this country are very old and are just like it was when Jesus was alive. We have seen the men lifting the water out of the river with buckets that are tied to wooden poles with ropes. Then they tip the buckets and pour the water onto the fields to grow their vegetables.
I think that Miss Howard is mostly sad because her boyfriend is away in Flanders but she is probably also a little bit sad, as well, for all of you children if your Dads are away from home. Tell Miss Howard that we have seen lots of camels and they carry
The Turkish army had to march across two hundred miles of desert and this had needed careful timing in order that they could complete it during the short rainy season. They had taken the central route across the Sinai, enduring a hard, exhausting ten day march. Their objective was to capture Ismailia and therefore the critical drinking water supplies.
As the Allies prepared themselves for the attack, Edward and his battalion were moved back to the barracks at Alexandria and artillery was put into place alongside the west bank of the Canal. The guns were mostly concealed by the pines that were growing within a hundred yards of the Canal.
British aircraft tracked the progress of the Turks and, on 28 January 1915, observers identified a large column of troops on the central route. British and French ships entered the Canal and opened fire on the tired and exhausted army whilst the infantry manned defensive positions. Allied patrols initially clashed with the Turks on 2 February, but a sandstorm eventually halted the action.
At 3.00am the following morning a force of around twelve thousand Turkish and German troops made an attempt to cross the Canal. Being happily unaware of the close presence of the Allied artillery, and gleefully congratulating themselves on their success in reaching the Canal, they were carelessly loud in their attempts to launch their steel pontoons. The echoing metallic clangs, the loud splashes and the excited chatter gave the grateful British gunner commanders the opportunity to find an accurate range and position in the dark.
When it started, the thunderous onslaught from the British artillery came as a complete surprise to the shocked and startled Turks and they quite sensibly responded with an early retreat.
Elsewhere, the Indians also inflicted a serious defeat on the Turkish and German troops and captured many prisoners. The enemy soldiers, hopelessly beaten, turned and fled. For the next two days the British and Allied soldiers followed the retreating army and, in total, 1,600 prisoners were taken.
Various units of the East Lancashire Division had been engaged in defending against this Turkish attack but, once this first threat had subsided, life in the Canal Zone for Edward’s regiment returned to its previous pattern. The officers resumed their training programmes with a renewed enthusiasm and the soldiers looked forward to any opportunity they could find to explore Cairo and its facilities.
The Turkish army, much to the irritation of Liam who accused them of deliberately trying to mess up the rugby matches that he had arranged, did make another attempt to take the Suez Canal on the 22 March. Once again they were routed fairly expediently by the Allied soldiers and the fixtures were only minimally affected.
***
Mustapha Barracks,
Alexandria,
Egypt.
20 February 1915
Dear Pippin,
I do still love you all just as much and miss you all the time. I get very sad as well, Darling, but hope that this job will be finished soon and then we can all come home.
It is very hot here during the day but then it gets very cold at night and we have to put our coats on top of our blankets.
Some parts of this country are very old and are just like it was when Jesus was alive. We have seen the men lifting the water out of the river with buckets that are tied to wooden poles with ropes. Then they tip the buckets and pour the water onto the fields to grow their vegetables.
I think that Miss Howard is mostly sad because her boyfriend is away in Flanders but she is probably also a little bit sad, as well, for all of you children if your Dads are away from home. Tell Miss Howard that we have seen lots of camels and they carry
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