A little later there was another parade. The officer roared,
"All those who are engineers step out!"
A number, including myself, although absolutely ignorant of the craft, stepped out, because here was the opportunity to secure some form of active employment.
"You are engineers?" he shouted.
We nodded assent.
"Can you build a drain?"
Again we nodded affirmatively.
We were marshalled, and one of us, Mr. C——, who was a civil engineer, was selected as leader. We were marched off and set to work to dig a drain for the camp.
We built that drain, but it was necessity's labour lost. We were not provided with proper drain pipes but made an open conduit. We had to go to the quarry to get the stone, which we broke into small pieces, and these were set out in concave form at the bottom of the trench we had excavated after the manner in which cobble stones are laid. I believe it was considered to be an excellent piece of work, but unfortunately it was of little use. The first wind and rain that came along dumped the sand into it with the result that it became filled up.
A day or two later there was another parade. Once more the officer stood before us with a long sheet of paper in his hand.