The 42nd (East Lancashire) Division 1914-1918

by Frederick P. Gibbon

Later the Divisional Squadron of the D.L.O. Yeomanry rejoined the Division, and the 3rd Dismounted Brigade, mainly Yeomanry, was also attached.

It is unnecessary to refer to the importance of the Suez Canal, not merely to the commerce of the Empire, but also to the policy and strategy of the Allies. But it may be well to explain here, very briefly and roughly, the general situation so far as it affected the defence of this main communication between East and West. Prior to the outbreak of war there were British frontier posts in Sinai as far east as El Arish on the coast about ninety miles due east of Port Said, and more than a hundred miles by road from the Canal. The sole purpose of these posts was to supervise and regulate traffic between Egypt and the Turkish Empire, and as such traffic automatically ceased on the outbreak of war with Turkey, the handful of troops was withdrawn. The invasion of Gallipoli had compelled the Turks to abandon for a time any idea they may have entertained of conquering Egypt. Now, at the beginning of 1916, although the withdrawal of the Allies from the Dardanelles and the entry of Bulgaria into the war on the side of her ancient enemy had set free a large Turkish army for employment in Asia, the situation had not greatly changed. The heavy losses sustained in Gallipoli had been a serious drain upon the finest troops of the Ottoman Empire; the Russians had entered Armenia victoriously, and it was not possible for Turkey to prepare and equip new armies to arrest the Russian progress and at the same time to cross the Desert of Sinai with any reasonable prospect of success. For, if the evacuation of Gallipoli had released a large Turkish force for offensive purposes, it had done no less for the British, and the conquest of Egypt was still a remote possibility only. But, as the Turks had been improving their communications through Palestine, there remained the probability that they might attempt to establish themselves in strength within striking distance of the Canal. They hoped that a successful attack here might bring about a rebellion in Egypt. While the Egyptians remained passive spectators there was no chance of a Turkish victory.

Routes open to Enemy

There are three routes by which a hostile force might approach the Canal.

(1) The northern caravan route along the coast through El Arish to Kantara, the route by which Joseph’s brethren, and later the Holy Family, and in more recent times Napoleon, had travelled from Palestine to Egypt.

(2) The central Hassana—Ismailia route.

(3) The southern Akaba—Suez route.

Lack of water along the greater part of the central and southern tracks renders them impracticable for any but a small, mobile, desert-bred force, and against raiding parties of this description the chain of posts under construction would be a sufficient defence. But the El Arish—Katia—Kantara route is of a different character. Oases are more numerous, and in the vicinity of Katia and Romani, within twenty miles of the Canal, wells are plentiful, and the water, though brackish, is drunk by animals, and to a certain extent by natives. No army, British or Turkish, could occupy this region until water-pipes and a railway had been laid, but the possibility of a rapid dash had to be provided against, so the system of defence on the northern route was extended to a point much farther east than was necessary in the central and southern sections, and it included the coast of the Bay of Tina and the water-bearing area around Katia and Romani.

Kantara was the base for this northern section, El Ferdan for the central, and Shallufa, where the 42nd Division was stationed during February and March, for the southern. Here trenches were dug and revetted with wooden frames and hurdles backed with canvas; miles of barbed-wire entanglements were put up; hutments of matting over wooden frames for mess and recreation, sun-proof standings for horses, and fly-proof larders were erected at the posts on the Canal banks. Gangs hauled the chain-ferry, and every one was kept steadily at work. In fact, the whole of the Canal zone for a hundred miles from Port Said to Suez has been described as a vast hive of workers; and the company humorist—who, by the way, always alluded to the desert as “the croft”—would ask plaintively: “Is it true, sir, that we’re staying here till we’ve got all the desert into sandbags?”