The Work Accomplished
The heavy sand through which the guns had been hauled and the difficulties of the water supply for the horses had provided a hard test of the endurance and skill of the Divisional Artillery, and it is greatly to the credit of the batteries that they had overcome all obstacles. Men and horses had become accustomed to desert trekking, and at the end of a day’s march the bivouacs were prepared, the horses watered, and everything running as smoothly as under peace-time conditions. On Christmas Day the batteries had (on paper) been formed into six-gun batteries, but the scheme was not actually put into operation until the Division had returned to the Canal zone.
As in Gallipoli, the Divisional Signal Company had been kept continuously at work and had displayed energy and efficiency beyond praise. Every task that had been set them—and their name was legion!—had been done well. The Supply details of the A.S.C. had accompanied the Division during the six months’ operations in the desert, and it may safely be said that no Division was better maintained in the matter of supply. The R.A.M.C. had formed mobile sections in each Field Ambulance, and two of these with camel convoy had accompanied each infantry brigade, and had shared their experiences. In spite of the heat and the shortage of water the desert life had on the whole proved healthy.
The magnitude of the work accomplished in the desert may be estimated by the following figures—
| Railways | 360 | miles |
| Pipe lines | 300 | ” |
| Roads | 220 | ” |
| Timber Hurdles | 800 | ” |
| Timber for hutting | 2,000,000 | square feet |
| Wire netting | 50,000 | rolls |
| Barbed wire | 7,000 | tons |
| Cement | 2,000 | tons |
| Sandbags used | 30,000,000 |
The defence of the Suez Canal had now been made secure. The revolt against Ottoman rule in the Hedjaz had broken out, and the Turk was in no mood for further adventurous enterprise. Henceforward he would confine his energies to defensive operations, and would ask nothing more than to hold his own.
The infantry entrained for Kantara, en route for Moascar, during the first days of February, and though the hundred-mile railway journey was far from luxurious the troops were glad enough to be spared the weary march back to “th’ Cut.” They had watched the railway grow mile by mile, and their interest in it was almost that of a proprietor, but this was the first time they had ridden upon it for any distance.[9] Most of the units halted for a day or two at Kantara, a station with which they were familiar enough. Here the only subject for comment seems to have been the remarkable number of gulls that swarmed overhead at meal times. The mention of these birds will remind many officers and men that the 42nd Division made very useful contributions both to the knowledge of the fauna of the Sinai Peninsula and to the supply of animals to the Cairo Zoo. Many desert mice and rats, lizards and tortoises reached the Zoo alive, and one rat was so exalted by the prospect of introduction to Cairo society that it gave birth to a healthy litter while in the parcel post. Insects of great interest and rarity, and of peculiarly local distribution, were sent to the Ministry of Agriculture at Cairo twice a week for six months; and species entirely new to science were discovered. A battalion of the Lancashire Fusiliers, from the R.S.M. and the Cook-Sergeant down to the sanitary men, took to collecting and nature study with great ardour and much success.
From East to West
Divisional Headquarters and the Signal Company arrived at Moascar on February 4. On the 6th, 7th, and 8th the various units (less the 2nd Field Company, R.E., which proceeded direct by rail to Alexandria) set out from Kantara on the two-days’ march to Moascar along the new road by the side of the Canal. The change from the soft sand of the desert to the hard road was a sore trial to the feet, and a big proportion of the men limped rather than marched into Moascar. All ranks now knew what most had suspected for some time, that the Division was bound for France, and there was general enthusiasm. The prospect of a change from the sand, the glaring sun, the discomfort of intense heat, the monotony and isolation of the desert, was hailed with joy by the majority. A number of officers and men had not been home since September 1914, and knew that there was little chance of home-leave while the Division remained with the Egyptian Expeditionary Force. Yet there were some among those who had been out longest upon whom the spell of the East had fallen, and who were disappointed that, having accomplished so much of the preparatory work, they, like Moses, could only see the Promised Land from afar, and were not allowed to go forward into Palestine.