[242] Maurice, pp. 25, 26.
[243] The officers who went out to Egypt with the battalion were Brevet-Colonel C. F. Gregorie (in command); Majors J. M. Toppin and G. W. N. Rogers; Captains J. H. Daubeney, C. E. Dixon, C. E. G. Burr, H. S. Lye, C. E. Le Quesne, and H. M. Hatchell; Lieutenants E. J. Grant, A. G. Chichester, J. H. Chawner, G. H. Symonds (Adjutant), D. G. Gregorie, A. S. Orr, W. R. B. Doran, A. T. Ward, H. D. Daly; Quartermaster and Honorary Captain T. Hamilton; Surgeon J. Prendergast, A.M.D.; Paymaster P. A. Robinson. Attached to the battalion were Captains C. N. Jones (Connaught Rangers) and H. H. Edwards (Royal Welsh Fusiliers); Lieutenants G. P. Hatch (Wiltshire regiment), N. L. Pearse (Derbyshire regiment), H. H. Drummond-Wolff (Royal Fusiliers), and E. M. Barttelot (Royal Fusiliers).
[244] See [Appendix 2 (M)].
[245] Otherwise known as the Sweet-water Canal.
[246] The orders directed that the water-bottles should, if possible, contain cold tea, the beverage which Lord Wolseley constantly recommended on active service.
[247] It was forbidden to strike matches, so watches could not be consulted.
[248] This distance is understated; it was probably more than 800 yards.
[249] A delightful story is told of one of the XVIIIth who was asked on his return home how many of the enemy had fallen. He replied, “I don’t just know, but I killed devil a one less than five hundred with my own bayonet!”
[250] The names will be found in [Appendix 2 (M)]. There is a memorial to those who died in this campaign in the barrack square of the depôt at Clonmel.
[251] The mosquitos at Alexandria appear to have made a great impression, not only on the bodies, but also on the imaginations of the young officers of the Royal Irish. One subaltern stated that these pests had bitten his foot through the sole of a shooting boot, while another asserted that the mosquitos were so intelligent and so strong that three of them used to combine to lift up his mosquito-net to allow their friends to feast upon his hot Irish blood.