THE AUSTRALIAN POSITION IN DEFENCE OF THE SUEZ CANAL, 1916.
Map by Australian War Museum.[ToList]
Attached to the 28th was a section of the Hongkong-Singapore Royal Garrison Artillery, manned by Sikhs, and a detachment of the Bikanir Camel Corps—a force composed of the subjects of India, which had been raised and was maintained in the field by the Maharajah of that State. An additional force was the Royal Australian Naval Bridging Train, under Captain Bracegirdle, which had been present at Suvla Bay and marched into Ferry Post a few days after the 2nd Division arrived in the vicinity. This unit was to assist in the management of the bridge and ferry traffic.
The Battalion was accommodated partly in tents and partly in wooden rush-roofed huts. Its duties were many. Training was almost impossible. A guard had to be furnished for a large Ordnance Depôt located on the west bank. Men had to be found to work the ferry on which, when the pontoon bridge was drawn back, troops and horses were hauled across the Canal. Police to regulate the traffic over the bridge and maintain a check on the passes, without which no person was allowed to cross the waterway. Then again, the natives who fished the lake were not allowed to ply their trade except with a written permit and the presence in the boat of a soldier. This escort duty was not unpopular, for the reason that nearly every man who performed it returned to camp with several pounds' weight of excellent fish.
But the foregoing were the light duties. Others, more arduous, were attached to the handling of the hundreds of tons of supplies which were daily dumped on the wharf at Ferry Post and taken away to the forward area by horse wagons. On Gallipoli the soldier became also a navvy. At Ferry Post he was changed into a wharf labourer. Few who were there will forget the task of handling the iron water mains which had to be cleared from the barges, without the aid of cranes, and which ruined the clothing by contact with the tar with which they were covered. Then again, the adjacent dump absorbed many men, and what clothing the pipes had failed to destroy was dealt with in moving coils of barbed wire and other material equally destructive. A light railway had been commenced for the purpose of supplying the front line with its needs. Here once more the Western Australian found his services in demand and he went along to do work which the native labourers could not be trusted with. Through it all he "groused," but he applied himself earnestly to the task in hand and seriously complained only about his spoiled clothes. One Engineer officer said he had never had men who had worked so hard and effectively.
At the Headquarters of the Battalion was established an Examining Post. Through this passed numerous secret service agents employed by Army Headquarters for the purpose of gaining information within the enemy lines. Fierce-looking ruffians some of them were, and they responded none too willingly to the few questions put to them through the Syrian interpreter—a graduate of an American college at Beyrout—attached to the Post.
Traffic through the Canal was dependent to some extent also upon Battalion Headquarters. As has already been mentioned in an earlier chapter, one ship had been mined. Other mines had been located, and proof existed that enemy agents, under cover of darkness, were endeavouring to block the waterway. One method utilised to counter these measures was to sweep a track along the sand of the eastern bank. By means of a horse harnessed to logs and other material this was done daily before nightfall. At dawn patrols would examine the swept area, and if tracks of man or beast crossed it at any point these would be closely followed until their origin and purport had been explained. Reports were then sent to the Adjutant, and by 8 a.m. an "all clear" message went forward to Army Headquarters, which, in turn, informed the Canal officials that traffic could proceed without risk. Should, by any chance, this report be delayed the effect at Army Headquarters was remarkable, and the life of the responsible people at Ferry Post very unenviable for the next few hours.
The Canal at Ferry Post was some 70 yards wide, and the depth believed to be something over 30 feet. Just below the ferry the water ran into Lake Timsah, which was irregular in form and measured about three miles from side to side. In this lake a few vessels were anchored, some of them being men-of-war—French and British—as auxiliary to the defence. On the bank opposite Ferry Post is a rocky plateau, upon which was a convent, or monastery, and some buildings used by the management of the Canal. Here, during February, Sir Archibald Murray established his headquarters.
The town of Ismailia is situated near the north-western edge of the lake, and in 1916 contained about 12,000 inhabitants, one-fourth of which were foreigners, mostly French and Italians. The Australians found the place quite attractive, taking especial delight in the gardens, some of which contained the familiar bougainvillæa in full bloom, and in the shade afforded by the fine avenues of lebboks and magnolias. The native bazaar attracted those who had money to spend on local manufactures; whilst a very fine clubhouse afforded means for rest and refreshment to those officers whom leave or duty brought across the Canal.