In addition to these major activities, there were many other minor changes. The introduction of cholera from Gallipoli was feared, and in the grounds of the Casino a cholera hospital was erected in anticipated need, under the direction of the Board of Public Health, Egypt. Fortunately it was never required, but it was ready for use, and would have been staffed by the First Australian General Hospital.
The final result, then, of all these expansions was as follows. The 520-bed hospital which landed in Egypt on January 25 had expanded into:
| Beds | |
| Heliopolis Palace Hotel | 1,000 |
| Luna Park | 1,650 |
| Atelier | 450 |
| Sporting Club | 1,250 |
| Choubra Infectious | 250 |
| Abbassia Infectious | 1,250 |
| Venereal Diseases, Abbassia | 2,000 |
| Al Hayat, Helouan (Convalescent) | 1,250 |
| Ras el Tin (Convalescent) | 500 |
| Montazah Palace (Convalescent, Australian moiety) | 500 |
| Grand Hotel, Helouan | 500 |
| ——— | |
| (Approximately) 10,600 | |
| ====== |
Almost the whole of this work was undertaken by the staff originally intended to manage a 520-bed hospital, at all events until the latest developments. Reinforcements did not arrive until June 15, and even then they were not long available.
To house the reinforcements of nurses two other buildings were taken at Heliopolis: Gordon House, opposite Luna Park, and the Palace of Prince Ibrahim Khalim, on the outskirts of Heliopolis.
It will be noted that the greater part of the expansion took place in the immediate vicinity of the Palace Hotel. This step was alike deliberate and necessary, for reasons that will be explained hereafter.
Methods Adopted in Organising Hospitals
The methods adopted in organising these hospitals varied. In the first instance Lieut.-Col. Barrett was deputed by the D.M.S. Egypt to seek for the necessary buildings, and when these were approved to negotiate with the owners respecting the rent. This proceeding proved very tedious and difficult, and in pursuance of a General Army Order another and simpler plan was adopted by the appointment of an arbitration commission under the chairmanship of Sir Alexander Baird. To this commission the determination of rent and compensation was referred when the acquisition of the buildings received the sanction of the Commander-in-Chief. It need hardly be said that a good deal of tact was necessary in these proceedings, and every attempt was made to meet the wishes of owners with regard to the buildings commandeered.
Up till June 15 the number of nurses available was small, and it became quite obvious that, owing to the rush of sick and wounded, and the hot weather, some of the nurses would experience a breakdown. Lieut.-Col. Barrett accordingly visited Alexandria, and arranged with the Australian and Egyptian branches of the British Red Cross Society to take over and equip two buildings as Rest Homes. These houses had been generously offered for this purpose to Her Excellency Lady MacMahon, wife of the High Commissioner for Egypt. One of these buildings was a large house belonging to a distinguished Egyptian and was situated in Ramleh, not very far from the beach, and the other was about eight miles from Alexandria at Aboukir Bay, the site of Nelson's victory. The latter consisted of a large seaside bungalow owned by Mr. Alderson, with an excellently fitted house-boat anchored some little distance from the shore.