When, however, the problem is surveyed dispassionately, the remarkable feature of the work at Heliopolis and in Cairo was the low mortality, as the following table will show:
Burials in Old Cemetery, Cairo
From Arrival of Australians in Egypt, December 5,
1914, to August 14, 1915
| British Imperial Force | 77 |
| Australian Imperial Force | 155 |
| New Zealand Force | 50 |
In view of this extraordinarily low mortality, it is interesting to comment on human intellectual frailty. It was said that the hospitals were septic, that operations of election could not be performed with safety, that the climate was particularly dangerous, and so forth. One letter which reached us made reference to hundreds of deaths of brave fellows due to faulty camp and hospital conditions. Yet here is the fact recorded that the total deaths in Cairo amongst Australians from disease and wounds to August 14 were only 155. All men tend to generalise on insufficient instances, and the tendency in this case was aggravated by some physical discomfort experienced by the generalisers throughout an unusually warm summer—a discomfort accentuated by overwork and a conscientious devotion to duty under trying conditions.
The Egyptian Climate again
Dealing with the surgical side of the matter, nothing was commoner at one time than to hear the statement made that owing to the hot weather septic infections were common, that wounds did not heal as they should in Egypt, and that it was not a suitable place to which wounded men should be sent. While quite agreeing with the critics that a cool climate is always preferable to a hot one, it may be remarked that in the first place summer in Egypt, apart from the khamsin, is not excessively hot. The khamsin blows for a certain number of days in April, May, and the first half of June. The temperature may rise to 112° or more. The wind blows with a fiery blast, and there is no doubt it is exceedingly trying. But if buildings are shut up early in the morning and opened at night, even the khamsin may be made tolerable. After the middle of June, however, there is very little wind. One day is very like another. The midday temperature is from 90° to 95° Dry Bulb, and the nights perhaps 65° to 70° Dry Bulb. The Wet Bulb temperatures are set out in the table previously referred to.
For the most part men slept in nothing but pyjamas. No sheet is wanted until towards the end of August. Whilst it is not pleasant to wake in the mornings in a lather, nevertheless, if a practical and cold-blooded examination be made of the facts, the result shows nothing but discomfort.
Grave septic diseases did not occur. The hospitals were perfectly clean, and at Luna Park in particular we have the testimony of Colonel Ryan that the wounds healed by first intention and that the cases did excellently.
As the garrison of Egypt was a very large one, and as Australian troops were continually pouring into it, it was impracticable even if it had been necessary to take the patients anywhere else. The islands of Lemnos and Imbros were far less suitable even for those who had been injured at Gallipoli, and apart from the inconvenience caused by the heat there was no reasonable ground for complaint in Egypt. Furthermore the heat is not tropical. It is subtropical, as the Wet Bulb temperatures indicate.
In the First Australian General Hospital every care was taken to minimise the inconvenience; a very large number of excellent ice chests were purchased, an enormous quantity of ice was used, and the necessary steps thus taken to diminish the amount of food decomposition and prevent ptomaine poisoning. Fans and punkahs were used, and the nights were quite tolerable.