27th September, 1943: Egypt - nuts in the desert

After an early breakfast, we set off again, another journey over sandy wastes. The rugged mountains gradually gave way to hills & these disappeared until shortly we passed over a low plain of dry sand. This sand stretched to the sky on all sides - but where one finished and the other began was lost in the shimmer heat haze.

We passed over much of the desert where the Libyan war had been fought - I occasionally saw tracks in the sand, a burnt out aircraft or tank - a few discarded lorries. This country was bad enough to fly over, but to wage war on - God, it must have been hell. My hat is off to the Eighth Army.

Approaching our destination, we see some pyramids - small triangular buildings in the distance. How small they looked from this distance and this height. Then the river could be seen - with a belt of vegetation on either side. So this is Egypt - practically all desert. How books mislead one - Egypt a rich highly cultivated country appeared as a desert with a belt of vegetation on either side of the river, the rest - just waste.

We swung violently upon landing and damaged the port undercarriage, and were ready to jump out in case of fire - but before we got our stuff out - taking out time, we had several people down to enquire about us & about the damage done.

We were taken to the mess, a splendid place, but we had no Egyptian currency, and could not avail ourselves of what the mess had to offer in the way of drinks. I met Eddie at the mess, and he lent me some money until I got my money changed.

£1 Egyptian = 100 piestres (??????) - £1-0-6 English. For convenience we reckoned 5 piestres to one shilling.

Dinner was good, served by Wogs - Egyptian Arab types. They were dressed in white robes - some wearing a turban, others the fez. After a splendid dinner, I could now, by means of borrowed money, buy something to drink, and obtain cigarettes. Here at the mess I met several fellows whom I knew and I spent some hours talking about the places we had been to since we had parted.

We prepared our beds before leaving for the pictures. Here a record was put on that suited the place - "Sand in my Shoes". They had no mercy for the chaps who had been there a long time who did not know what it was like to have shoes on without sand in them. Here, at the pictures, I made my first acquaintance with the wood bug. We needed no formal introduction, the little devil soon made himself known to me, & I left with quite a number of nasty large lumps to take back with me to the billet.

The interval enabled one to buy drinks, fruit or nuts, & after a shortage of nuts at home - they were a real treat.