Letter - 13 April 2015 - from Mena Camp to Isle of Lemnos

Athol leaves the Mena Camp in Cairo and travels with the 5th Battalion to Alexandra by train. They board troopships which take them across choppy seas to Lemnos harbour in Greece. Conditions on board are cramped. On arrival they find a harbour busy with battleships, submarines, cruisers and troopships. Rumours circulate about where and when they will be sent to fight.

Dear Mater,

Many thanks for your letter of ... Also please thank Pater for 2 'Referees' and an 'Australiasian'. 

We left Mena on Sunday 4th and marched to Cairo about 6:30pm reaching the latter about 10am. We then waited in the station yard until about 1:30am when we left for Alexandria which we reached about 7:30am. We got out of the train at the dock and after a very little wait, in which tea was served out to be taken with a meal carried in the haversack, we came aboard this boat. She is a cargo boat of 6,338 tons gross, of the Leyland Line. There are 1,208 men and 319 horses so our accommodation isn't up to 'Orvieto' standard.
Only about 15 of our officers have cabins so the rest of us, about 16, either sleep on the little bridge deck or in a part of the hospital which is screened off from the rest which is rather stuffy. I sleep on deck. It was a bit choppy coming over and that and the close quarters and horsey smell caused a lot of sickness. 

We left Alexandria about 6pm on Tuesday. All Thursday we passed through the Grecian Islands, some of them quite close, and on Friday at daylight we came in here. There were several troopers and about a dozen war boats including the 'Queen Elizabeth', the 'Royal Ark' an aeroplane tender and both French and English battleships and cruisers, also a Russian cruiser, the same one that was in Colombo the 'Asvold', or something, besides a lot of torpedo destroyers, torpedo boats and some submarines. All these war boats go in and out everyday so that no days are the same. 

Yesterday the 'Queen Elizabeth' took our Brigadier and the Colonels of the different battalions to the Dardanelles. I don't know what they did or saw but I believe that all the likely landing places have barbed wire entanglements so it looks as if we're going to have a bit of a scrap to get ashore. There are about 30 troopers in now with English, Indian, French as well as Australian troops. I believe there are to be about 60. I also hear we have sealed orders on board to be opened on the 15th so I expect we will be moving then. This place is only 45 miles from the entrance to the Dardanelles. 

I left a suit case with a few clothes and things in value of 15 pounds at Thomas Cook & Son, Cairo, to be forwarded on demand.
Eldridge and ...... sergeants of old 'F' Company took Imperial Commissions the day before we left Mena. In the A.S.C. I believe. I wouldn't look at them as they were only for the duration of the war and you couldn't choose which branch you wanted. Also it will probably be months before they get near the fighting. Also if I get through this I'll probably be able to get a decent commission if I still feel that way. 

I'm getting this posted so as to avoid censorship so it will probably take some time in transit. 

Love to all enquiring friends. 

Yours lovingly,

Athol