Mex Camp, Egypt 1915

[oak]

Pals,

Prior to going to Gallipoli the 29th Division was based at Mex Camp, near Alexandria, Egypt. I would be grateful if anyone could give me any details on the camp.

When the Anzacs arrived in Egypt they were based at Mena Camp near Cairo. Does anyone know whether the fact that the names of both camps begin with the letter 'M' and are short names is a coincidence or conformed to some army naming pattern?

Regards,

Philip

[HERITAGE PLUS]

Fort Mex was one of defensive forts of Alexandria. It was the scene of fighting in the the Egyptian War of 1882 when its batteries were extensively damaged by heavy bombardment from ships of the Royal Navy.

The Victorian spelling being Meix.

The area around the fort was used as a holding/transit camp in both WW1 and WW2.

Ther is a photo in Australian Archives:

cas.awm.gov.au/pls/PRD/...?ps_accnum=P01315.001&ps_what=thumb

Dave

[oak]

Many thanks Dave,

That's both interesting and comprehensive.

Regards,

Philip

[michaeldr]

Philip,

the foll is from Rev O Creighton's "With the Twenty-ninth Division in Gallipoli"

Chapter III, page 26

"Monday, March 29 - We had one of those tedious days of waiting, which seem so common in the Army. The men got off the ship and sat on the quay till about four o'clock, doing absolutely nothing. There seems to have been a good deal of muddle about our coming. However we eventually all started off to the camp, about five miles out of town, on a strip of desert between a salt lake and the sea, with salt piles and stone quarries around, at a place called Mex. The camp was about one and a half miles beyond the train terminus."

regards

Michael

[michaeldr]

There are also a couple of photographs which I will try to add here

First though, credit given where due,

quote and halftones from book/author as above

published by Longmans, Green & Co. London, 1916, reprinted/republished by The Naval & Military Press Ltd

Both pics have the same caption

"29th Division Camp at Mex, Near Alexandria"

[oak]

Michael,

Yet again I find myself in your debt. Many thanks for the quote and the pictures. Are the pictures from a book?

Regards,

Philip

[michaeldr]

Yes Philip,

sorry if not clear, but quote & 2 pics, all from Creighton's book.

By the way

at the end of the first sentence he adds a footnote that during that wasted morning & early afternoon, a major told him that of 25 years he had spent in the army, at least ten of these years had been spent waiting just like that. My own army experience proves all forces operate in the same way; in my outfit these times were known as - 'hurry-up,... and wait.'

regards

Michael

[oak]

Thanks again to the Nelson Battalion.

[stevenbecker]

Mate,

Just to add Mex Camp was the staging camp for those troops sent into the Western desert in Dec 1915 to fight the Senssi tribes.

Units of the Comperste Yeomanry and Light Horse Regts as well as AASC units formed there, and attrached many soldiers over the months to feed into the Western desert.

Cheers

S.B

[alliekiwi]

I think some of the Australians (the 1st Light Horse?) were at Mena, Mex and then Zeitoun. I know the New Zealanders were certainly at Zeitoun, but I don't know if they were at either of the other two places first.

Allie

[alliekiwi]

Well, Digger History lists Mena, Maadi and Zeitoun. With photos, if you care to have a look.

When they arrived at Cairo, a very large and beautiful city, the Australians were told they were to go to a big camp at Mena, ten miles south of Cairo, close to the wonderful Pyramids and the Sphinx. An enormous camp, to hold 20,000 troops, had been made ready for them just a mile from the Pyramids. The camp was all tents and sixteen men lived in each tent. The New Zealand troops went to another camp, Zeitoun, to the north of Cairo.

From 'The ANZAC STORY for boys and girls' by TA Miles.

Allie

[michaeldr]

Steve,

Although I think that Philip's interest is in April 1915

you will find a ref to the Yeomanry at Mex late in 1915 here

quote ; "After about three weeks in Cairo, I was ordered to Alexandria, and was quartered at Mex Camp, East of the town, and close by a salt lake. The shore is literally caked with salt, and altogether Mex was not a pleasant spot. It had two redeeming features. One was the convenience of the trams, enabling one to reach Alexandria easily, and the other was the proximity of the sea. It was now December, but the water was still warm for bathing. After a week here, I was ordered to Mersa Matruh, which was the Headquarters of the Western Frontier Force who were in action against the Senussi." [see http://www.jjhc.info/heathleopold1966.htm]

regards

Michael

[stevenbecker]

Thanks Michael,

I am always after any accounts of these Composite units (Yeomanry or Light Horse) formed in Dec 1915 to fight the tribes.

Cheers

S.B

[michaeldr]

S.B.,

I thought that might be one for you

best regards

Michael

[oak]

Thanks to all.

Ragards,

Philip

[davec77]

Steve

Would you have any info at all on 6 Bn Royal Scots activities as part of Western Frontier Force? My grandfather was in that regiment. His records say he 'Embarked West Frontier on 27/11/15'.

Regards

Dave

Thanks Michael,

I am always after any accounts of these Composite units (Yeomanry or Light Horse) formed in Dec 1915 to fight the tribes.

Cheers

S.B

[Bryn]

This sketch map is from the Australian Official Medical History. Mex camp only gets a couple of mentions - once to say it was a [medically] 'neglected' camp, and that enteric fever there was as bad as it was at Gallipoli.

[stevenbecker]

Dave,

Sorry mate but can find no ref's to that Bn in my accounts.

But my main area is the Compostite Yeomanry/LH Regts raised to fight the natives.

A good account of the operations is found at the front of this site by Chris, check it out.

Bryn,

Thanks for the map, I always wondered where this camp was.

As for illness, the rates appear the same as in most camps in Egypt but I am open to the AAMC history as they would have a better idea then me.

Cheers

S.B

[Guest Bill Woerlee]

Steve

G'day mate

Here's a map dawn up at the time of the area which can be matched to Bryn's map - puts Mex camp into context.

Here's an extract from my chapter on the Senussi Campaign which give a pretty good idea of the nature of Mex camp and its use to the troops:

The CO of the Composite Regiment was drawn from the Yeomanry with Major Pelham of the 11th Hussars given the post. Second in command was an Australian, Major Tom Daly from the 9th LHR, the erstwhile commander of the 3rd LH Bde Details camp at Heliopolis. Working quickly, Pelham and Daly put together a force of about 535 men. The medical staff was drawn entirely from the 3rd Light Horse Field Ambulance. When the nominal roll was submitted to Wallace, in true bureaucratic style, Cairo staff informed Daly that the Regiment was over-strength by 30 men, who needed to be dropped from the roll. The emergency was not so great as to overlook legal niceties. To keep the indents on rations legal, 30 men were sent back to the various details camps.

When the personnel in the regiment was sorted out, it was moved from Cairo to Alexandria by rail. When they arrived at Mex camp in Alexandria, the men were issued with swords and rifle buckets in addition to all their other light horse issued gear. This altered the nature of the force from light horse to heavy cavalry. It was the first time Australian forces were issued with swords during the Great War. When all the appropriate stores were issued, the men were prepared for action through one week’s intensive training. Part of the syllabus involved the use of swords, a novelty to the Australians.

It was at Mex that the first casualties were suffered. Twenty men from the Composite Regiment went ill through an epidemic of mumps. This left only 485 men in the Regiment, a time when Daly would have reflected that the other 30 men sent back to the camps would have been quite useful at that moment.

Orders were issued that Matruh was to be established as the base for all the Composite Regiment’s operations. Since a large Senussi force periodically cut the road from El Daaba to Matruh and only a regiment of armed men would be able to deal with any attack. In response, all surplus baggage was to be shipped to Matruh. The men horses were entrained to the railhead at El Daaba with instructions to march to Matruh. The first squadron left El Daaba on Wednesday, 8 December 1915 and began their long and slow march.

Because of the poor water supply, the trip from El Daaba to Matruh could not cope with any more than 200 horses in a day. Consequently, the Composite Regiment had to be broken into smaller formations and proceed in the stages at Squadron strength. The journey was some 135 kilometres in distance which could be only completed in 30 – 40 kilometre stages. Along the way Indian troops established and maintained outposts to keep the route open. The squadron protecting the Regimental Headquarters also acted as the escort for the Divisional Train. The march went smoothly and all men arrived at Matruh between 11 and 12 December 1915.

Hope that helps just a tad bit more.

Cheers

Bill

[oak]

Bryn and Bill,

Thanks for posting those maps. They certainly do put Mex Camp in context.

Regards,

Philip

[davec77]

Dave,

Sorry mate but can find no ref's to that Bn in my accounts.

But my main area is the Compostite Yeomanry/LH Regts raised to fight the natives.

A good account of the operations is found at the front of this site by Chris, check it out.

Bryn,

Thanks for the map, I always wondered where this camp was.

As for illness, the rates appear the same as in most camps in Egypt but I am open to the AAMC history as they would have a better idea then me.

Cheers

S.B

Steve

Thanks anyway

Dave

[Guest Stephen Royle]

I am transcribing some letters I found from my grandfather, CQM Sergeant Charles Arnold of the Border Regiment. As part of the 2nd Composite Battalion of the 29th Division he moved from Mustapha Camp to Mex Camp at the end of December 1915/start of January 1916. He described Mex Camp as a 'God forsaken hole about 10 miles from nowhere'. From his tent he could see the salt lake shining like ice. However one good thing was 'there is not much chance of getting killed, there is no fighting within a couple of hundred miles'. Charlie was an Old Contemptible who had been badly wounded on the retreat from Mons in 1914 whilst with the East Surrey Regiment and would not have minded remaining in Egypt for the duration so he could stay alive for his sweetheart and his mother. He did not stay in Egypt but did survive the war despite being wounded on the Somme and Messines.

Steve Royle

[tullybrone]

Hi,

 

I've no knowledge on WW1 camps in and around Alexandria but just wondering whether rather than "Mustapha Camp" in Alexandria could he have been in the pre war "Mustapha Barracks"?

 

My father was in the permanent Mustapha Barracks, Alexandria between 1937/40.

 

Steve Y

[Guest]

Dave,

 

I don't know if your still there but there is a history of the 6Bn Scots, some where?

 

I was posted some of it for my article on the Comp LH Regt.

 

"Mex Camp was a large British base with many units forming and training. These units were part of the lately created Western Frontier Force, under command of Major General A. Wallace. The principle combat units of this force were the Composite Yeomanry Mounted Brigade, with three Composite Yeomanry Regiments, which contained the mixed Squadrons and Troops of no fewer then 20 different Yeomanry Regiments, all drawn from the replacements of the Yeomanry Brigades of the 2^nd Mounted Division, and along with the Composite Infantry Brigade, which comprised the 2/8^th Middlesex, 2/7^th Middlesex, 1/6^th Royal Scots and the 15^th (Ludhiana) Battalion of Sikhs, made ready for operations in the Western desert of Egypt".

 

"Sources both Official and Non Official;

 

British Official History of the War Military Operations in Egypt and Palestine Aug 1914 to June 1917 by LtGen Sir George MacMunn and Capt Cyril Falls,

History of the AIF in Sinai and Palestine Volume VII the Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918 by HS Gullett,

History of the AIF in France 1916 Volume 111 Annex 1 the Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918 by CEW Bean,

Supplement to the London Gazette 21 June 1916 Operations on the Western Front to 31 January 1916 by General Maxwell,

History of the Berkshire Yeomanry Regiment,

The Campaigns in Palestine by General Morshead,

Nominal Roll book 129 of Composite Light Horse Regiment Field Returns B213 – 7-1-16, 26-1-16 and 24-3-16,

History of the Operations of the 1^st Div Train AWM 16 4360-3-1 (unpublished)

History of the 3^rd LHFA by Capt Gerald Eugene Macdonald Stuart (unpublished),

History of the South African Forces in France,

History of the 6^th Bn Royal Scots,

History of the New Zealand Rifle Brigade by Austin,  

Post Action Report written by 1st Battalion New Zealand Rifle Brigade,

Equal to the Task History of the RAASC by Fairclough,

With Our Army in Palestine by Anthony Bluett

Personal Diary of Sapper Charles William Jamieson 3^rd LH Sig Troop (unpublished),

Personal account by Lt Heath Surrey Yeomanry,

Personal letter by Jack McGlade (unpublished),

Personal diary of Dvr S. Stevenson (unpublished), and

Personal diary of WJ Darmody 1 Div Train (unpublished)"

 

I sorry to say I could not find who sent me the part on the 6Bn Scots so I don't know the author?

 

Hope it helps

 

S.B

 

Edited 28 October , 2016 by stevebecker

[domsim]

An extract from the War Office 1:100,000 sheet for Alexandria dated 1941. Shows the station at El Mex and the surrounding area at the bottom. http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/ams/egypt/

 

This map comes from a great collection at the University of Texas website if you don't know-it includes scans of maps of everywhere in the world and British War Office maps and post war American versions of British ones-cracking resource!

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/

 

All the best

Dom.

Edited 28 October , 2016 by domsim