Detail Camp at Mustapha

[Kirrawee]

Can anyone tell me, please, what this Detail Camp was? I presume Mustapha was a place in Palestine? My grandfather, Ernest William SMITH, was posted there as an instructor in May 1918. What kind of teaching unit would this be?

Thank you,

Mary W

[mhifle]

Mustapha is a suburb of the Egyptian seaport of Alexandria, where many troops disembarked. It was an open stretch of seaside desert suited for a large military camp, not only on account of its natural advantages but because of its closeness to the place of disembarkation, to the railway, and to a good municipal water supply. Mustapha with the district bordering on it, was taken over by the Army authorities for a main camp where the bulk of men required by the operations in the Near East stayed prior to dispatch elsewhere. An army of white canvas and semi-permanent buildings was spread over Mustapha and its environs, and its Reception Station suddenly found itself an important in the military machine.

Practically all the troops coming to, and going from, the great camp at Mustapha passed through the Reception Station for some cause or other.

Whenever a new draft of men came in, all had to be medically inspected by the Station M.O.'s and given a clean bill of health before being sent into the camp. In the same way, troops leaving the depot for the Front were examined at the Station, and certified as to fitness for active service.

As the strength of the various regiments became depleted, drafts were sent out from England to make up their deficiencies. Troops arrived from the European Fronts for transfer to the East, or departures of troops took place for service in France. A continual journeying to and fro between the Base Camp at Mustapha and the various arenas of war.

Regards Mark

[Kirrawee]

Thank you very much, Mark.

Regards,

Mary

[mhifle]

Hi Mary,

There existed within the Mustapha complex, a large Detail Camp, to which men sufficiently far advanced in recovery from wounds and illnesses were drafted from the large General Hospitals. This arrangement materially relieved the congestion in the hospitals, but it proved a severe tax on the staff of the Mustapha Reception Station, upon whom devolved the task of completing the cure of these patients.

My Great Grandfather was based in the Mustapha Barracks as Orderly Room Sergeant Base, for the 5th Battalion The Connaught Rangers, as part of the 3rd Echelon Alexandria in 1915.

This was the same barracks he had been based in the year 1895 as a Corporal, Orderly Room Clerk with the 2nd Battalion Connaught Rangers in 1895, prior to the Dongola (Nile) Expedition into the Sudan.

Regards Mark

[Kirrawee]

Hullo Mark,

My grandfather (Captain E.W. Smith) was with the 5th battalion Connaught Rangers, too! This must mean that your great g'father, and he would've known each other, as they were both at Mustapha? Do you have diaries from that time?

Your great g'father must've been with the Rangers at Gallipoli? My g'father joined them just after that, being sent out from England to Salonika. There is a mention of him in Jourdain's book "The History of the Connaught Rangers" as being involved in a June 20th raid on the southern end of Ormanli – he was in charge of A Company. another mention of him is that he, and Second-Lieutenants V.E. Benke and H.A. Benke, were to follow the battalion en route to Alexandria, being in charge of "the animals and limbers".

Regards,

Mary

[mhifle]

Hi Mary,

Here a a couple of previous posts concerning my G Grandfather.

He had joined the 5th Battalion in September 1914 as the Orderly Room Sergeant but was left in Alexandria when the Battalion went on to Gallipoli and was later invalided back to the UK in Nov 1915 and served with the 3rd Battalion until 1920. He had previously served with the 2nd Battalion from 1888 to 1913 in Malta, Cyprus, Egpyt, India and Ireland.

I will have another look for mention of Captain E.W. Smith in the copies of the War Diary Pages I have.

Regards Mark

 

 

 

[Kirrawee]

Thanks Mark. Those earlier posts re your G Grandfather are interesting. I was specially interested in the thought that soldiers who had previously served under Jourdain would have re-joined to serve under him again. Could this be how my grandfather came to join the Connaught Rangers, I wonder. I haven't any evidence of his having been in the Rangers before, but he did serve in South Africa in the Boer War – and I think the Rangers were there too. Later he was with the 25th Battalion County of London Regiment Territorial Force and then with the 9th East Surrey Regiment.

It looks as those he wouldn't have met your G Grandfather because he joined the Connaught Rangers after your G Grandfather had been invalided to the UK.

I'd be very grateful for any information from the War Diaries, if there is any, about E.W. Smith, or indeed about the Military Police. I still can't understand how the Military Police fit in with the Connaught Rangers, or the rest of the British forces there at the time.

Regards,

Mary