Once again, a snapshot of the repetition of camp life, with Route Marches, to maintain fitness and practice specific routes, alongside training, providing much of the activity. Here the men are stationed at Mena.
Joe Guthrie, a machine gun Sargent in the Finsbury Rifles, produced an Oral History recording of his time at war, held at the Imperial War Museum. In it he recalls stories which illuminate the experiences of soldiers which fall outside the rigid, formal information stored in the War Diary.
Mena was close to the Pyramids, and Joe Guthrie tells this anecdote about climbing them with a local guide:
‘I swore when I saw that Pyramid, I’m gonna climb that…thing and I did, the next morning I was up there…Had a drink up the top of the Pyramid. And then when I went into the pyramid at Mena, the chap…who was showing me round met another…and they had a fight about who was supposed to be taking me round! Showing me round the Pyramid. That was all very interesting. And we stopped at the Pyramids until we moved up to the canal of course.’
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Date 3 to 5/2/16
Normal camp routine. Training continued.
Date 6/2/16
Church parade under Brigade arrangements. Battalion on duty for camp and Brigade. Very numerous guards, picquets and fatigue provided.
Date 7/2/16
Brigade Route March.
Date 8 to 9/2/16
Normal Camp Routine.
Date 10/2/16
Brigade Route March. Battalion on duty.
Explore the Glossary for an explanation of any unknown terms.
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