With the British Army in The Holy Land | Page 6

but better known to our
men as "Bill Harris." This disease is conveyed by a parasitic worm
found in the waters of the Nile, and affects not only those who drink
the water, but also those who bathe in it or merely wash. Consequently,
orders were stringent against even touching Nile water which had not
previously been treated. This necessitated the troops east of the Canal
being put upon a very restricted supply, and they were accordingly
rationed at the rate of a gallon of water per head per day for all
purposes, including washing, cooking and drinking. At the Kantara
waterworks water was drawn in from the Sweet Water Canal, mixed
with alum, and pumped through settling tanks into filters. When it had
passed through these, it was pumped underneath the Suez Canal into
reservoirs on the eastern bank. Here it was chlorinated; and hence the
water, now fit for all purposes, was pumped forward to its destination.
There being no gradient to assist the natural flow of the water, it had to
be pumped forward by successive stages. The first stage was as far as
Romani; when working at greatest length the pumping stages numbered
no less than seventeen. At times, during the advance, the railway had to
be called in aid; and train-loads of water for the use of advanced troops
were railed from pipe-head up to rail-head. At some stages of the
advance this supply could be supplemented by local water, which,
though generally somewhat brackish, was employed for the horses,
mules and camels. It was even found to have no ill-effect upon the
troops, if used for a limited period, and if necessary precautions were
taken. At other stages, where water was non-existent, or rendered
wholly unapproachable by enemy dispositions, our force became
entirely dependent upon the supply delivered through the pipe-line.
Ultimately, when we settled down to protracted trench warfare before
Gaza, this pipe-line was delivering a constant supply of water into our
trenches, distant some couple of hundred miles from the banks of the
Nile.
Kantara started upon a process of development worthy of the base of
such an expedition. Before the war, it had been little more than a small
Canal village, comprising a few huts. It eventually grew into an

important railway terminus with wharves and cranes, a railway ferry
and 40 miles of sidings. Miles of first-class macadamized roads were
made, vast ordnance and supply dumps arose, and camps and depots
were established for man and beast. The scale on which this mushroom
town developed was stupendous.
Early in 1916, the Turks, relieved from imminent danger near home by
our evacuation of Gallipoli, came down again in force through Syria,
Palestine and the Desert, to attack us in Egypt. Our construction gangs,
engaged upon the new railway and upon the development of local water
supplies, were at this time covered by escorts, mainly of cavalry, spread
out upon a wide front. On the 23rd of April several thousand Turks,
operating in three columns, attacked our desert posts at Oghratina,
Katia and Dueidar respectively, the two former being about 30 miles
and the last named about 10 miles to the east of Kantara. Oghratina and
Katia, being well out in the desert, were cavalry posts held by
yeomanry. These two posts were rushed by a large force of the enemy
under cover of fog, and, though a stubborn resistance was offered, and
the fighting was severe, the posts were overwhelmed. At Dueidar, an
infantry post, some 20 miles or so nearer our base, the Turk was less
successful. Under cover of the same fog, about 900 Turks tried to rush
this post at dawn. They found the garrison standing to, and were beaten
off. Though they made three distinct attempts to break through, they
were unsuccessful. The garrison was reinforced and the Turks were
repulsed.
In order to hamper or prevent such bodies of Turks from again crossing
the desert and approaching the Canal, it was decided to draw off the
local water supplies in the desert. Accordingly, these supplies, mainly
in pools and cisterns constructed by men in a bygone age, were
systematically pumped or drained dry. By the end of June, no water
was left available for enemy use within easy reach of the Canal. From
this time forward the enemy attempted no more sporadic raids. He
concentrated instead upon a serious attack against our main positions,
which attack materialized at Romani.
By July, 1916, our railway had reached the village of Romani, which is

some 25 miles from Kantara, and is in the neighbourhood of Oghratina
and Katia, where the enemy had secured his success in April. The
Turkish force had been stiffened with Germans and Austrians, and was
under the command of the German General Von Kressenstein. It moved