Letter from Roy Bruce to Maud Bruce

My prophecies were not far
wrong after all, we are leaving here next week
providing everything goes well, but I think
not for France . From what I know &
what I hear we are going somewhere in
Turkey and I suppose our ultimate aim is
the capture of Constantinople . After all it
is quite reasonable. We are at war with Turkey
and we are the nearest force available for the
subjection of that country, just as we were
the nearest force available for the defence of
Egypt against the Turk. Now that there is
no longer need for a large force here we shall
got to the nearest place where one is required,
which at present is Turkey . I do not know
where our base is to be but it may be Cyprus ,
or else an island higher up nearer the
Dardenelles . By the time we have finished
this campaign we will have seen something
of the world. Well, I suppose when we
leave Egypt we leave the lighter side of war
behind us and become a little more in
earnest. I think no one will be sorry to

go, we shall have been here well over three
months, and there is so much to be done
elsewhere, although of course we might have
quite easily have had as much & more than
we wanted here. I must say it has been
an extremely instructive & pleasant time,
we have worked hard, really far harder
than we shall work in the field, except
of course at times, we are better soldiers &
in many cases I hope better men, we have
had our amusements of a very varied kind,
and of a kind new to most. Some have
suffered, some poor devils will carry the
marks to their graves, the majority have
come through with broadened minds & a
more tolerant outlook. Should it be the
fortune for most of us to come through this,
I venture to say that the men who return
to New Zealand will in many ways considerably
alter some of the views held in that country.
I do not necessarily mean as regards military
training, but in the civil and social life
of the country. Some day you & I will
come here, and I will take you to the places
I have been to, and we will go out & camp
in the desert & among the orange groves & date
plantations, just as I am doing now & you will see the Arab & his family, with his ox &
his ass exactly as he was thousands of years
ago. It is extraordinary, nothing has altered,
not even the Hebraic features.

We treked for four days last week, but
did not get so far as Zagazig , because the
General wanted us back a day earlier, &
launched the Australian division against
us to make us fight our way back to camp.
The trek was a great successs, really the
mounted Brigade is quite imposing on the
march, with all waggons & ambulances &
things we take up nearly 2 miles of road
space. In the second night we got as far
as Bilbeis ; I do not know whether it will
be marked on your map, but it is roughly
18 miles South of Zagazig which is roughly
40 miles north of Cairo . Bilbeis is a
rather important trading centre for caravans
from Syria , it is about 15 miles due west
of Tel el kebir Tel el Kebir . We had hoped to go out
& see the battle field, but fate & the General
ruled otherwise.

Always it happens when I sit down to
write to you and catch a thread that some-
thing intervenes and the thread is broken, it
has been so this afternoon, my sergeant came

to ask about something at 4 o'clock & it is
now 7.30. & the thread is of course broken.

Last Sunday, Andrews & I spent in the
Museum. It is indescribable, all Egyptian,
rooms & rooms, mummies, statues, pottery,
gorgeous jewellery, anything from 6/7000 B.C.
I can't describe it, we revelled in it until
we were turned out.

I bought one or two small things which
I hope will reach you safely.

The little statuette dates 3000 B.C. these
are found inside the sarcophagi, and are
put there to answer the questions of the gods
when they come to ask questions of the body.

The arrow heads are bronze & date from
the Roman invasion of Egypt .

The little blue scarab is very old, but is
not a good specimen, good ones are extremely
rare and very expensive. One can however
see the beetle & the cobra's head.

All the above are absolutely genuine
I bought them at the Museum & they are
guaranteed. There are also 2 old pipes,
about 200 years old, picked up in old Cairo .

The black veil is worn by the married
Arab women, the metal part lays along the
nose, & the band fastens behind the ears.

They must be very uncomfortable.

The little mat was worked in an
Egyptian harem, in the centre is the
imperial Turkish seal.

The other mat is cheap Egyptian stuff,
only interesting because it is Egyptian.

I don't know what to do about your
cat. I cannot get one anywhere. They
say they only get them occasionally now.
Three people have been trying to get one
now for 2 months & so far they have not
succeeded. I have been shown several
small mummied animals, but they were
uninteresting.

So far what I have got it not very
much, and I do not think there will
be time to get anything more. They will
however serve as souvenirs.

I met Lampen the other day, he
is just what one might expect from
Andrew 's description. A clever man & difficult
to know, made as a hatter.

Marchant has been made quarter-
master to the Regiment, with the honorary
rank of Captain. I wish him luck, it is
a tedious job.

You ask in your last letter whether

Pinkie was never acting captain either in N.Z.
or here. There are no such things as acting
appointments. Temporary rank was granted
to certain officers of the Staff Corps subject
to their passing the Imperial examination.
Pinkie has never held any rank beyond his
present one.

I am very glad to hear you and
Margaret are getting on well together. Now
that I am away & back in civilisation
again, I marvel how anybody ever got
on with anybody at all in the confined
limits of our lives in N.Z. Do you know
dear, I am certain I can never live in
N.Z. again. I am glad I went there,
because it gave me you, but I could not
live there again after this unless something
extraordinary happens. You will be happy
when you can see it all. Don't think I am
carried away by the glamour of one of
pleasure cities of the world, but I am at
home in it all. My place is in it some-
where. I know I am going to miss Egypt
terribly. From the latest electric lift at
Shepheard's hotel to the Archimedian screw
worked by hand on the canals 5 miles
away, & the blind folded oxen & camels

working the old wheel wells as was done
in the times of the Pharaohs. It is
incredible but true. The Old Testament is
spread before you here. Certain verses of the
Psalms taken in conjunction with the
desert, take on a fresh meaning. What
is a life amongst it all? A thousand years
shall be as one day, & one day as a thousand
years. It is true, too true. Tragic in its
simplicity, sublime in its grandeur.

Poor old girl , and you have to stay
behind and miss it all, for the present,
but I am looking forward to the days when
you shall see it, and then I think the
fortune teller's words will come true, "At
present you do not know what happiness is."
Dear , I want you here very much.

I am glad you say you are happy,
make the best of everything dear, life has
a lot in store for us yet. Teach Helen to
believe in happiness she must not grow up
a misanthropic individual like myself.
The ideal life is duty & happiness, and I
think in many cases the terms are
synonymous.

I had a letter from M rs Druce the
other day. A very nice letter, in which she

wanted to know if there was anything
she could do to make me more comfortable!
If she could only see us really wallowing
in luxuries! Awfully decent of her to write,
perhaps I shall see her some day.

Dearest I am going to bed, Pinkie
has just come in so another thread is
broken.
I will try & write again before we
leave here, but after that I have no idea
when you will hear from me. You may
be sure as soon as we get going I shall
take every opportunity of sending odd
lines.

Good night my darling - kiss me + as
often as you like, kiss Helen and hug each
other for me. God bless you & keep you
both my dears.

Your husband
Roy .