Letter from Roy Bruce to Maud Bruce

We are still here. I am
sorry I missed last mail but I have
been suffering from what is locally called
a "Gyppy tummy" in N.Z it is called "gripes".
It is not realy quite the same though, as
this is probably caused by heat, sand & flies.
It is rather a nuisance though & somewhat
painful, incidentally it cost me a pair of
pyjamas without any warning the other
morning, which is also a painful subject,
it was particularly painful to my orderly
who had to dig a grave! But really I am
nearly well now, I have been threatened
with the hospital by Thomas & Gunthrie & have
promised to be a good boy & go if I am not
better by tomorrow, but I shall be alright
tomorrow.

We are hung up here I believe
waiting for the Dardanelles to be forced, as soon
as that happens we move. English, Indian,

Colonial & also 20,000 French troops which have
just arrived at Alexandria . The whole of this
force forms another army under General Sir Ian
Hamilton , who has just arrived & inspects us on
Monday , and our object is to incidentally
take Constantinople & then possibly with the
Italians & some other states drive right up
north a into Austria & eventually Germany .
This will force Germany to withdraw troops from
both Eastern & Western frontiers & will probably
end by converging on Berlin if they don't give
in before. Of course none of this is official,
but it is the conclusion I have come to by
putting two & two together. Also it is sound
tactics although on a rather large scale.

It will be splendid to be under Genenral
Hamilton , especially as he has already had so much
to do with Colonial troops.

We had a big inspection & march
past the other day by Egypt 's new High Com snr
& General Maxwell , really the culminating
point of our training. First of all we all
walked by quickly & afterwards the New Zealand
& Australian cavalry (the call us cavalry now)
cantered past the saluting base. I saw the
picture man at work but I don't know whether
they will get to N.Z. If they do & you can

pick old Wain 's white moustache. I was
riding just a length behind him. I
believe the whole show was very good.
Everyone was pleased & we spent the
afternoon back-scratching. Since then
we have done very little work, that is
hard work in the field, so we take it our
training is complete and we are ready
for nything that may come along.

It is getting very warm here
now in the middle of the day & the
afternoons, too much so for our thick
uniforms; the dust storms also are getting
more violent & more frequent, I used
to think nor.westers were bad, but they
are gentle zephyrs compared to these.

From what I can see in the
papers you send me you can get far
more news of our doings & what Egypt is
like from the "Weekly Press" than anything
I can tell you. Why even I learn
things about our doings from the
"Weekly Press" that I didn't know before.

We had a splendid three day

trip a little while ago to the Delta Barrage .
The Delta Barrage is a huge dam on the
Nile & controls all the irrigation of Lower
Egypt . It only cost 6 million to build,
so you can imagine it is something rather
wonderful. There are the most glorious
gardens & terraced walks there, we were
all just like kinds in the fresh grass & to
hear running water again was like music.
We took the squadron down & practised
swiming horses across the river. We had
a good time and it was very successful.
Met the engineer there a man named
Max, a Scotchman, who took us home to
dinner & fed us like princes. High wife
also Scotch was very nice & we spent a
most pleasant evening. We were very
sorry to come away from that place.

I don't remember whether I told you
in my last letter that amongst the other
things I am sending to you, there is a
ring for you. I hope you won't be very
disappointed but I cannot see much hope

of getting a decent mummied cat, so
I got this ring instead. It is a scarab,
genuine (of course the setting is modern)
of a god 1700 BC making it 3600
years old. I am enclosing the guarantee
of genuineness & here is the translation
"Ring in gold 18 Carat and Genuine
Scarab of Amen-Rā of the 18th Dynasty
1700 B.C."

I do hope you will like it, you
will notice that it works on a swivel.

These genuine scarabs are rather
hard to get, imitations are countless &
very difficult to tell from the real ones

I spent 1 1/2 hours with the dealer
bargaining and at last got it for
a little more than my own price &
a good deal less than his. If it does
not fit you, you can easily get it made
a little larger. Look after it, because
it is a good one and I don't think
you will find many like it in
New Zealand

I hope you won't be very dis-

appointed about the cat, but what I
could find were such poor specimens,
just bundles of rags & nothing at all
to show they were anything else

Have just heard there is every
possibility of our being here another month!
I do hope in many ways it is not true.

It was rather curious you asking
about my relations with Pinkie , because
up to the day your letter arrived we
have been the very best of friends, on that
day the first day I was ill with my
'Gyppy tummy' he tried to do a rather
mean thing over a horse, consequently I
have written him off the slate for the
time being anyway. I can see he is
already ashamed of himself so I don't
suppose it will last long

It is quite time we all got away
from here, there is a lot of crawling &
underhand work going on, it is very
disgusting. It is a pity that men
don't change their spots when they put on a

uniform. It will soon stop though
when we really get to work.

A party went up to Luxor the
other day, a three day trip. I should
have gone if I had been alright. It was
rather a rush, but they seem to
have enjoyed it. It is suprising how
indifferent one becomes to ruins & things
after a while. Perhaps it is
because we are not able to understand
them.

My dear you needn't worry your
head over these exotic beauties, that
you call them, that I may meet here.
There are lovely women here of course &
also they are exquisitley dressed, but you
forgot that they can only live in an
artificial atmosphere, and that mountain
daisies flourish at altitudes they can't
breath in. I am not in the least
likely to lose my head over any of them.
They appeal to one's vanity nothing more,
& anything artificial never did appeal to
me.

I have not recieved any of the parcels
you have sent me yet. There is something
wrong with the parcel delivery I think.
Please don't send me a lot of things dear.
I am very well supplied. If you like you
can send me that heavy pair of brown
boots I left behind, the ones without
the caps, they will be very useful if I
can get them

Thanks for the snapshots, I am glad
your camera is right again, how Helen
has grown, dear little soul.

Good bye for the present my darling,
don't let the little things worry you too
much. I must get you out of N.Z
as soon as possible
Kiss me darling, both of you, I
wish you were here Roy .