regard it with horror. In the desert it was
infinitely worse. One day early in May an officer's tent was at 118 deg.,
while the crowded homes of the men must have been far hotter.

About this time H.R.H. The Prince of Wales paid a visit to the E.E.F.
and was present as a member of the Staff of General Murray when the
latter inspected the troops stationed at Kantara. Each battalion was
drawn up by half-battalions in close columns of platoons in front of the
camp, and although the inspection occupied a very short time, the delay
was almost sufficient to cause three senior officers, the first of the
battalion to be granted local leave, to miss the one o'clock luncheon
express to Cairo. They caught it with difficulty and great effort, and
it is reported that their lunch consisted largely of iced beer.

On April 23rd, Easter Sunday, the Turks raided the Katia oasis,
twenty-five miles to the east of us, and cut up the Yeomanry who held
it. Another body advanced to Dueidar, some ten miles nearer us, and were
gallantly held off by a company of R.S.F. That evening the Brigade was
moved out at short notice and marched to Hill 40 in the dark. Here we
bivouacked, and spent a chilly night, while Anzac cavalry passed through
us and moved on the threatened spot, which was far out of reach of
infantry. The next day the rumours that reached us left little doubt
that it was no more than a clever raid by the Turks, but we spent the
day, and a very hot one it was, without shelter in the sand, disturbed
firstly by the information that we should be fighting hard by dawn the
next day, and again by the message that the Turks were seen advancing in
large numbers. This proved to be the Egyptian Labour Corps in hasty
retreat from the neighbourhood of Katia. On the 25th we returned to our
camp, which we did not quit again until May 17th.

The post at Dueidar was an isolated detachment garrisoning an oasis in
which the Bedouin were in the habit of holding a weekly market. These
gentry were rounded up after the Easter day disaster, but the oasis
still needed a guard, because in the desert an area where drinkable
water can be found is more valuable than Alsace Lorraine and the Saar
Valley put together. The true infantry line of defence however was still
further back. About eight miles from the Canal a line of redoubts had
been built, spanning the gap between protective inundations and barring
the way to Kantara. Half a mile further out lay a marvel