Three Australian officers at Gallipoli, identified from left to right: Lieutenant Roy Kernot of the 1st Division Engineers; Lieutenant Edward Stanley Whitehead of the 3rd Field Company Engineers and Lieutenant Louis Willyama Avery (later MM) of the 1st Division Engineers. The three friends were all associated with the Silverton Tramway Company in Broken Hill and survived the war. image courtesy Australian War Memorial P00244.001
Avery, Louis Willyama – December 1914
Dec 1st
Arrived at Suez. Sailed following day.
Dec 3rd
Arrived at Pt. Said, sailing on Dec 8th for Alexandria.
Dec 9th
Arrived Alexandria & disembarked on 10th. Leaving by train for Cairo. The last night on board ship, a number of us had been on duty unloading ship. We finished at 1 a.m. & wandered into the town. Our freedom was of short duration, being collected by a British picket. We were escorted back to our ship & reported. Received 14 days confined to barracks. Arrived at Cairo just before midnight on Dec 10th. After being provided with cocoa & a roll by English residents, we proceeded by tram to Mina [Mena] Camp, 10 miles away & close to the Pyramids. Tents were already erected for us on the desert sand.
Dec 24th
Released from confinement to barracks
Dec 25
First leave to Cairo of which we had heard wonderful stories from those who had already had leave. My first impressions were a great disappointment & of utter disgust. But one soon gets used to practically anything. After much searching we discovered a place where we had our Christmas dinner, such as it was.
