Bedfordshire Archives Service Catalogue

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X550/6/8/1902
Title
War Diary for February 1919 1 Feb 1919 - Meadi Reorganization of Detachments at MEADI & Tura was carried out. Commanders of Detachments still made responsible for their various duties & to carry on without reference to Hd, Qrs. Owing to the reorganization of detachments it was not possible to continue Educational Classes on the same lines as before & were therefore stopped to allow new scheme to be drafted out. 2 Feb 1919 Church Parade was held for the MEADI & TURA detachments & Hd Qtrs. The service was conducted by the Garrison Chaplain in a hut in the camp area at 0900. The Battn Football Team went to HELMIEH to play the 1/5th Suffolk Regt & after an exciting game in which the Battn had undoubtedly the best side the result of the game being 5-2 in this units favour 3 Feb 1919 The Battn Hockey Team played against the 1/11 London Regt at Helmieh today & were easily winners by 5 goals to one. The Tug of War Team took part in the Preliminary Pulls at the Divisional Sports Ground HELMIEH pulling against the R.A. & beating them. 4 Feb 1919 The Divisional Sports meeting was held at HELMIEH today & all men who wished t oattend were granted all day leave. The Sports were well attended & this unit won the Divnl 3 mile race easily. the Tug of War team pulled against the 4th Essex Regt & lost to them after a stiff pull. The 880 race ws represented by the Battn but the competitor was not placed. The Divisional Band played during the afternoon & the day being fine made a very enjoyable day 5 Feb 1919 All R.A.S.C. men who were formerly attached were sent back to their Corps to-day this unit sending 27 O.R's. The Battn football team played the 1/11th London Regt at Helmieh & a after a hard game the London Regiment won by 2-0. 6 Feb 1919 New instructions were received today which considerably altered the Demobilization Scheme first brought out & the C.O. decided to give a lecture to all ranks and explain to them the New Scheme and to tell them about the Army of Occupation 7 Feb 1919 The C.O. went to Helouan in the afternoon to talk to the Detachment there about the above. C.O. talked to all ranks not on Duty at MEADI at 0900 & at Tura at 0945. The men were very interested in the C.O's talk & appeared quite satisfied with the new scheme. Educational Classes having been re-organised started again to-day and all men not on duty might attend if they wished. Classes were held for Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, French & Shorthand at 0900 & 1400. The afternoon classes being the same as the morning classes to enable those on guard & excort to attend. The B.G.C. inspected the camp at 1030 & appeared quite satisfied with the Battn arrangements. It was explained to him by the C.O. that the Camp equipment was a matter for the P.O.W. staff & that he had applied to them for forms & tables for men's messing. The B.G.C. after lunch went to inspect the Helouan Detachment & commented on the system of guard then in force. 8 Feb 1919 The Battn team played against the 1st/4th Essex Regt in the 54th Div. Football Competition & after a hard game in a high wind the Essex Regt won by one goal. 9 Feb 1919 The Battn Hockey team played against the 1/4th Northants Regt at 1015 & the game was well contested & looked like being a draw but just a few minutes before time the Battn managed ro score one goal. The Football match between the Battn & the 1/4 Northants Regt was postponed & the Sergeants played a match against the Battn Team & after quite a good game the Team won by 2-1 10 Feb 1919 The Corps Commander paid a visit to the camp no formal parade being held. He commented on the excellent way the Bn Cookhouse was run & kept & also the mens huts & appeared satisfied with all the Battn had done. The Division Cross Country Run was held at Helmieh & the Battn were easy winners having twelve of the team of 15 home in the first 24 & the whole team was home in the first 48. Over 200 took part in the run & the second unit was the R.F.A. being 500 points behind the Battn. The Bde Concert Party visited the camp & gave an excellent concert in the hut provided by the MEADI Ladies. The hut was full & several of the English population of Meadi were present 11 Feb 1919 The Battn Hockey Team played against the 1/11th London Regt at Helmieh & after a game which was not so good as some previous matches resulted in a draw of 1-1. 12 Feb 1919 The Battn having received a good supply of hockey sticks new talent was able to be brought out & Coy Comdrs were told t oencourage the men personally to take up the game 13 Feb 1919 The Series of Classes arranged on the 7th were cancelled as sufficient students had not come forward to make it worth while to detach the necessary instructors for the classes. It was however brought to the notice of all ranks by Coy Comdrs that if at any men would desire instruction in any subject a class would be arranged to take them. 14 Feb 1919 The Bn Hockey team played the 1/4 Northampton Regt at Helmieh & although the game was very even all the way through the Northants won by 3 goals to 1. The Bn Football Team played against the 1/4 Northampton Regt on TURA ground & the Battn won after a hard game by two goals to nil. 15 Feb 1919 The Divisional Boxing Competition took place at Heliopolis Lunar Park & some good boxing was witnessed. The Battn had 4 entries & won the Light Heavyweight Competition. 16 Feb 1919 The Battn attended Church Service at the Meadi Residents Recreation Hut the band playing the service 17 Feb 1919 Bedding & Beds were inspected by the C.O.Off today & a quantity condemned owing to being full of ants &c. Running was still carried out & the Battn Cross Country team keeping well in training made a good run in the morning. The Officers played the Sergeants at Hockey in the afternoon & after a fast gane the Sergts won by 3 goals to nil. A Rugby Football Practice was organised & a fifteen was tried & with plenty of practice should turn out well 18 Feb 1918 The Hockey, Running & Rugby teams practised in the morning & the Football team played a match against the Cairo Sporting Club on the Boulac Ground. The Bn undoubtedly had the best of the game but owing to a misapprehension on the part of the Referee a penalty was given & the battn lost by 2 goals to one. The Finals & Semi Finals of the Divisional Boxing Competition were held at Lunar Park Heliopolis in the evening. The Battn had one entry in the Light Heavyweight Contest but did not succeed i nwinning it. The competition was well attended & some quite good boxing witnessed. 19 Feb 1919 The 54th Divisional Race meeting was held at Heliopolis Race Course & a big field attended. The Battn entered two mules but owing to the fact that they started the race in two ranks the Battn entries failed to get clear 20 Feb 1919 The Bn Hockey team played against 162 Bde Hd. Qtrs at Helmieh today & owing to the fact that the H.Q. team had not had much practice the game was a lively one & not much skill shewn. There was no scoring b yeither side although the play was mostly on our side. 21 Feb 1919 The Running, Hockey & Rugby teams practised as usual & the Rugby team is to play its forst matcg on the 24th against the M.G.C. The warning order that the Battn will be relieved shortly by the 54th Sikhs was received. 22 Feb 1919 The Orders for the return of the Bn to Helmieh were received. The Meadi & Tura Detachments to go by train to Abassieh Siding. The Helouan Detachment not to be relieved until further Orders. 23 Feb 1919 The Bn Football team played the 1/ [?]Suffolks & a good game was witnessed. the Bn won by 3 goals to nil 24 Feb 1919 - Helmieh The Bn attended Church Service at the Meadi Residents Recreation Hut & the band although it had lost many of its members during the past week through demobilization played quite well. the advance party of the 54 Sikhs arrived in the afternoon & perparations were made to move in the morning. During the week a considerable number of men have been sent to Kantara for Demobilization & several of the reinlisted [sic] men were sent during the latter part of the week Battn started the day by carting baggage Lewis Guns &c to the Station in preparation for the Move. The 1/54th Sikhs relieved the detachments at Meadi & Tura at 1630 & the Battn entrained at 1700. the Helouan detachment was not relieved by the 1/54th Sikhs but is to remain until relieved by white troops. 1900 The Battn arrived at Abassieh Military Siding at 1900, disentrained & marched to Helmieh Camp, arriving there at 2000 the baggage bring brought by lorry from the Siding. the Battn Rugby team played against the M.G.C. Bn. 54th Div at Gezira in the afternoon and after a very hard game drew 3 points each. the opposing side was stronger & knew more about the game it being the Battn's first match. 25 Feb 1919 The morning was devoted to squaring the camp, pitching tents &c & in the afternoon the Battn played a football match against the Spotters[?] on the E.S.R. ground & a good game was witnessed & ended in a draw 2 goals to nil [sic] 26 Feb 1919 The Running Team practised over a six mile course & has a good run. The Education Scheme was reorganised & will start on Friday. 27 Feb 1919 The Battn was on Divnl & Bde duties today. The Battn Rugby team played their second match against the M.G.C. Bn 54th Div at Gezira & lost by 6 points to nil. Owing to 2 of the Bn Team being badly kicked early in the game the M.G.C. had considerable advantage although the Battn played a hard game. 28 Feb 1919 The Educational Classes were started again with good attendance. Although they were depleted by several men going for Demobilization on teh 1st. The E.E.F. sports took place at Gezira & a large attendance witnessed a good show of British & Indian sports. the Battn won the Cross Country run easily & had all their men inin [sic] 26 2/5 res [?]. the course was 5 mile & over cultivation. Lady Allenby distributed the prizes & congratulated the Bn team on their win. The C in C & H.H. the Sultan attended the meeting the large draft for demobilization were warned to parade to leave for Kantara on the morning f the 1st. During the month the principal interest has been sports & the menhave taken it up well & trained hard. the Demobilization has been progressing the Battn has to date sent over 250 away
Date free text
1-28 Feb 1919
Production date
From: 1919 To: 1919
Level of description
item