everyone who has felt what the desert
is like in July will be full of admiration. Nor can one wonder at the
fact established by our all-wise Intelligence, that prisoners captured
had sore feet. The first ripples of the commotion produced by this
report reached us at 1 a.m. on the 20th, when the Adjutant was summoned
to Brigade Headquarters. At 2.45 a.m. half "C" Company moved out to take
over Redoubt No. 10, and later in the morning "B" Company garrisoned No.
8 and "D" Company No. 11, while the rest of "C" Company occupied 10A.
These redoubts, though habitable, were still unfinished. They were part
of the defences mentioned above as being in the hands of the Egyptian
Labour Corps, a chain of posts running south past Romani and then
turning west among the sand hills. The garrisons had at once to set to
and improve their position, strengthen their wire and finish off the
fire bays. At 10A a signal station had to be established in mid-desert
some hundreds of yards from the redoubt, owing to a temporary shortage
of signal wire. Signallers are naturally imperturbable, but the officer
in charge confessed to a thrill of horror when, having with some
difficulty made his way to his signal station at midnight and been
handed the receiver, even as he uttered the preliminary "Hullo," the
instrument suddenly sprang from his grasp and rushed off into the
darkness. Mastering an almost overpowering desire to run for the
redoubt, he assisted two signallers to investigate and discovered that
the wire had caught in the foot of a straying camel, which had proceeded
on its thoughtless way with the receiver attached.

But as is usual in desert warfare, time passed and nothing happened. "B"
Company were relieved in No. 8 by the 53rd Division and rejoined "A"
Company in camp. The other garrisons got into tents which they pitched
in the ground behind the redoubts, so that the majority of the men could
have shelter by day. At night the trenches were manned, and all was
ready for an attack at dawn. But with the exception of some
bomb-dropping raids by their planes, the enemy remained passive. The
Australian Light Horse reported that he was busy digging in on a line
through Oghratina, some miles east of Katia, and we began to think that
he intended to put the onus of attacking on to us. The fear, however,
was unfounded, he was only completing his preparations, and on the night
of August 3rd-4th he advanced and occupied Katia.

This movement was