THE 7TH BLACK WATCH IN EGYPT 11TH AUGUST - 9TH SEPTEMBER 1942
The S.S Stratheden reached Port Tewfik at 0600h on Tuesday 11th August
1942. Disembarkation began at 0830h and lasted all day with the last
train arriving at Quassassin shortly before dark. So by August 12th
the 7th Black Watch were accommodated in number 36 camp in tents, well
dug into the sand, and equipped with water and showers.
Quassassin was one of the largest transit camps in Egypt. It was
divided into fifty identical camps or numbered blocks each being a
rectangle 500 yards by 1000 yards. Consequently this railhead for the
war on the Libyan frontier was spread over miles of desert. In
addition to troops it was crammed full of workshops and war materials
which were beginning to pour into the country.
Along the northern boundary of the base rose a slight ridge beyond
which stretched the apparently flat unlimitless desert. Huge water
towers marked out the camp into which the 51st Highland Division had
concentrated.
The first few days were taken up by settling in and becoming
acclimatised to the heat, sand, dirt and flies. The flies were the
hardest thing to contend with and along with the dirt of the camp may
have contributed to an outbreak of "D & V" - (diarrhoea and vomiting).
A G.H.Q training team of two officers, who had experience in desert
fighting, delivered lectures in the morning to all company commanders
and above. The main forms of training were :- accustomising troops to
heat and sand and desert conditions in general; fitness especially,
route marches using sun by day and compass by night for navigation ;
getting MT drivers used to desert driving and desert formations . The
battalion transport began arriving on August 13th being disembarked at
Geneffa farther up the Suez Canal on the Bitter lakes. As time
progressed the training became more strenuous especially at night with
concentration on desert navigation and digging defensive positions.
On August 22nd the 7th Black Watch left for K(h)atatba Camp, via
Cairo,which was midway along the desert road between Cairo and
Alexandria. They were not there for long however as Rommel was
threatening to turn the left flank of the eighth army and it had been
decided to establish a defensive position in the delta area
particularly around Cairo and the crossings at the Delta Barrage.
Accordingly on August 25th the battalion re-located to the Delta
Barrage (Baharmis) some twenty miles north of Cairo with the rest of
154 Brigade.
During the next week which culminated in Rommel being halted at the
Battle of Alam El Halfa(August 31st) the 7th Black Watch were at short
notice to occupy their battle positions. All ranks had to stand to
from 0500 - 0600h ; then from 1900 - 2000h each day two-thirds of each
company had to be in their designated area ready to man their
positions if the alarm sounded. "Donald" was the designated code word
which signified that an attack on the delta was imminent. The war
diary records that on August 27th "A" company moved out on detachment
to the east banks of the Nile and then on August 28th "D" company were
also out guarding a canal bridge to the east of battalion camps.
Throughout this period the battalions health was at its worst with
outbreaks of dysentery,fever and "gyppy tummy". The situation was
aggravated by the poor bivouac area in one of the king of Egypts'
orange groves and the ever present ubiquitous fly. It is worth
pausing here to consider the place that "gyppy" had in the troops'
minds. No better description can be found than that in "Sans Peur" -
"In the politer histories "gyppy" is written off in a sentence. This
is wrong. It filled our minds in some cases to the exclusion of
anything else throughout our early weeks and to anyone who fought with
the eighth army it is a memory which will remain when much else has
failed".
An attack of "gyppy" would last three to four days during which the
victim would suffer from acute diarrhoea, no appetite and a constant
feeling of nausea. Hundreds were hospitalised as a result and a total
immunity was never achieved. It was always there in the background as
an ever present accompaniment to a major military campaign in the
western desert.
Following Rommels' defeat things returned to normal for the battalion
and shortly after on September 2nd the 7th Black Watch moved to Alam
Shaltut (40 miles south west of Alexandria ) and near to Amariya. The
battalions' task was to protect operational airstrips, from which the
RAF were bombing Rommel,should enemy paratroops successfully land on
them. The area was bare sand with a few low sandhills and ridges as
the only features.
By far the greater part of the desert was flat or gently rolling
country composed of sand or dust on top of it. As a result all desert
tracks were bumpy as the sand had the rock ledges underneath. With
truck following truck the sand was ground into a fine orange dust
which got everywhere and made eyeshields of some description
essential.
A new phase in the build up to El Alamein was begun when the 7th made
another move to Barrani tomb 10 miles south west of El Hamman to hold
East Minefield Box with the rest of 154 Brigade on September 9th.
However one thing did not change and that was the flies. Food could
not be transferred from plate to mouth without hordes of them covering
the said item. Even though strict hygiene regulations were in force
latrines were not used at night and food was thrown away which
naturally exacerbated the number of flies buzzing around the head,eyes
and mouth.
Desert training for the battle of Alamein now lay ahead.
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