We had to do it, as the necessary camels had simply not been
available. However, the Commander-in-Chief quickly remedied this, and
from here onwards we had camels provided to carry our greatcoats,
leaving us pack and blanket only.
At Junction Station we had our first taste of water trouble. As we
were making our way from west to east, we were changing places with a
division of the XXI. Corps. This division had spent the previous night
at Junction Station and had drunk the wells dry, so that no water was
obtainable on our arrival. We were told we should get it by 9 P.M.,
and then a later hour was mentioned; but the net result was that we
got just enough to make our breakfast tea, but not enough to fill the
water-bottles, so we started on our next stage in the very worst of
tempers to find that we had hardly got out of camp before we were
involved in a regular block at the railway crossing which, needless to
say, was frightfully dusty. This delay proved, however, to be a
blessing in disguise, as it enabled our water camels to catch us up
with a small ration of water for lunch. If we had not got this water
we should probably not have got more than 75 per cent. of the Brigade
to the end of the day's journey. We got into camp on a rocky slope
near Latron about dusk, and almost at once were warned to be ready to
start again at 9 P.M. to march another ten miles and take over part of
the line in the hills.
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