7.30 : Prelude to Battle

Everything was quiet in Cairo, that late afternoon of 31st July 1915. Apart from the usual bustle of soldiers who had the day off and were looking for entertainment in the Ezbekieh district close to the Shepheard's Hotel, nothing much happened. Inside the hotel and on its large terrace, a number of officers had gathered for a drink or were having their afternoon tea. To keep an eye on the troops in the city, there were the usual picquets doing their usual rounds.

Sergeant C.A. Witchurch of the A.I.F was in charge of the 5.30 picquet under 2nd Lieutenant E.C. McBryde Broun :

"We marched down to the Soldiers' Home and reported there. We relieved the Picquet on duty and then marched around the Bazaar. We reported back from the Bazaar to the Soldiers' Home about 7.30." As was customary, the members of the Picquet were given ten minutes before starting their next round.

At that same moment, not very far away, Private C. Robinson of the Westminster Dragoons was having a quiet walk on his own : " I was going by Shepheard's Hotel in the direction of buildings at the top of Red Blind Street, and when outside House No. 11, a slight argument was going on between three men, who were Australian soldiers in soft felt hats. There was no crowd there when the argument started. I walked down, and being on the police, I saw this was a drunken argument between the three men. Shortly another man came up and I asked what the argument was, and at practically the same time a New Zealand Sergeant came downstairs. He seemed to be very cut about the head. The sergeant came down and a chair was thrown following after him. It appeared from others that the Sergeant had failed to pay the woman. On this the four men drew away, and several of their friends in the crowd, seeing that they were intoxicated and fearing trouble, called them away to the opposite side of the street. Opposite No. 11 there is a lavatory, and they took pieces of tile away from here, and began to throw them at the windows opposite."

Meanwhile, Lt. Broun who, was having a break with his Picquet at the Soldiers' House, was approached by an excited civilian :" We had fallen out the Picquet for ten minutes' rest at the Soldiers' Home, when some foreigner came round and reported to me that about 20 soldiers were breaking up a house in the street commonly called Red Blind Street. I think No. 11 was the house. I marched the Picquet round at once."

Before long, it became clear to Sgt; Witchurch as well, that something was going wrong : " We came up there and moved a crowd on who were standing at the corner, watching some natives fighting. We then noticed a big crowd in front of No. 11 Red Blind Street and we started to go up to see what the disturbance was."

As Broun soon discovered, there was more than just a minor disturbance : " I could see as I was going up the street the furniture being thrown out of the windows and quite a large number of Australian soldiers had collected."

Sgt. Witchurch was even more precise in his observations : " Just as we arrived there, a chest of drawers came out of the window on to the ground."

What had started as a simple argument among one of the ladies and some of her clients, had clearly developed into something more serious.