For the EFF, the troops' only relief came during rest periods on the Mediterranean coast,Hill 1978 p. 108 where a bivouac was described in glowing terms by Joseph W. McPherson, an officer in the Egyptian Camel Transport Corps.McPherson 1985 p. 175"I have been ensconced in a mossy flowery bank under the luxuriant hedge, writing this letter, to the wonderment of tortoises and lizards, green beetles and golden birds, with just enough bombing and shelling going on to remind me that my present role of gentle shepherd is not the main one. Gad el–Moula [his batman] brought me tea and biscuits at 3.30 and the men's rations were sent out to them, but the sun has now set gloriously over the sea behind the trees and swarms of fireflies are coming out to make the most of their little electric torches before the big moon mounts itself, bright stars appear for a moment in the sky and give place to thick black smoke rings, whilst others, paler but more permanent, gleam gently without smoke, a battalion of flamingos is manoeuvring overhead, wheeling and deploying, advancing in echelon and now, at the alarms of a Turkish shell, advancing at double march in extended order towards the lake, where armies of frogs and crickets sing in rivalry, and from the direction of the camp comes the sound of a bell, the Angelus perhaps, though I think it is more likely to be the Gas Alarm, and I have not my muzzle." [McPherson 1985 p. 175]
