Inspected by the GOC

Wednesday 9th February 1916: The adjutant of the 1st/5th Battalion, currently at Mena Camp near the Pyramids, tells us that yesterday they, along with the rest of 54th (East Anglian) Division were inspected by the General Officer Commanding, Egypt, Lieutenant-General Sir John Maxwell. The inspection took place in the cool of the morning – at 8.15 am “with excellent results”. The division was congratulated on its excellent appearance after the hardships it had undergone at Gallipoli.

Source: X550/6/8

(1) Sir John Maxwell spent most of the early war in Egypt and had fought under Kitchener at the battle of Omdurman in 1898. He is best remembered as military governor in Ireland during the Easter Rising of April 1916 when he had fifteen of the ringleaders executed. After this he served as General Officer Commanding Northern Command at York.