Pte Archie ‘Smiler’ Williams (Lilydale), 8^th Battalion: In camp at Mena, Cairo, Egypt. In a letter to a friend in Lilydale – ‘The training here is far more advanced than in Australia and marches of 12 or 15 miles, or bivouacs and night attacks in the desert are not novelties to us now. The weather has become much hotter and a big percentage of our work is carried out at night. We are supposed to have finished our training and only (!) work 10 hours a week (5 days) and counting Sunday, when we have church parade. The other day we have a holiday from 10am till 11.30pm and can go where we like’.