A Battle Essay

This is one of those historical stories that I occasionally tell, and it reflects upon how people view the event.

Some people call this a 'battle'.  Some call it a 'ruckus'.  Some call it a 'riot'.

There is a neighborhood over in Cario, Egypt by the name of Wagh El Birket.  If you asked folks now about the neighborhood....no one would recognize the name.  It's now called Al Azbakeya.  It's on the eastern side of the Nile, in the center of town.

On 2 April 1915, about nine months into WW I....there were Australian and New Zealand troops who'd been brought in....to be part of the front up at Turkey.  It's safe to say that they weren't yet into the war, and things were pretty relaxed.

This area of town is interesting....being mostly saloons and brothels. 

Somewhere on the 2nd....this ruckus starts up with around 2,500 Australian and New Zealand soldiers involved.  They were.....wasted. 

What is laid out as the beginning part of this...is some Brit in the middle of this...finding his sister as a 'pole' girl, and he attempted to 'rescue' her.  This led to a fight, where Aussies and NZ guys were in the mix.

History will write that the Army guys were a bit hostile already.  Prices for drinks had gone up.  Along with this....the quality of the booze had slipped.  And adding to the fury....there just was an awful lot of venereal disease going on. 

Toward the end of this night....what you can say is that several brothels had burnt to the ground.  Some of the Egyptian firefighters had attempted to stop the fires, but they were fought off by the soldiers. 

By the late evening hours, local police helped by the MPs....the 'battle' had finally been put down.

The curious side of this is that it's generally described by historians as a 'battle'.....mostly over a Brit 'pole' dancer.