With the end of the European war conditions had eased a little and I took advantage of this to spend a couple of days in Cairo; I did the usual tourist things, viewing the Sphinx and climbing a little way up the Great Pyramid at Giza. Coming down to earth again I found some Arabs with their camels gathered at the base of the pyramid waiting for people like me and of course I couldn't resist being photographed aboard a static camel. Another half day was spent in the Cairo Museum where Tutankhaman's historical artefacts were the main attraction. We could also go occasionally to a spot on the Suez Canal, Lake Timsah, for a weekend where the army had established Ferry Point Leave Camp, where tent tops were situated amongst pine trees and where discipline was relaxed. The trip by army lorry took us by Zagazig and the Sweet Water Canal where to fall in meant a series of unpleasant injections by the MO. We lazed and swam and ate and sun bathed and for the first time saw little sea horses I found that I could float in the canal whereas I never could in fresh water but I also found that there were leeches in the water and a couple attached themselves to me. DO & CLERICAL STAFF No.2 BASE WORKSHOPS. AFTER VJ DAY Sometimes we went into Ismailia, a nearby town for a change of pace, perhaps to the open air cinema or to buy something to send home; I remember sending packets of jordan almonds and dates back to Britain. The war with Japan was now officially over but mopping-up would still take some time and troopships of pink Brits were constantly passing; we used to cheer them up by yelling, "Get yer knees brown, Pinky." or, "Yer going the wrong way." Many of the old stagers among us were fried to a deep brown and could easily pass for natives and some used to swim out to the troopships and emulating the natives dive for pennies thrown by the unsuspecting pink Brits. The army had spent a lot of time over the years teaching us to do the most uncivil things and now they attempted to re-humanise us; for this purpose members of the Army Educational Corps were sent out to lecture us on several subjects dealing mainly with the practical side of living, buying houses, mortgages, how to deal with uncooperative neighbours, a little applied psychology and the like; quite useful really.