An interesting history of the Camaleer
/Fascinating piece from Monash Journalism (Mojo) on the Camel drivers of early Australia, including a great quote from the Geraldton Guardian in 1917 on the use of the Camel in World War 1:
“Their work is arduous and monotonous in the extreme, and consists mainly of conveying water rations, fodder and ammunition to the mounted column that has hurried Johnny Turk over the border of Egypt into his own territory again.
Right well has the job been done, and but for the Camel Transport Corps the campaign would have been impossible. Day after day, week after week, huge trains of camels loaded with war materials, attended by Arab drivers and superintended by the C.T.C., have moved across the blinding, shifting desert.
… Personally, I look on them both as evidence of the wonderful spirit of our men, who, after a year of fighting over one of the most arid deserts of Africa, are able on reaching the other side to behave like big joyous schoolboys seeing only the bright side of life. ”
