 After sailing via Freetown , Cape Town and Durban , the Athlone Castle sailed up the east coast of Africa and entered the Suez Canal , arriving at Tewfik harbour on 3 March 1941 . In the afternoon the battalion entrained and two days later they arrived in the desert , where they were met by motor transport which carried them to camp <unk> , about 20 miles ( 32 km ) from Cairo . At this point they were met by about 300 reinforcements which were used to replace men who had been laid down with influenza and to bring the battalion up to a higher establishment . Shortly afterwards they were moved to Alexandria , where they embarked on the <unk> , bound for Greece . 
