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FOUNDATIONS
OF CODING
FOUNDATIONS
OF CODING
Compression,
Encryption,
Error Correction

JEAN-GUILLAUME DUMAS
Université de Grenoble

JEAN-LOUIS ROCH
Université de Grenoble

ÉRIC TANNIER
Inria, Université de Lyon

SÉBASTIEN VARRETTE
Université du Luxembourg
Copyright © 2015 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

Published simultaneously in Canada

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Dumas, Jean-Guillaume.
Foundations of coding : compression, encryption, errorcorrection / Jean-Guillaume Dumas, Jean-Louis
Roch, Eric Tannier, Sebastien Varrette.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-118-88144-6 (cloth)
1. Coding theory. I. Roch, Jean-Louis (Mathematician) II. Tannier, Eric. III. Varrette, Sebastien.
IV. Title.
TK5102.92.D86 2015
003′ .54–dc23
2014039504

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
CONTENTS

List of Figures, Tables, Algorithms and Acronyms ix

Foreword xvii
Introduction 1

1 Foundations of Coding 5
1.1 From Julius Caesar to Telecopy, 6
1.1.1 The Source: from an Image to a Sequence of Pixels, 6
1.1.2 Message Compression, 7
1.1.3 Error Detection, 8
1.1.4 Encryption, 9
1.1.5 Decryption, 9
1.1.6 Drawbacks of the Fax Code, 11
1.1.7 Orders of Magnitude and Complexity Bounds for Algorithms, 12
1.2 Stream Ciphers and Probabilities, 15
1.2.1 The Vernam Cipher and the One-Time-Pad Cryptosystem, 15
1.2.2 Some Probability, 16
1.2.3 Entropy, 18
1.2.4 Steganography and Watermarking, 23
1.2.5 Perfect Secrecy, 24
1.2.6 Perfect Secrecy in Practice and Kerckhoffs’ Principles, 24
1.3 Block Ciphers, Algebra, and Arithmetic, 26
1.3.1 Blocks and Chaining Modes from CBC to CTR, 27
1.3.2 Algebraic Structure of Codewords, 30

v
vi CONTENTS

1.3.3 Bijective Encoding of a Block, 35

1.3.4 Construction of Prime Fields and Finite Fields, 43
1.3.5 Implementation of Finite Fields, 52
1.3.6 Curves Over Finite Fields, 57
1.3.7 Pseudo-Random Number Generators (PRNG), 62
1.4 Decoding, Decryption, Attacks, 68
1.4.1 Decoding without Ambiguity, 68
1.4.2 Noninjective Codes, 73
1.4.3 Cryptanalysis, 84

2 Information Theory and Compression 99

2.1 Information Theory, 100
2.1.1 Average Length of a Code, 100
2.1.2 Entropy as a Measure of the Amount of Information, 101
2.1.3 Shannon’s Theorem, 102
2.2 Statistical Encoding, 104
2.2.1 Huffman’s Algorithm, 104
2.2.2 Arithmetic Encoding, 109
2.2.3 Adaptive Codes, 114
2.3 Heuristics of Entropy Reduction, 117
2.3.1 Run-Length Encoding (RLE), 117
2.3.2 Move-to-Front, 119
2.3.3 Burrows–Wheeler Transform (BWT), 120
2.4 Common Compression Codes, 122
2.4.1 Lempel–Ziv’s Algorithm and gzip Variants, 123
2.4.2 Comparisons of Compression Algorithms, 126
2.4.3 GIF and PNG Formats for Image Compression, 127
2.5 Lossy Compression, 128
2.5.1 Deterioration of Information, 128
2.5.2 Transformation of Audiovisual Information, 128
2.5.3 jpeg Format, 129
2.5.4 Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG) Format, 133

3 Cryptology 136
3.1 General Principles, 137
3.1.1 Terminology, 137
3.1.2 What is the Use of Cryptography? 138
3.1.3 Main Types of Threats, 139
3.2 Secret Key Cryptography, 141
3.2.1 Principle of Symmetric Cryptography, 141
3.2.2 Classes of Symmetric Encryption Schemes, 143
3.2.3 Data Encryption Standard (DES) System, 145
3.2.4 Rijndael: Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), 151
CONTENTS vii

3.3 Key Exchange, 161

3.3.1 Diffie–Hellman Protocol and Man-in-the-Middle Attacks, 161
3.3.2 Kerberos: a Secret Key Provider, 163
3.4 Public Key Cryptography, 167
3.4.1 Motivations and Main Principles, 167
3.4.2 Rivest–Shamir–Adleman (RSA) Encryption, 169
3.4.3 El Gamal Encryption, 174
3.5 Authentication, Integrity, Nonrepudiation, Signatures, 175
3.5.1 Cryptographic Hash Functions, 176
3.5.2 Public Key Authentication, 186
3.5.3 Electronic Signatures, 187
3.6 Key Management, 192
3.6.1 Generation of Cryptographically Secure Bits, 192
3.6.2 Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), 192
3.6.3 Securing Channels with the SSH Tool, 203

4 Error Detection and Correction 209

4.1 Principle of Error Detection and Error Correction, 211
4.1.1 Block Coding, 211
4.1.2 A Simple Example of Parity Detection, 211
4.1.3 Correction Using Longitudinal and Transverse Parity, 212
4.1.4 Encoding, Decoding, and Probability of Error, 213
4.1.5 Shannon’s Second Theorem, 214
4.2 Error Detection by Parity – CRC Codes, 218
4.2.1 Parity Check on Integers: ISBN, EAN, LUHN, 218
4.2.2 Cyclic Redundancy Checks (CRC), 221
4.3 Distance of a Code, 222
4.3.1 Error Correction Code and Hamming Distance, 222
4.3.2 Equivalent Codes, Extended Codes, and Shortened Codes, 227
4.3.3 Perfect Codes, 229
4.3.4 Binary Hamming Codes, 230
4.4 Linear Codes and Cyclic Codes, 232
4.4.1 Linear Codes and Minimum Redundancy, 232
4.4.2 Encoding and Decoding of Linear Codes, 234
4.4.3 Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) Codes, 238
4.4.4 Cyclic Codes, 250
4.4.5 Bose–Chaudhuri–Hocquenghem (BCH) Codes, 254
4.4.6 Optimal BCH Codes: Reed–Solomon Codes, 256
4.5 Bursts of Errors and Interleaving, 262
4.5.1 Packets of Errors, 262
4.5.2 Interleaving, 263
4.5.3 Interleaving with Delay and Interleaving Table, 264
4.5.4 Cross-Interleaved codes, 265
viii CONTENTS

4.6 Convolutional Codes and Turbo Codes, 268

4.6.1 Encoding by Convolution, 268
4.6.2 Shortest Path Decoding, 269
4.6.3 Turbo Codes, 273

Compression, Encryption, Correction: As a Conclusion 277

Problem Solutions 281
Bibliography 343
Index 345
LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES,
ALGORITHMS AND ACRONYMS

List of Figures

I.1 Fundamental coding scheme 2

I.2 Notions introduced in Chapter 1 4

1.1 Spartan Scytale principle to transmit the text “HELLOWORLD” 10

1.2 Bitwise encryption (Stream cipher) 25
1.3 Block ciphers: ECB mode 28
1.4 Block ciphers: CBC mode 28
1.5 Block ciphers: CFB mode 28
1.6 Block ciphers: OFB mode 29
1.7 Block ciphers: CTR mode 29
1.8 Principle of a one-way function √ 43
3
1.9 (a) Elliptic curve addition and (b) doubling on y2 = x3 − x 2 60
1.10 Functional diagram of an LFSR 64
1.11 Bluetooth encryption 65
1.12 Example of a Huffman tree 72
1.13 Principle of a hash function 75
1.14 Compression function of a hash function 76
1.15 Merkle–Damgård construction 76
1.16 Davies–Meyer construction 77
1.17 Miyaguchi–Preneel construction 78
1.18 Fourier transform 79
1.19 Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) 80

ix
x LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES, ALGORITHMS AND ACRONYMS

1.20 Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) 80

1.21 Floyd’s cycle detection, in the form of a rho 91

2.1 Huffman encoding: beginning of the algorithm 104

2.2 Huffman’s encoding: first step (q = 2) 104
2.3 Example of a construction of the Huffman code 106
2.4 Fax code 119
2.5 BWT on COMPRESSED 121
2.6 bzip2 122
2.7 The 8 × 8 RGB image with white background (here in gray-levels) 130
2.8 Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) zigzag scan 131
2.9 JPEG compression 131
2.10 MPEG-1 compression 134
2.11 MP3 sound compression 135

3.1 Fundamental relation of cryptography 137

3.2 Principle of an integrity checking algorithm 138
3.3 Principle of symmetric cryptography 141
3.4 Stream cipher 143
3.5 Block cipher 145
3.6 One round of DES 146
3.7 DES: Function f 147
3.8 DES key derivation 148
3.9 Matricial representation of a 16-byte block 153
3.10 SubBytes operation in AES 155
3.11 ShiftRows stage in AES 156
3.12 MixColumns operation in AES 157
3.13 KeySchedule operation in AES 158
3.14 Representation of the expanded key W as a sequence of columns 158
3.15 Kerberos authentication steps 164
3.16 Principle of public key encryption 168
3.17 History of the main hash functions 176
3.18 Rounds 1, 2, 3, and 4 in MD5 (0 ≤ i ≤ 63) 178
3.19 Round i in SHA-1 (0 ≤ i ≤ 79) 179
3.20 Keccak’s sponge construct (SHA-3) 181
3.21 Integrity check with hash functions using a secure channel 182
3.22 Integrity check with hash functions using an encryption function 183
3.23 Optimal Asymmetric Encryption Padding (OAEP) 184
3.24 Principle of the use of an MAC 185
3.25 Message Authentication Code (MAC) using symmetric encryption 185
3.26 Principle of public key signatures and verification 188
3.27 Principle of the creation of certificates 193
3.28 Issuing a certificate 194
3.29 Generation and content of an X.509 certificate 196
3.30 Verification of certificate and public key extraction 197
LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES, ALGORITHMS AND ACRONYMS xi

3.31 PKImodel for X-509 certificates 198

3.32 Authenticated registration 199
3.33 Authentication via public key cryptography 199
3.34 An example of the PGP trust 202
3.35 Format of an SSH packet 205

4.1 Binary Symmetric Channel (BSC) with error probability p 216

4.2 The EAN-128 code for foundations of coding 219
4.3 Example of a (10,5) regular LDPC code and its representation
by a Tanner graph. The six bold edges show a length-6 cycle
in the graph 241
4.4 Example of the bit-flipping decoding over the Hamming code (7,4) for
the received word y = 0011101 when the codeword c = 0011001 has
been transmitted. (a) Step 2: parity checks, (b) step 3: codeword update,
and (c) stopping criteria (success) 244
4.5 Illustration of the extrinsic information passed to compute the messages
(r)
rj,i (a, step 2) and q(r)
i,j
(b, step 3) 246
4.6 25 × 25 QR-code and pattern locations 261
4.7 3-L, 29 × 29, QR-code for http://foundationsofcoding.imag.fr 262
4.8 State diagram of the convolutional code of generator polynomials
P1 = X and P2 = X + 1 270
4.9 Lattice of the convolutional code generated by P1 = X and P2 = X + 1 271
4.10 Systematic convolutional code of constraint length 3 transformed into a
RSC code 273
4.11 Parallel composition and interleaving of two RSC encoders 274
4.12 Iterative decoding of a turbo code 275

1 Encoding of a message M 278

2 Decoding of a message M ′ = CORR(CRYPT(COMP(M))) 278
3 Viterbi’s algorithm on the message 10010010011101111010 339

List of Tables

1.1 Letter Distribution in this LaTeX Script 12

1.2 Typical Complexity Bounds Obtained from an Algorithm Analysis 14
1.3 Extract of the ASCII Code 27
1.4 Zech’s Construction on Invertible Elements in Odd Characteristic 54
1.5 Discrete Logarithm and Exponentiation in Finite Fields and Generic
Groups 58
1.6 Group Laws in Characteristics 2 and 3 with P = (x1 , y1 ) ≠ −P and Q =
(x2 , y2 ) ≠ ±P 61
1.7 𝜒 2 Table (Extract) 67
1.8 Distribution of the Multiples of p Modulo m 90
1.9 Quadratic Sieve for 7429 94
xii LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES, ALGORITHMS AND ACRONYMS

2.1 Arithmetic Encoding of “bebecafdead” 110

2.2 Arithmetic Decoding of “0.15633504500” 111
2.3 Integer Arithmetic Encoding of “bebecafdead” 112
2.4 Integer Arithmetic Decoding of “156335043840” 113
2.5 Comparison of the Compression of an Email File (15.92 Mo: Text,
Images, Programs, etc.) with Several Algorithms, on a PIV 1.5 GHz 126

3.1 Frequency of the Letters in French 142

3.2 Frequency Analysis of the Ciphertext 142
3.3 Rabbit Stream Internal State Evolution and Bit Extraction 144
3.4 Complexities of Cryptanalysis Methods on DES 150
3.5 Cost and Efficiency of Attacks on DES in 1996 150
3.6 Performance of Several Block Ciphers 152
3.7 Configurations for AES 153
3.8 Value of the Shift According to the Value of Nb in ShiftRows 156
3.9 Man-in-the-Middle Attack on the Diffie–Hellman Protocol 162
3.10 Sending of a Message Intercepted by the Man-in-the-Middle 162
3.11 Frequential Repartition of Symbols in a Text Written in French 171
3.12 Conjectured Compared Security of Block Ciphers 175
3.13 Main Differences between W and Rijndael 180
3.14 SHA-3 Candidates Speed (Cycles/Byte) on an Intel i7 180
3.15 Resistance to Collisions for the Most Famous Hash Functions 181

4.1 Order of Magnitude of Raw Error Rates 210

4.2 Encoding with a Parity Bit 212
4.3 Error Correction using Parity Bits 213
4.4 Examples of CRC Codes 223
4.5 Comparison of MPAs 246
4.6 Initial Interleaving Table with Delay 2 for Codewords of Length 5 264
4.7 Interleaving Table with Delay 2 After One Round 264

1 Several Primitive Polynomials in 𝔽2 [X] 279

2 Die Simulation by Coin Toss 296

List of Algorithms

1.1 Simplified Fax Encoding for a Line of Pixels 8

1.2 Fax Decoding for a Decrypted and Checked Line 10
1.3 GCD: Euclidean Algorithm 35
1.4 GCD: Extended Euclidean Algorithm 37
1.5 Modular Exponentiation 41
1.6 Miller–Rabin Primality Test 45
1.7 Horner Polynomial Evaluation 47
1.8 Ben-Or’s Irreducibility Test 50
LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES, ALGORITHMS AND ACRONYMS xiii

1.9 Generation of a sparse irreducible polynomial 51

1.10 Test Primitive Root 55
1.11 Test Generator Polynomial 56
1.12 Discrete Fast Fourier Transform 82
1.13 Fast product of two polynomials 84
1.14 Berlekamp–Massey Algorithm 87
1.15 Yuval’s birthday attack 89
1.16 Pollard’s Factoring 91
1.17 Lenstra’s elliptic curve factoring 92
1.18 Gordon’s algorithm 95

2.1 Description of Huffman’s Algorithm 104

2.2 Arithmetic Encoding 110
2.3 Arithmetic Decoding 111
2.4 Dynamic Huffman Algorithm: Compression 115
2.5 Dynamic Huffman’s Algorithm Decompression 116
2.6 Inverse of BWT 122
2.7 Lempel-Ziv-Welch (LZW): compression 124
2.8 LZW: decompression 125

3.1 AES Encryption 154

3.2 Key Schedule in AES 159
3.3 Galois Counter Mode 186
3.4 Shamir’s Trick for Simultaneous Double-And-Add 191

4.1 Hard-Decision Decoder by Bit-Flipping Algorithm 243

4.2 Generic Belief Propagation Algorithm for LDPC Code Decoding 245
4.3 Decoding of a Reed-Solomon code 259
4.4 Viterbi’s Algorithm (Decoding of Convolutional Codes) 272

1 AES Decryption 308

2 Factoring n from (n,e,d) in RSA (Special Case: e is Small) 314
3 Factoring n from (n, e, d) in RSA 315
4 RSA Cryptographic Pseudo-Random Generator 319
5 Repetition Code Decoding with Maximum Detection 326
6 Repetition Code Decoding with Maximum Correction 327
7 Repetition Code Decoding with Detection and Correction 327
8 Minimum Distance of a Code (|V| = 2) 328

Acronyms

ADSL Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276

AES Advanced Encryption Standard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi
AKS Agrawal–Kayal–Saxena . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
xiv LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES, ALGORITHMS AND ACRONYMS

APP A posteriori probability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244

ARQ Automatic Repeat reQuest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
BBAN Basic Bank Account Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
BCH Bose–Chaudhuri–Hocquenghem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
BEC Binary Erasure Channel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
BI-AWGNC Binary-input Additive White Gaussian Noise Channel . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
BPA Belief Propagation Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
BSC Binary Symmetric Channel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
BWT Burrows–Wheeler Transform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi
CA Certification Authority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
CAIN Confidentiality, Authentication, Integrity, Nonrepudiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
CBC Cipher Block Chaining
CFB Cipher FeedBack
CIRC Cross-Interleaved Reed–Solomon Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
CML Coded Modulation Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
CRC Cyclic Redundancy Checks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
CRL Certification Revocation List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
CSS Content Scrambling System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
CTR Counter Mode Encryption
CVV Card Verification Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
DCT Discrete Cosine Transform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x
DDF Distinct Degree Factorization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
DES Data Encryption Standard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi
DFT Discrete Fourier Transform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
DLP Discrete Logarithm Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
DRM Digital Right Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
DSS Digital Signature Standard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
DVB Digital Video Broadcasting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
ECB Electronic Code Book. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27
ECC Elliptic Curve Cryptography. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .175
ECDSA Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
GCD Greatest Common Divisor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
GCM Galois Counter Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
GIF Graphics Interchange Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
GSM Global System for Mobile Communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
HDD Hard Disk Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
JPEG Joint Photographic Experts Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x
JPSEC Secure JPEG-2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
KDC Key Distribution Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
LCG Linear Congruential Generator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
LDPC Low Density Parity Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
LFSR Linear Feedback Shift Register. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63
LLR log-Likelihood Ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
LR Likelihood Ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
LZ77 Lempel-Ziv 1977 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
LZ78 Lempel-Ziv 1978 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
LZAP Lempel-Ziv All Prefixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
LZMA Lempel–Ziv–Markov-chain Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
LZO Lempel-Ziv-Oberhumer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
LZW Lempel-Ziv-Welch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii
MAC Message Authentication Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x
MD5 Message-Digest Algorithm 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
MDC Manipulation Detection Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
MDD Minimum Distance Decoding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES, ALGORITHMS AND ACRONYMS xv

MDS Maximum Distance Separable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234

MGF Mask Generating Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
MLD Maximum Likelihood Decoding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
MPA Message Passing Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
MPEG Motion Picture Experts Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi
NESSIE New European Schemes for Signatures, Integrity, and Encryption . . . . . 151
NIST National Institute of Standards and Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
NSC Nonsystematic Convolutional code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
OAEP Optimal Asymmetric Encryption Padding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x
OFB Output FeedBack
PGP Pretty Good Privacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
PKI Public Key Infrastructure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
PKIX Public Key Infrastructure for X.509 certificates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
PNG Portable Network Graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
PRNG Pseudo-Random Number Generators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi
QR-code Quick Response code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
RA Registration Authority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
RAID Redundant Array of Independent Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
RLE Run-Length Encoding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi
RSA Rivest–Shamir–Adleman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
RSC Recursive Systematic Convolutional codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
RGB Red/Green/Blue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
SDSI Simple Distributed Security Infrastructure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
SHA Secure Hash Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
SPA Sum-Product Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
SPKI Simple Public Key Infrastructure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
SSD Solid-State Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
SSH Secure SHell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
SSL Secure Sockets Layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
TA Trusted Authority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
TGS Ticket Granting Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
TLS Transport Layer Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
UPC-A Universal Product Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
YUV Luminance/Chrominance color space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
ZOI Zone of Influence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
FOREWORD

This work has been initiated in spring 2000 with the creation of the joint
ENSIMAG-ENSERG Telecommunication department at the National Polytechnic
Institute of Grenoble (INPG – France) and the setting up of a general course (last
year French Licence level in the Licence-Master-Doctorate scheme) providing an
introduction to codes and their applications.
Although it was initially published as a handout, it evolved and became reference
material for several courses in Grenoble universities – both in the INPG and in the
Joseph Fourier University (UJF) at the master level.
We take this occasion to thank our colleagues who participated in these courses and
helped us improve our material with their remarks: Gilles Debunne, Yves Denneulin,
Dominique Duval, Grégory Mounié and Karim Samaké.
In 2007, a book was published in French by Dunod editions in their mathematics
and computer science collection. It was then reprinted, with a few amendments, in
the beginning of 2009, and edited in an augmented version in 2013.
Éric Bourre, Cécile Canovas-Dumas, Mélanie Favre, Françoise Jung, Madeline
Lambert, Benjamin Mathon, Marie-Aude Steineur, and Antoine Taveneaux partici-
pated to these first two editions by reading the drafts and spotting some mistakes.
This English edition was started in 2009, when our colleagues Rodney Coleman
and Romain Xu undertook the task of translating the 352 pages of the French edition
in English. Let them be gratefully thanked here.
Compared to this translation, this book has been revised and significantly
augmented (20% additional pages and 27 new exercises). We now cover modern
and frequently used techniques, as elliptic curves, low density codes, or matrix
bar-codes as well as new standards like the estream portfolio, Galois hashing and
counter mode, and the new standard hashing algorithm 3, Keccak. In addition, we

xvii
xviii FOREWORD

have updated several parts, including steganography and watermarking, maximum

likelihood decoding, saturation attacks (on AES), and postquantum cryptography.
“Foundations of Coding: Compression, Encryption, Error Correction” comes now
with a companion website http://foundationsofcoding.imag.fr. This web site provides
access to tools, resources, and news about the book, and, more generally, about secu-
rity. In particular, we propose interactive solutions to several exercises via worksheets,
using the free mathematical software Sage.

Grenoble, Lyon, Luxembourg

Jean-Guillaume Dumas, Jean-Louis Roch,
Éric Tannier, Sébastien Varrette.
INTRODUCTION

This work is aimed at providing a textbook for master students in applied mathematics
or computer science. It can be used as a reference book by teachers, researchers, or
companies involved in telecommunication or information security. The book is, to a
certain extent, self-contained, that is, all used concepts are introduced. However, some
training in algebra, algorithmics, and probability theory will be helpful. Indeed, the
originality of this book is to present fundamental structures and applications, covering
all coding operations, in a single framework.
The subject is the automatic transmission of numerical information. We will focus
on the structure of information, without regarding the type of transmission support.
Information can be of any kind as long as we can give a numerical representation of
it: for example texts, images, sounds, and videos. Transmission of this type of data
is ubiquitous in technology, especially in telecommunications. Hence, it is necessary
to rely on solid bases for that transmission to be reliable, the term “reliable" having
several different meanings depending on the objectives that will guide us throughout
this book.
Transmission channels can also be of any kind (wirenets or wavenets), possibly
through data storage. We will not consider the physical issues coming with transmis-
sion, which are the subjects of the theory known as “signal” theory. “Coding” deals
with information itself when it is meant to be transmitted or stored.
Communication of a piece of information begins with a sender writing it, goes
on with its transmission through a channel and ends with the reconstruction of the

Foundations of Coding: Compression, Encryption, Error Correction, First Edition.

Jean-Guillaume Dumas, Jean-Louis Roch, Éric Tannier and Sébastien Varrette.
© 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Published 2015 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
http://foundationsofcoding.imag.fr

1
2 INTRODUCTION

Perturbation

Encoding Decoding
Source Channel Destination

Transmission efficiency: Data compression

Information Security: Encryption, authentification
Message integrity: Error correction

Figure I.1 Fundamental coding scheme

message by the recipient. Sometimes, the sender is also the recipient: it is the case of
a processor or a person saving data in a register, a memory, or a disk and reading it
later on. Information has to be fully, safely, and quickly transmitted to its recipient.
However, whatever the channel may be, with variations depending on the support,
it can never be considered “safe” in several ways: errors can appear during trans-
missions, and the message is likely to be read, and even modified, by a potentially
malicious third party.
It is up to the sender to compose his messages in a form that allows the recipient
to reconstruct them – considering potential alterations during the transfer or confi-
dentiality of some information – while minimizing the size of data.
These constraints are the starting points of several fields in mathematics and com-
puting that are often developed separately although they deal with the same subject.
The purpose of this book is to gather them into one volume and to present a single
theory whose subject is the form given to information during its transmission, namely
a general coding theory.
In 1948, Claude Shannon layed the foundation stone of what he called a “mathe-
matical theory of communication.” It is said that his theory began with his comments
on natural languages: Shannon used to hide some parts of the text he was reading
and to recover them from the visible part. When removing a few words, he was able
to determine the meaning of a sentence with absolute certainty. Actually, the hidden
words were redundant, they did not add anything to the meaning of the message.
If he removed too many words, he was unable to guess the message with certainty.
Then Shannon developed a theory that would allow one to calculate the “amount of
information” of any kind of message, hence the determination of a redundancy rate.
Nowadays, the operation of reducing redundancy is called compression or “infor-
mation theory.” Here, we are not only looking for efficiency in terms of optimization
of the storage space but mainly in terms of transmission speed: we are interested
in having the shortest message by keeping only what is necessary, or even better,
reformulating it without redundancy.
Another and older concern in the transmission of a piece of information is con-
fidentiality. Assuming that roads (as well as numerical channels) are not safe – and
that a message can be intercepted during the transmission – the text has to be trans-
formed, uncorrelated from its signification, while guaranteeing that only its recipients
INTRODUCTION 3

are given the decryption keys. The history of societies and nations is full of secret code
stories and battles between code inventors and code breakers (who wanted to recover
the meaning of the message without knowing the key). Shannon also contributed in
this field by giving the first theoretical proof of confidentiality in 1949.
Today, a scientific discipline is dedicated to secret codes – cryptology. Not only
do current techniques guarantee the secrecy of a message, but they also allow one to
sign documents and identify a sender.
In addition to ill-intentioned third parties, all channels that are used in transmission
of numerical information can suffer from perturbations that are likely to alter some
parts of the messages, hence to modify their meaning. If the information is sent with-
out redundancy, the least significant modification can lead to misunderstandings once
at destination. As for natural languages, most of the errors will not alter the percep-
tion of the reader because redundancy will allow him to recover the initial message.
Once again, Shannon presented a revolutionary result in 1948: even on channels with
high error rate, it is still possible to add enough redundancy so that the message will
be entirely received. But the proof is not constructive and this theorem keeps moti-
vating the development of methods including ordered and optimized redundancy for
the recipient to be able to detect modifications of the message (detection codes) and
to correct potential errors himself (correction codes). All these methods are cus-
tomizable – flexible – depending on the kind of support considered and its error
rate.
Efficiency, security, and integrity are the three concerns for developers of infor-
mation transmission methods. This book tackles those issues in one single volume
through their common object – the code – which is used to structure the information
on all current technological support.
The general theory of codes is based on a background coming from linear algebra,
arithmetic, probability theory, algorithmic, and combinatorial analysis. In the first
chapter of this book, we will present the mathematical models and the first algorith-
mic developments that structure the notion of code. The presentation of these models
includes some introduction to useful mathematical concepts for the manipulation of
codes, as well as general notions on the efficiency of calculation methods, which will
be frequently used throughout the present work. Reading this chapter will require
a basic theoretical knowledge of linear algebra (a first course in this field should
be sufficient). Some elements go beyond the standard knowledge of nonmathemati-
cian students and are presented in detail here. The reader will soon be aware of their
real practical importance, most of the time during their very introduction. Figure I.2
clarifies the usefulness of these notions and the dependencies between them.
As linear reading is not necessary, this scheme will also allow a reader in a
hurry – or only interested in a specific part of this book – to quickly find his way.
Although the first chapter is meant to introduce the foundations of coding, it can
also be used as a reference toolbox during the reading of the following chapters.
Those chapters deal with the notions of compression, cryptography, detection, and
correction codes separately. They present the fundamental theoretical results and the
algorithms that follow from them. Each chapter is illustrated with concrete examples
and training exercises in the field of telecommunications. We have striven to present
4 INTRODUCTION

Probability theory Algebraic structures Algorithmic complexity

Arithmetic, Euler function

Chinese remainder and Fermat theorems
Entropy
Euclidean algorithm
Modular powering functions

Primality testing Polynomial arithmetic

Pseudo–random generators
Irreductibility testing

Discrete fourier transform

Finite field construction

Compression Detection/Correction Cryptology

Figure I.2 Notions introduced in Chapter 1

both classical coding theories and the most recent developments dealing with them
as far as such an introductory book allow us to.
Not only does this book gathers mathematical theories sharing the same subject,
but its creed is also algorithmic. Here, the mathematical properties of the functions
are used in order to make their calculation efficient. Computation methods are always
detailed and can be immediately implemented in any programming language. Effi-
ciency of the methods is always stated and debated. Existing implementations are
compared.
These sciences are derived from both Greek mathematics – whose quality was
based on their aesthetic nature – and oriental mathematics – which focused on useful-
ness and calculation. This is what can also bring together the foundations of coding,
and one of their greatest merit is to call upon rigorous mathematics – which are
appreciated by aesthetes – in order to build efficient methods applied to common
communications. Hence, this book is at the confluence of these rivers and will attract
technology and number theory enthusiasts, as well as all those whose imagination
is still fired by stories of decryption of arcane languages, machines that correct their
own errors and secret codes.
1
FOUNDATIONS OF CODING

This first chapter is an introduction to the notion of code. It contains the mathematical
background, necessary to manipulate the codes, and the coding operations. Through
this chapter, the reader will understand the constraints of the transmission of informa-
tion, starting from historical examples and eventually learning advanced techniques.
The knowledge of some historical aspects is pedagogically useful to work first on sim-
ple structures. In cryptology, history is also essential for efficient protection against
the whole range of known attacks.
The principle is always to start from examples of codes, showing step by step why
some mathematical notions are useful so that the codes are short, safe, and efficient.
While the following chapters describe recent, elaborate, and currently used protocols
for coding, this chapter provides the foundations of this activity.
Simple objects from probability theory, algebra, or algorithmic are introduced
along the lines of this chapter, when they become necessary. For example, block
coding calls for the definition of structures in which elements can be added, mul-
tiplied, which justifies the introduction of groups and fields. The emphasis is always
put on the effective construction of introduced structures. This calls for a section on
algorithms, as well as polynomials and primitive roots.
This chapter is organized in four sections. The first three allow to focus on the three
important mathematical notions related to coding: algorithms and their complexity,
which is at the core of coding theory; probabilities, related to stream cipher; and
algebra, related to block coding. Then, the last section of this chapter is devoted to

Foundations of Coding: Compression, Encryption, Error Correction, First Edition.

Jean-Guillaume Dumas, Jean-Louis Roch, Éric Tannier and Sébastien Varrette.
© 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Published 2015 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
http://foundationsofcoding.imag.fr

5
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the first landing, again on June 4, and again in August when the
ambitious advance was made from Anzac and Suvla, victory had
been in sight, and the lack of reserves had robbed the Dardanelles
army of the triumph for which they had paid so heavy a price.
On arrival at the crowded beach they awaited their turn to board
the “beetles.” The French had a number of haystacks on the shore,
and had posted a sentry to give warning of the coming of the shells
by blowing a horn the instant that he saw the flash from an “Asiatic
Annie” across the Straits. The bursting of the shell had been timed to
follow the flash by twenty-three seconds, so the sounding of the horn
was the signal for a rush to the haystacks or other available cover.
These were seconds of extreme tension until the crash came and
men realized that they at any rate had respite for a time; though in
the dark it was impossible to know what damage had been done
elsewhere. Piers were struck and great gaps made as parties were
about to cross. Throughout the long night the embarkation
proceeded, most of the men crossing the hulk of the River Clyde.[6]
The wind was rising, and the transfer from the lighters to the larger
transports was made dangerous by the roll of both vessels, and
much argument ensued between the Royal Navy and the Mercantile
Marine. In due course it was accomplished and, as the dawn showed
pink in the east, the convoy steamed away towards Mudros. Eight
months ago nearly 14,000 Lancashire Territorials had disembarked
on the inhospitable shores which were now receding. The Division
that left Gallipoli barely numbered 5000, though every battalion and
unit had received drafts from the second and third lines in England,
or from Egypt, and thousands of casualties had rejoined from
hospital. Few of the 14,000 who had landed in May with such high
hopes and in such good spirits, took part in the last melancholy
parade to the beaches, or sailed on this December day to Mudros,
but those few thought of what might have been, and of the great-
hearted comrades and brothers-in-arms whom they had left behind.
Many now lay in the cemetery above Lancashire Landing, a glorious
resting-place from which, when alive, they had looked out upon the
intense blue of the Ægean Sea, with the peaks of Imbros and
Samothrace to the west, to the south and east the coast of Asia
Minor and the straits, and direful Achi Baba to the north; others had
been buried where they fell. Soon the lovely blossoms of the rock-
rose and the gorgeous poppy would be covering their graves.
Perhaps to none of the survivors would these memories be more
poignant than to two of the padres, the Rev. E. T. Kerby, M.C.,[7] and
the Rev. F. W. Welbon, M.C., who had been untiring and absolutely
fearless in giving comfort to the dying, in performing the last rites
under fire, and in sharing the dangers and privations of the men in
the front line.
The Divisional Artillery remained behind, and also a small
detachment of Engineers and the 1st and 3rd Field Ambulances, all
attached for duty to the 13th Division. The more modern guns must
first be saved, and as each battery was withdrawn a battery of the
old 15-pounders of the 42nd Division was substituted, so there was
no cessation of fire during the day. For several nights no artillery fire
was permitted between 9 p.m. and 2 a.m., in order to accustom the
Turk to quiet nights with little or no firing. When the final evacuation
took place three of the old guns were taken away successfully and
the remainder destroyed. Some of the gunners and the greater part
of the R.A.M.C. left a few days before the curtain fell on the final
scene of the great tragedy of Gallipoli. The last men of the 42nd
Division—and among the very last of the allied forces—to leave the
peninsula were detachments of artillery and R.A.M.C. and a small
party of Engineers.
On the 7th of January the last fight was fought on Gallipoli. After
seven hours’ heavy bombardment the Turks attacked, but they found
the front line more heavily manned than it had been for months past,
and the attack failed. Probably they were surprised by the vigour of
their repulse, as they must have been convinced by now that the
Helles force was in process of evacuation. It is likely that the strong
opposition encountered led the Turk to believe that the British
departure was less imminent than he had hoped, and that he would
have to wait a little longer before he could catch his enemy on the
run. If his suspicions were lulled in this way it was fortunate that he
chose for his attack the day immediately preceding the final
evacuation. Heavy casualties were inflicted on both sides, and the
East Lancs R.A.M.C. men were hard at work without a pause from
5.30 p.m. to 3.30 a.m. on the 8th. Their good work in attending to the
wounded of the 13th Division brought them the personal thanks of
General Maude, who also sent a letter of appreciation to the
Divisional Commander. Lieutenant R. Hartley, R.F.A., distinguished
himself and upheld the Division’s reputation, by putting out a fire,
which had started in a wagon full of ammunition, at great personal
risk.

LANCASHIRE LANDING SHORTLY BEFORE THE EVACUATION.

About noon on January 8 orders were received to destroy

everything that could be of use to the enemy, and an orgy of
destruction began. Huge dumps were made, or added to, the largest
of these being at “W” and “V” Beaches. Hundreds of cases of bully
beef, condensed milk, biscuits, and other rations, ammunition that
could not be taken away, limbers, wheels, and anything else that
would burn, were piled up, and the mass soaked in paraffin. Many
horses and mules had to be shot, to the bitter grief of their drivers.
Preparations were made for the firing of the dumps at daybreak on
the 9th, some hours after the hour fixed for the embarkation of the
last batch of troops. As in the case of so many of the “innovations” of
the Great War—steel helmets, breastplates, catapults, darts, hand-
grenades, for instance—a time-honoured device was resorted to.
Candles were left burning in tins, their rate of burning having been
carefully timed, so that when the flame should reach a certain point it
would ignite a train of oil and waste, which led to a mass of
combustible material placed around and among the wooden cases.
By means of a similar artifice fixed rifles in the firing-line continued to
pop off at irregular intervals in order to delude the Turk into the belief
that the trenches were still occupied.
A walk up Gully Ravine and the Mule Trench to the front line in the
afternoon of January 8 provided new and strange sensations.
Practically all the fighting troops were in or close up to the firing-line,
the support and reserve lines and the usually crowded billets at
Geoghegan’s Bluff, the Eski lines, and similar spots being completely
deserted. One could walk half a mile without meeting anything other
than one of the limbers told off to trundle up and down the tracks in
order to give the enemy the impression that traffic was still normal.
Late at night the troops began to leave the firing- The Last to Leave
line. When they had passed, the men in the second Gallipoli
line filed out, and after them followed the small
parties—each of one officer and four men—of the East Lancashire
R.A.M.C. to pick up stragglers and assist any sick or injured. Last of
all came the handful of sappers who had charge of the closing of the
gaps in the entanglements of Gully Ravine. In places the enemy
trenches were only fifteen yards from the British line, and it seemed
too much to expect that the Turks should remain in ignorance of the
complete departure of the opposing army.
The night was pitch dark. The men moved along the
communication ways and passed through the gaps with a seeming
deliberation and slowness that was most irritating to the more
imaginative, whose nerves were on edge. There is some comfort in a
crowd, though it may be more liable to panic. The handful of
R.A.M.C. and R.E. who toiled in the rear were dominated by one
thought—how many hours or minutes would go by before the Turk
would discover that the British trenches had been deserted, and that
he would simply have to follow swiftly to cut off all stragglers and
perhaps capture or destroy the greater part of the retreating army?
These were the most trying hours that the Lancashire men had ever
known. “If ever man knew terror, I knew it that night,” said one of the
officers, and the others admitted that his experience was theirs no
less. It cost them a real effort to appear calm and collected, and to
talk to their men in tones of apparent unconcern. No sound pierced
the stillness of the night save the occasional crack of a Turkish rifle,
or of one of the fixed rifles left in the trenches, and now and then the
bursting of a shell on one of the southern beaches.
The last party to arrive at Gully Beach found that the lighter which
should have taken them off, was on a reef. “Saturday night, and
we’ve missed the last train home!” sighed one of the men, as, in the
small hours of the morning of the 9th, they set off along the shore
road to “W” Beach, where the last two lighters, already packed like
tins of sardines, awaited them. R.A.M.C. men and sappers got on
board—one of the former complaining that the night had passed
without the promised excitement—and as they steamed away the
dump on the beach went off with a most appalling din. As a
spectacle it was magnificent, the entire stretch of coast being lit up;
and immediately the Turks awoke to the situation, “went mad,” and
began to shell the whole of the Helles portion of the peninsula
furiously and indiscriminately.
Thus, on the 9th of January, 1916, the last men of the 42nd
Division left Gallipoli. Yet is much of the ground in the south-western
extremity of that peninsula still held for Lancashire by thousands of
her best and bravest, who, in the bloom of youth or prime of
manhood, died fighting cleanly and without hatred for love of country,
faith in her cause, and the honour of their corps.
List of Gallipoli Casualties, M.E.F. (Land Forces, not
including French)

Killed, 28,200; Wounded and Missing, 89,349 117,549

Sick (of whom a large number died) admitted to Hospital 96,683
214,232
 Casualties of the 42nd Division in Gallipoli: 395 officers, 8152
other ranks, killed, wounded, and missing.
 CHAPTER IV
THE SUEZ CANAL AND SINAI
(January, 1916—March, 1917)

The Division remained at Sarpi Camp, Mudros, until the middle of

January. Gallipoli had left the body weak and the spirit dulled; every
unit was much below strength, and most had less than half, and
some barely a quarter, of their full establishment. Death, wounds and
sickness had played havoc with the organization, and squad,
platoon, and company drills disclosed the fact that the men had lost
much of their barrack-square smartness, but drills and exercises,
guards and pickets soon put an edge on the dulled blade. The
weather was not particularly good, but the decent tents, the thorough
and much-needed wash, the immunity from shell and rifle fire, the
freedom to walk upright, to take exercise and play games, the arrival
of six weeks’ mail, the canteens, the unfailing interest in the shipping
that went in and out of the great natural harbour daily, all combined
to promote content and happiness.
On January 13 the advance parties and the 5th and 6th
Lancashire Fusiliers sailed on H.M.S. Mars to Alexandria, and then
proceeded to Mena, where they took over a large canvas camp and
prepared it for the reception of the Division. The 126th Brigade, the
greater part of the R.F.A. and other details embarked on January 14,
but the weather at Mudros grew worse, and the order to embark the
127th Brigade was received in the early hours of a morning of violent
storm, during which tents were blown down in some camps and the
men drenched. In the murky half-light of dawn camps were struck,
and companies moved off in a driving hurricane of hail and sleet.
Some boarded a tug, packed so that they could not even turn their
backs to the stinging hail, and were taken “joy-rides” round the great
harbour in unsuccessful search for their troopship, were landed, and
again embarked, transferred to a cattle-boat to be lodged and
boarded on biscuits and bully-beef for five days, and then transferred
to the right transport. Others marched through the quagmires across
half the breadth of Lemnos and embarked at North Pier, and, indeed,
some pessimists are convinced that they marched three times round
the island. An improvement in the weather soon restored
cheerfulness, and with a light heart the remainder of the 42nd
Division left Mudros, the last link with Gallipoli, on the morning of the
18th of January.
Alexandria was reached in about forty-eight hours; thence by train
to Cairo and by road to Mena, where the Division settled down in
camp near the Pyramids of Gizeh. There the 2nd (Manchester)
Brigade, R.F.A., the ammunition columns, the A.S.C. train, and other
details which had been left behind in Alexandria, or had
subsequently arrived from England, were re-united to the Division.
For the past eight months the A.S.C. had been employed on local
transport work, and had supplied drafts for No. 2 Company at Helles,
for the A.S.C. in Salonika, the expedition in the western desert
against the Senussi, the transport camps at Mudros, and a small
detachment had been sent to Suvla Bay. “A” Squadron, D.L.O.Y.,
which had also taken part in the fighting against the Senussi,
rejoined the Division a few weeks later. The show-places of Egypt
were new to a large proportion of officers and men, who made the
most of what opportunities were afforded to see them. Happy
recollections of the autumn of 1914 were revived by the others, and
also memories of good friends and comrades whose shallow graves
lie thick in Helles. On the whole these were pleasant days of
recuperation, but the Division did not long enjoy the flesh-pots of
Egypt—if that term may be stretched to include the French teas and
ices at Groppi’s and similar delights. Orders were received to move
to Tel-el-Kebir, but after a few units had arrived there the destination
was changed to Shallufa, a few miles north of Suez, the Division
concentrating in a camp in the desert east of the Canal during the
last days of January and the first days of February.
The Division now formed part of the 9th Corps, Canal Defences
commanded by Lieut.-General Sir Julian Byng,
whose Headquarters were at Suez. Soon after the arrival of the
Division the command of the 9th Corps passed to Lieut.-General Sir
Francis Davies, and Brig.-General V. A. Ormsby succeeded Brig.-
General G. S. Elliott in command of the 127th Brigade. The Division
was now equipped for the first time with pukka first-line transport
vehicles, and the field-kitchens were a much-appreciated novelty.
The advance-parties at Shallufa had had their fill of hard work, for
the stores had to be taken across the Canal and man-handled up the
steep banks. For a short period in the early morning and late evening
the Canal could be crossed by a pontoon bridge built by the
Australians, but during the greater part of the day the crossing had to
be made by means of a stage hauled across by a chain which lay on
the bed of the Canal. This stage often carried a motley collection of
troops, natives, camels, and stores, and the hauling was heavy work,
which, at a later period, was relegated to Field Punishment prisoners
from the Divisional Compound. The Engineers who were in this
region in the winter of 1914-1915 found that little had changed.
There had been insignificant enemy raids, and no new works of
importance had been carried out. At Kubri the swing-bridge, made of
lighters fifteen months previously by Major Wells—to last a few
months, according to his instructions—was still working, and as the
chesses wore out they were covered with filled sandbags, so that the
progress of animal traffic over the bridge partook of the nature of a
steeplechase. The Divisional Band paid a series of visits to the units,
and it was surely the first time that these sandhills had echoed with
waltz music and the airs of musical comedy. On such occasions the
troops made quite a happy picture, for the strain of Gallipoli had
almost worn off, and the men, now bronzed to a ripe saddle-colour,
danced and laughed and sang, and a more cheerful and contented
set of fellows could hardly be imagined.
The Canal defences had hitherto been on the west bank, with
bridgeheads on the east bank, close to the Canal. It was recognized
that the Canal must be defended from the eastern side, so a line of
self-contained works was constructed in the desert, far enough out to
prevent the enemy from bringing guns into action within seven miles
of the waterway. Behind these first-line posts was a series of
supporting works, while bridgeheads on the Canal formed the third
line. In each section of the defence a mobile force was held in
readiness for counter-offence. The posts were connected by
telephone with the Brigade Headquarters and with one another.
Visual signalling was also largely used by the Divisional Signal
Company, the heliograph being of great service for long distances in
this land of brilliant sunshine. In due course roads and light railways
were run out to the posts, and three-inch water-pipes were laid. The
posts were named after the depot towns of battalions, but, owing to
subsequent reliefs, the units did not as a rule occupy those named
after their depots. Each post had a garrison of, approximately, a
battalion of infantry, a battery of artillery, a troop of yeomanry, and a
section of engineers. The Transport of the 42nd Divisional Train was
left at Alexandria, where its services would be more useful than in
the desert, the Supply accompanying the Division to the Canal zone
and in subsequent operations.
The Field State of February 29 shows a considerable increase in
the strength of the Divisional Artillery, and that various units had
been attached.

Other
Officers.
Ranks.
Divisional Headquarters 14 120
Divisional Signal Company, Cable Section and 5 229
Airline Section
Artillery and Divisional Ammunition Column 108 2,520
Royal Engineers 16 296
125th Brigade and Signal Section 124 1,764
126th Brigade and Signal Section 117 2,244
127th Brigade and Signal Section 114 1,584
A.S.C. Supply Details 9 77
R.A.M.C 24 537
Attached—
3rd County of London Yeomanry 5 93
1/2nd W. Lancs. Field Coy., R.E. 6 143
Monmouth R.E. 3 83
Sanitary Section, R.A.M.C. 1 22
 19th Mobile Veterinary Section 1 12
1st Essex Regiment 26 934
2nd Hampshire Regiment 25 900
Total 598 11,558

Later the Divisional Squadron of the D.L.O. Yeomanry rejoined the

Division, and the 3rd Dismounted Brigade, mainly Yeomanry, was
also attached.
It is unnecessary to refer to the importance of the Suez Canal, not
merely to the commerce of the Empire, but also to the policy and
strategy of the Allies. But it may be well to explain here, very briefly
and roughly, the general situation so far as it affected the defence of
this main communication between East and West. Prior to the
outbreak of war there were British frontier posts in Sinai as far east
as El Arish on the coast about ninety miles due east of Port Said,
and more than a hundred miles by road from the Canal. The sole
purpose of these posts was to supervise and regulate traffic between
Egypt and the Turkish Empire, and as such traffic automatically
ceased on the outbreak of war with Turkey, the handful of troops was
withdrawn. The invasion of Gallipoli had compelled the Turks to
abandon for a time any idea they may have entertained of
conquering Egypt. Now, at the beginning of 1916, although the
withdrawal of the Allies from the Dardanelles and the entry of
Bulgaria into the war on the side of her ancient enemy had set free a
large Turkish army for employment in Asia, the situation had not
greatly changed. The heavy losses sustained in Gallipoli had been a
serious drain upon the finest troops of the Ottoman Empire; the
Russians had entered Armenia victoriously, and it was not possible
for Turkey to prepare and equip new armies to arrest the Russian
progress and at the same time to cross the Desert of Sinai with any
reasonable prospect of success. For, if the evacuation of Gallipoli
had released a large Turkish force for offensive purposes, it had
done no less for the British, and the conquest of Egypt was still a
remote possibility only. But, as the Turks had been improving their
communications through Palestine, there remained the probability
that they might attempt to establish themselves in strength within
striking distance of the Canal. They hoped that a successful attack
here might bring about a rebellion in Egypt. While the Egyptians
remained passive spectators there was no chance of a Turkish
victory.
There are three routes by which a hostile force Routes open to
might approach the Canal. Enemy

(1) The northern caravan route along the coast through El Arish to
Kantara, the route by which Joseph’s brethren, and later the Holy
Family, and in more recent times Napoleon, had travelled from
Palestine to Egypt.
(2) The central Hassana—Ismailia route.
(3) The southern Akaba—Suez route.
Lack of water along the greater part of the central and southern
tracks renders them impracticable for any but a small, mobile,
desert-bred force, and against raiding parties of this description the
chain of posts under construction would be a sufficient defence. But
the El Arish—Katia—Kantara route is of a different character. Oases
are more numerous, and in the vicinity of Katia and Romani, within
twenty miles of the Canal, wells are plentiful, and the water, though
brackish, is drunk by animals, and to a certain extent by natives. No
army, British or Turkish, could occupy this region until water-pipes
and a railway had been laid, but the possibility of a rapid dash had to
be provided against, so the system of defence on the northern route
was extended to a point much farther east than was necessary in the
central and southern sections, and it included the coast of the Bay of
Tina and the water-bearing area around Katia and Romani.
Kantara was the base for this northern section, El Ferdan for the
central, and Shallufa, where the 42nd Division was stationed during
February and March, for the southern. Here trenches were dug and
revetted with wooden frames and hurdles backed with canvas; miles
of barbed-wire entanglements were put up; hutments of matting over
wooden frames for mess and recreation, sun-proof standings for
horses, and fly-proof larders were erected at the posts on the Canal
banks. Gangs hauled the chain-ferry, and every one was kept
steadily at work. In fact, the whole of the Canal zone for a hundred
miles from Port Said to Suez has been described as a vast hive of
workers; and the company humorist—who, by the way, always
alluded to the desert as “the croft”—would ask plaintively: “Is it true,
sir, that we’re staying here till we’ve got all the desert into
sandbags?”
Water for men and animals was obtained from the Nile, via the
Sweet Water Canal, which runs a few hundred yards west of the
Suez Canal. Darius the Persian is credited with the construction of
the Sweet Water Canal, which he used for transport between the
Mediterranean and the Red Sea. After Actium the remnant of
Cleopatra’s galleys took refuge therein. It fell into disuse for
centuries, and was restored by de Lesseps as a water-supply for his
workmen while the Suez Canal was under construction. There were
filtering plants at all pumping stations, and as Nile water contains the
parasite of the dreaded disease bilharziosis, there was a strict rule
against bathing in the Nile or the Sweet Water Canal. Water for the
troops was at first brought in barges from Suez and stored in tanks
on both sides of the Suez Canal, being distributed by camel
transport to the outposts in fanatis. A fantasse (plural, fanatis) is a
stoppered flat box of zinc which holds from ten to twelve gallons and
usually leaks a little. A camel carries a fantasse slung on either side.
As the scheme grew the engineers laid a six-inch water-main across
the desert, and thus the ancient prophecy that Palestine would never
be freed from the Turkish yoke until Nile water flowed into it was
fulfilled.
The third line of works was within easy walking Shallufa and Suez
distance of the Canal. It was good fun for the
veterans of Gallipoli to bandy repartees from the water with the
newly-trained drafts for India and Mesopotamia who, looking down
upon them from the towering decks of big transports, asked when
they were going to “do their bit,” instead of taking a seaside holiday
at an Egyptian pleasure-resort. Much booty in the form of tins of
cigarettes thrown by passengers on liners was gathered in by bold
swimmers. The weather was cool, and, in spite of very strenuous
labour in the loose sand, the stay at Shallufa was a pleasant holiday
as compared with conditions in Gallipoli. The sandstorms of March
were decidedly unpleasant, however, for the sand penetrated
everywhere. To attempt to keep it out of food, equipment, clothing or
lungs was quite futile, and a sandstorm would quickly fill the trenches
that had been dug at the cost of several days’ steady labour. These
sandstorms began with amazing regularity about midday and
continued until 6 p.m. All cooking had to be done before or after
these hours.
During the Shallufa period many officers and men returned to duty
from hospital. These would feel that this record of the 42nd Division
would be incomplete indeed were no reference made and no tribute
paid to the founder and the workers of the admirable Convalescent
Home at Alexandria, established in June, 1915, by Lady Douglas,
whose solicitude for the welfare of all ranks under her husband’s
command will be remembered with lasting gratitude by the Division.
The hospital was supported by the units and by subscriptions from
friends at home. In addition to the return of those who had been
absent through wounds and sickness, units were further
strengthened by small drafts from home—but numbers still remained
much below strength. The Division was weakened by the return to
England of time-expired Territorials, including a number of the best
men. Two officers who had been in command of their units
throughout the Gallipoli campaign also left the Shallufa camp for
England in the spring of 1916—Lieut.-Colonel S. L. Tennant, R.E., on
leave, and Major England, A.S.C., who left to take charge of the 66th
Divisional Train, the duties of Senior Supply Officer devolving upon
Captain A. Gillibrand.
The Artillery here received their 18-pounder guns—handed over
by the 29th Division—and their training and reorganization were
taken seriously in hand, with firing practice in the desert. The three
Field Ambulances remained on the Canal bank, and when not
engaged in training or in attending to the cases brought in on camels
or by light railways from the desert posts, were able to enjoy the
bathing in the Canal. Sick were conveyed by steam launch from
Kabrit and Genefa to Shallufa, and many of the high-temperature
cases were dipped and sponged in the cooling, refreshing water of
the Salt Lake. The Division settled down to a diet of “ginger, spit, and
polish,” the hard work, the swimming, games, sports, concerts—
including a singing competition “for the championship of Asia”—
proved wonderfully efficacious in restoring the vitality and the
smartness of the Division after its long spell of trench life. Invariably,
however, there is the man who has to acquire polish at the cost of
much tribulation to himself and to his immediate superiors. There
was, for instance, the sentry who failed to turn out the guard for the
Divisional Commander. In excuse he explained: “Well, sir, I didn’t
see at first that you were a Staff Colonel,” then, being of an amiable
disposition, he leant forward and added in confidential tones: “You
see, by rights I oughtn’t to be here at all. I’m the sanitary man!” It
was felt that this man was not a success, either as sentry or
diplomat.
During the last days of March and the first days of April, the
Division left Shallufa to camp in the desert about two miles north-
west of Suez. With the assistance of a Belgian contractor and native
carpenters the infantry, under the supervision of the engineers,
rapidly erected a large number of huts with double roofs of matting
and also long lines of stables. A macadam road was made through
the camp and was eventually extended to Kubri. A thorough course
of company, battalion, and brigade training was carried out here, the
physique and efficiency of the troops improving greatly in
consequence. Much of this training was carried out in the desert
west of Suez and along the ancient tower-marked road that leads to
Cairo—the “far end” of the very road which had become so familiar
to the Division in the first autumn and winter of the war. The
machine-gun sections had constant practice; and it was here that the
Brigade M.G. Companies took definite form as separate units.
Emphasis was laid on the training of the young officer; and the
offensive spirit was successfully fostered and stimulated. Once more
it was proved that close-order drill and punctilious discipline,
diversified and relieved by games and sports, formed the basis on
which that military ideal must be built up. Rugby, soccer, hockey, and
even donkey polo were played, and the Rugby team of the 5th
Manchesters won great renown. Canteens now provided cigarettes,
biscuits, chocolates, and other articles much appreciated by the
troops. A Dramatic Society was formed, and plays specially written
by Major G. B. Hurst were given at the “Theatre Royal.” The
rehearsals and presentation gave great fun.
While at Suez the Artillery brigades and batteries were renamed.
The 1st E.L. Brigade became the 210th Brigade, and the 2nd, 3rd,
and 4th became the 211th, 212th, and 213th respectively, each
having three four-gun batteries designated A, B, and C, with the
exception of the 213th Brigade, which consisted of two howitzer
batteries. After the Division left the Shallufa camp it was found that
the defences there were not progressing with sufficient rapidity, and
at the end of May the 7th and 8th Lancashire Fusiliers and the 127th
Infantry Brigade were sent to Kubri and Shallufa to assist the 54th
Division. In spite of the great heat, the Lancashire men, now more or
less acclimatized, got through more in a few days than the recently
arrived troops had accomplished in a month, and they received
deserved praise from the G.O.C. of the section for their work at
Manchester, Salford, Ashton, and other posts.
The heat in June was terrific, and a temperature of 120 degrees in
the shade—the difficulty being to find the shade!—was normal, and
on one or two occasions a midnight temperature of 105 degrees was
registered. During this hot period the scouts and signallers of the
125th Brigade, while taking part in a training scheme, were sent out
to the Ataka Hills, some seven or eight miles from camp, two parties
operating as opposing forces. Movement among the hills proved
more arduous than had been anticipated, and the men suffered
much from the blazing sun—the rays being refracted by the rocks—
and also from want of water. The greater part of them got back to
camp with considerable difficulty. A Yeomanry patrol and an
aeroplane were sent out on June 16, and parties of Arabs two days
later, to look for the missing, and the bodies of two men who had
died from heat and exhaustion were brought in. After this no training
was permitted between the hours of 8.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. For the
remaining ten hours of the day the average man could do little
except lie, lightly clad, envying the Russians in the Caucasian
snows, and dreaming of the invention or discovery of an ice-cold
drink that could be produced in unlimited quantities even in a desert,
and would remain unaffected by the temperature. But—

“Who can hold a fire in his hand,

By thinking on the frosty Caucasus?”

Khamsin winds made life almost unbearable, and bathing was the
one resource, for even bridge became too strenuous a game, though
nap was played occasionally by the energetic ones.
On June 19 the Division was ordered north to El Ferdan
take over from the 11th Division the El Ferdan
Section, the central section of the Canal zone, midway between
Ismailia and Kantara. The move was completed by the end of the
month. The 7th and 8th Lancashire Fusiliers took over the defences
at Ballah, a station on the Canal, and the 5th and 6th Lancashire
Fusiliers at Ballybunnion, a desert post about six miles to the east.
The 6th and 8th Manchesters and the 126th Brigade were stationed
at El Ferdan and Abu Uruk, about five miles north-east of El Ferdan.
The artillery was split up among the posts, the 210th Brigade at
Ballah and the 211th at El Ferdan, and during this period the
howitzer batteries were rearmed with 4·5 Q.F. howitzers. The 1st
Field Company, R.E., was at Ballah and Ballybunnion; the 2nd Field
Company at Abu Uruk, and the recently arrived 3rd Field Company
at Ferdan, where were also the 2nd and 3rd Field Ambulances. The
Division was now occupying the ground where, according to
tradition, the Israelites crossed the Red Sea. The 5th and 7th
Manchesters went as far north as Kantara, where they were
attached to the 52nd Division, and the friendship with the Lowland
Scots, begun and cemented in Gallipoli, was here revived. They also
took over posts from the 11th Manchesters, the first of the
“Kitchener” battalions of their own regiment.
The Engineer-in-Chief, Major-General H. B. Wright, called to his
aid the engineers of the Egyptian Government. Civil contractors,
labour and plant were brought down to the Canal and material was
requisitioned from all parts of the globe—from Australia, timber and
wire-netting, the latter to be used for road-making over the loose
sand; from India, water-pipes, matting and meat-safes; reed-matting
from the Sudan; the whole of her stock of Decauville (two-foot
gauge) railway material from Egypt; engines and pumps from
England; and from the United States, through Mr. J. Pierpont
Morgan, a shipload of water-pipes which were so precious as to
require a cruiser as escort. It was, however, upon the R.E. of the
Division and Corps that the brunt of the work fell, though it might
almost be said that the whole Division was temporarily transformed
into a corps of engineers. The system of communication maintained
by the Divisional Signal Company was extensive, all posts and
outlying positions being connected with Headquarters by cable, often
buried in the sand for many miles, and by visual signalling. Also all
posts had their own system of inter-communication by telephone.
Though the great heat continued during the six weeks in this section
there was often a cool breeze on the higher ground, and conditions
generally were far preferable to those prevailing in the dusty, fiery
atmosphere of Suez.
Toward the end of July information was received that a large
enemy force, led by German officers, and armed with German and
Austrian artillery and machine-guns, was moving, with a rapidity that
was surprising when the difficulties of the march of an army across
the desert are realized, westwards from El Arish. Before long aircraft
located Turkish troops at Oghratina Hod—a hod being a plantation of
date-palms—about ten miles east of Romani, held by the 52nd
Division. Aerial activity increased on both sides, and traffic swarmed
on the Romani road. The Turks meant to force a fight in the worst
possible season for British troops, and their march across the desert
was a notable military achievement.
It was now decided to transform the 8th Corps, of which the 42nd
Division formed part, into a Mobile Column, under Major-General the
Hon. H. A. Lawrence (a former Brigadier of the 127th Brigade) for
operations in the desert east of the fortified posts. Camels were to be
provided to carry all stores, such baggage as was absolutely
necessary, engineering, material, food, ammunition, and water. Kit
was cut down to the bare minimum. Wheeled transport was removed
as useless, and gun-carriages and limbers were fitted with pedrails
and equipped with extended splinter-bars to allow four animals to
pull abreast, each team consisting of twelve horses. Sand-carts and
camel cacolets would be provided for the R.A.M.C., and for the
engineers new equipment for well-sinking on an extensive scale,
with camels to carry the well-lining materials, troughs, pumps, tools,
etc.
In the last week of July the Division was hurriedly ordered north to
Kantara, the El Ferdan and Ballah area being handed over to the
54th Division and the 3rd Australian Light Horse Brigade. On the
29th and 30th of July the Mobile Column scheme was issued to unit
commanders in rough outline, details being left to them. A Base
Depot was formed at Ballah for the R.A. of the Mobile Force, and A
Battery, 210th Brigade, and certain Ammunition Column details
remained at the depot. The horse transport of the remainder of the
Division and the heavier baggage were left at the base camp at
Kantara.
The 127th Brigade, now complete, as the 5th and 7th Manchesters
had rejoined, was the advance brigade at Hill 70. On July 31 it
moved forward along the new railway to Gilban, together with the
Divisional Squadron, a battery of the 212th Brigade, R.F.A., the 3rd
Field Company, R.E., and the 3rd Field Ambulance. On the evening
of August 3 the 6th Manchesters proceeded to Pelusium, near the
coast and six miles north-west of Romani, to prepare defensive
works east of the railway line, and to cover the detraining of the rest
of the Brigade. Early in the morning of August 4 the sound of artillery
fire from the direction of Romani announced that the Turkish attack
had begun. The remainder of the Brigade was hurriedly ordered to
Pelusium, and at 3.27 p.m., as the last battalion was detraining,
Brig.-General Ormsby received the order to march at once in support
of the Anzacs, who were heavily engaged in the neighbourhood of
Mount Royston, to the south of Romani. At 3.30 p.m., within three
minutes of receipt of the order, the 5th, 7th, and 8th Manchesters
moved off without any transport—as none of the camels had arrived
—and also without their dinners, the stew which had been prepared
for them being left untouched. They passed through the 6th
Manchesters, who were ordered to remain in their positions covering
Pelusium, in order to escort and assist in organizing the expected
camel transport. Artillery, cavalry, and engineer detachments arrived
at Pelusium and moved forward, but nothing was seen or heard of
the camels until 11 p.m., when two long files, each of 1000 camels,
turned up. It was pitch dark, the transport was new to the Division,
and the task of sorting out the animals, allocating them to the various
units, loading them with fanatis, rations, ammunition and blankets,
was a stupendous one. But the 6th Manchesters understood what
every moment’s delay in delivering the goods—especially the water
—might mean to their comrades, and they put their backs into it. By
4 a.m. the camel convoys for the 127th Brigade and the attached
troops had been despatched on their trek into the desert, and the 6th
Manchesters had moved off to rejoin their Brigade.
The Turkish army numbered about 18,000 men, Battle of Romani,
including 4000 in reserve, and was well equipped. Aug. 4, 1916
The soldiers had been assured that during the
great Fast of Ramadan they should destroy the infidel and march
victoriously into Egypt. But General Lawrence, whose cavalry and
aircraft had been in touch with the advancing army since July 21,
had made very thorough preparations for its reception, and the Battle
of Romani was fought strictly in accordance with his plans, the
enemy conforming with pleasing docility to the tactics he laid down
for them. General Lawrence had a large force of artillery, cavalry,
and infantry in an entrenched camp at Romani, secured on the north
by the sea, and conspicuously protected on its eastern and southern
fronts by strong redoubts and entrenchments. The south-western
front, being left open ostentatiously, invited attack. The enemy could
not ignore the force at Romani and march on towards Kantara and
Dueidar, where the 42nd Division and two brigades of cavalry were
stationed, as they would then be taken in rear and flank by the
troops from Romani and in front by the Kantara force. They fell into
the trap. Their aircraft reported the strength of the British position to
the east and south of Romani and its apparent weakness to the
south-west. On the night of August 3 they had attacked the cavalry
outposts to the south of the camp, and had slowly driven them in. On
the morning of the 4th they made a strong feint, with the greater part
of their artillery, against the redoubts held by the 52nd Division on