In the mid-
1930s, the headquarters of the
British Mediterranean Fleet[?] was moved from
Malta, to
Alexandria,
Egypt.
Although Egypt was technically neutral,
Cairo soon became a major
military base for the British forces. This was because of a
1936 treaty by which Britain argued it had the right to station troops on Egyptian soil in order to protect the
Suez Canal.
There had been a large
Italian community in Cairo prior to the war. Following the
June 10,
1940 declaration of war, nearly all of the Italian men were arrested and nearly all Italian property was seized, leaving the women in
poverty. Many of the Italian women would be reduced to
prostitution. The royal Italian servants of
King Farouk I were not interned and there is an unconfirmed story that Farouk had told
Sir Lampson, "I'll get rid of my Italians, when you get rid of yours.", a reference to the
diplomat's Italian wife ([1] - p.44).