Young soldier in the Middle East

Joseph Prior had just turned 15 when he joined up. He was posted to the Middle East, and this is the story told about him: 

JOSEPH PRIOR was under age when he signed up as a regular in 1915 aged 15 years and one month. He joined the 5th Essex Brigade - one of the first Kitchener brigades - which the family says shows how the recruitment campaigns were working. Joseph hero-worshiped his older brother, Bertie Augustus, who was a regular soldier 10 years older than him.

In the 5th Essex Brigade, an older soldier, P. Oliver, looked after the younger boys and quickly worked out that Prior was underage and told him to “wet his razor”.

Joseph was born on 8th October, 1899, in Chesham, Bucks. He was the last of 12 siblings - his mother was aged 49 when she fell pregnant with him. His father, Robert, was a railway engine driver, so the children were all born near railway stations.

Joseph was very short and took only a size 6 in shoes. His wife-to-be worked in a boot factory back in England so Joseph would teasingly blame her for the fact they didn't make boots small enough for him. Instead he had to wear boots that were too big with two pairs of socks underneath. 
...
As Joseph was posted to the Middle East, he had many stories about the enjoyment of seeing new places in the world. One he told related to riding camels around the pyramids in Egypt. However, Joseph said: “I would walk the whole of Egypt and Palestine leading a mule rather than riding a camel again." This hatred of riding camels was due to the sea sickness feeling he encountered when riding a camel.

When Joseph's brigade discovered he couldn't swim, they threw him in the Suez Canal. He soon found out how to do it ....

Remarkably, Joseph Prior managed to keep his war rifle. At home he used it to shoot rabbits for the pot. He died on Easter Day April 1993 at the age of 93. This was despite being invalided out of the army 22/7/19 due to recurring attacks of malaria for which he was entitled to free treatment and a pension until 20/1/20! [sic] He was considered to have a temporary 10% disablement.

- CC-BY-SA, Ann Harris, Europeana 1914-1918