AMBASSADOR INSPECTS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 144, 8 April 1940, Page 8

AMBASSADOR INSPECTS

WITH OUR TROOPS IN EGYPT (N.Z.E.F. Official News Service). March 9, To-dav lias been the occasion of a mass ceremonial parade by the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force. Our salute "was taken this time by the British Ambassador in Egypt, Sir Miles Lampson, who was accompanied by Lady Lampson. The picture of efficiency and precision presented by our force was more impressive than ever. Brilliant weather favoured the parade, and the striking figure of the ambassador, in the full regalia of his position, added to the colourful nature of the scene. Congratulations. That Sir Miles was impressed by the standard of the movements carried out by our troops was made evident in the remarks which he addressed to ns after his inspection. He offered his congratulations to all ranks on their efficiency, smartness and soldiery bearing. It had fallen to him on our arrival in Egypt, he said, to deliver to us the gracious message of His Majesty the King. Since then almost a month had passed, and we were now well installed in our new surroundings. "After New Zealand the desert must seem very bleak and bare to you, but, as usual, you have made the best of things," Sir Miles continued. "This is the first time, no doubt,, that many of you have gone overseas and have been stationed in a, foreign land. In coming to Egypt, however, you are very fortunate. This country is full of interest,, both past and present, and you will find its people friendly and cheerful.*'

In the Future. Since 193(5 Egypt has been an independent country, the ambassador said, but on the outbreak of war the nation had at once rallied to Britain's side. He wanted us to bear this fact in mind and to heip, by our friendly bearing, to maintain and consolidate the relations which existed between Egypt and Britain. "You will no doubt be Avondering Avliat the future has in .'.tore and what your next destination will be,'* he added. "It may be that there Avill be a period of Availing and of preparation, but whether that period of Avaiting be long or short, I am sure of one thing, and that is that Avhen the time comes you Avill show the same spirit and courage as your fathers did 25 years ago, and Avorthily uphold the fine traditions A\ r hieli they have handed doAvn to you.'" And then, at the ambassador's behest, the thousands of men drawn up before him lifted their hats into the air and set the sandy hills echoing Avith three real New Zealand cheers for the King. I IN EGYPT WITH THE TROOPS "ROMANTIC DESERT NIGHTS" This articlc Avas Avritten by Major G .A. L. Treadwell, in camp Avith the troops in Egypt. As I write these lines in my tent in the camp of the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force, dust —blinding, choking, parching dust —is sweeping in swirls and Hurries through our canvas city. A brisk southerly breeze is whisking it in from the arid lands behind us and bringing the first discomfort we have experienced in Egypt. But our Adjutant who spllit tered in the same dust a quarter of a century ago, cries: "Good for you! Toughens your stomachs!" and we grin and bear it, mindful of Mie clear, cool evening that we feel will inevitably follow the setting of the sun. This "inevitability" about the Egyptian weather is one of the things that seem to take the meaning aiway from time and make us feel Ave have been campaigning here in the dust for years, instead of in actual fact spending a very few days in moA r ing into a country that many of us hadn't given a thought since Ave closed our school atlasses for the last time. The climate is for all the world like early autumn in the Rotorua district or in Con./ tral Otago—each blue and gold day giving place to a night with u : 'tang" in it, cold and clear and refreshing.

"We Like it Here." Romantic desert nights! Well, yes and 110. The sun drops, glow/ ing red, behind the pyramids; the crescent moon hangs out its silver lamp; a lighting 'plane drones overhead and is trapped like a moth in criss-crossing searchlights; and the lone sentry on a late shift marvels at the beauty of the night—• But I think I can say for all o|C us that we like it here; a so-called traditional Army pastime known as "grousing" seems to be out of favr 1 our. To get a mind picture of our location imagine a narrow strip of green, fertile New Zealand countryside, divided lengthwise by a slowrunning river and so placed that it merges into the buildings of a city. The river, of course, is the Nile— the bloodstream of Egypt—and the city of Cairo. On either side of the fertile strip the ground rises gently into undulating downs —but there is no vestige of green, nothing but parched sand and shale. Site of the Camp. Somewhere in those .downs., overlooking the flat Nile valley, lies our bustling city of tents. There are surprisingly many more cities like ours nestling in these wastes, which shelter as Avell as ourselves, soldiers from England, Scotland and India. Royal Air Force too, are not very distant neighbours, and we like to think tha,t some of the daredevils who somersault over our heads may quite possibly be New Zealand pilots. You would find it quite a long, walk from end to end of our camp. Emerging from - a charming, treeshaded residential suburb, you | would pass a golf course whose' greens and fairways are simply sand rolled hard, and shortly reach the camp limits. And there, spreading over a long flat tract and overH flowing on to a low plateau, our city would lie at your feet. Changed Conditions. Under canvas roofs we sleep comfortably on raised plank beds, with mattresses and pillows. The floors are of sand, but we have found that by conscientiously sprinkling water on them we can evolve a substance more like concrete. In our own particular area, incidentally, there is a basis of solid rock a I'caV inches beneath the surface of the sand, and pneumatic drills had to be used before tent pegs could be driven home. Although we are again undergoing the experience«of occupying an uncompleted camp, w r e lose little in comfort by that fact. Messing rooms, cookhouses, and washing and shower houses are still in the hands of the builders. We were delighted to-day to learn that contractors to the Army are to do all our clothes washing free of charge: but wc feel that we m'ght hang our heads in shame if a Digger of 1914 were to stand by and see a truck carrying our laundry away.

Training. Winter, such as it is in Egypt, is with lis at present, and we follow the sun out of bed at half past six in the morning. After washing and shaving in the crisp open air, we breakfast in marquees at 7.30. The Imperial Army scale of ra'ions is somewhat smaller than we have been used to t but the food is good and adequately varied. A hot dinner with sweets, comes at the end of the day. The units which make up the force have resumed their training programmes during the past day or two. Some have sent parties to various barracks for courses of instruction with English units. A good deal of our transport equipment has been delivered, and the transport sections arc learning the tricks of desert driving. We look forward to the day when, no doubt, Ave shall begin to make excursions into the desert to carry out manoeuvres. Members of our advance party, who left New Zealand some five Avceks before we did, have told us how thev witnessed the tliriliing spectacle of a full division in "war games" on the sand, which was made alive by the movement ojf "hundreds of tanks, trucks and other vehicles so necessary to the modern army's progress.

Welcome in Cairo. As leave has been granted almost every evening since we arrived, there is practically no one who has not visited Cairo, that teeming city of contrasts—ultramodern stores and countless peddlers, beauty and squalidness—peopled by raccs from almost every part of the "world. There arc warm smiles and words of welconi" for us in the streets, where after dark our "qua'nt hats" as one Irca 1 newspaper put it ; can '>c seen everywhere.

Here in the camp we can spend our leisure time at a ne llv built picture theatre or in the several canteens operated by the Naafi (Navy, Army and Air Force Inst!- - tutes). Prices in general are about the same as we have been used to, - but beer may be bought as cheaply as 2y 2 piastres a quart—about sixpence in English money. The end of each day finds us we!! ready for bed. While you in New Zealand go about your morning tasks, it is time for us to roll in between our blankets with the thought that our great adventure has at \ast really begun. "Demented D'ggers." There is a s*o r y worth repeating which appeared in one of the newspapers a day or two ago. One oF their reporters was walking down the street and came upon two diggers and a gharry driver arguing and gesticulating violently. It was clear that neither partv could understand the other. The reporter offered his services. The diggers: j pointed to the two emaciated horses in the shafts of the gharry. They certainly looked as if they might drop any moment from starration. "We want to buv that bale of lucerne on the seat." "What do you want it for?"* asked the reporter. "We don't want it fo • anything except if we buy it the driver has. to let us.feed his horses with it. Then began a 20 minutes bargaining and at last the driver, who clear - ly thought the diggers were demented, sold his lucerne or berseem - for 5 piastres (one shilling). The--diggers then carefully divided the food and placed half in front of the two poor beasts and there they.remained until the horses had swtil lowed every blade of their unexpected feed. That over, the two soldiers walked - away thoroughlypleased with their action."Sflflie driver Avas still scratching his head iiv bewilderment.