HEFTY APPETITES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 147, 15 April 1940, Page 7

HEFTY APPETITES

WITH OUR TROOPS IN EGYPT (N.Z.E.F. Official News Service). March l(i. Can Napoleon, when he declared that an army marches on its stomach, have had a vision ol the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force? If in our thrice-daily rush to mess parades we could stop to think, we should probably reflect on the truth of his famous saying. Appelates Grow Apace. Our appetites seem to grow apace in the dry desert air. For the cooks whose task it is to give the meals the spice of variety as well as sufficiency. within the limits ol the ration scale, our healthy hunger must be the start of a headache or two. j It is a fact that the food question | is one about which men can most easily find room to grumble, but it stands to the credit ol the cooks that real causes for complaint are rare. When it comes to minor 'grouses,' the more reasonably-minded of us have to agree that, after all, this is a war, and a war must mean a certain amount of sacrifice in everything. We find a sense of humour is the best antidote for any tendency to. grumble. That spirit is exemplified at one mess hall where a notice above the doorway reads: "Moaners' Rest." Some Idea. Of the food itself, we are beginning to think the traditional "bully beef and stew" is becoming a mere legend. Certainly it still appears now and then, but it is overshadowed by less historical rations. At breakfast, for instance, in addition to the basic items of porridge, bread, butter, jam and tea, we have bacon —usually with eggs 01* tomatoes or steak and tomatoes. There is soup practically every day at lunch time, with such dishes as Welsh rabbit, tinned fish or tinned meat, and often an orange for each man. The evening meal brings us a hot meat-and-vegetable dish, with various puddings, pies and sweets. It is beyond our experience to compare our well-being with that of the New Zealanders in Egypt 25 years ago, but one who should know —Sergeant-Cook "Paddy" Bourke, held the same rank in the Wellington Mounted Rifles, serving in Egypt Palestine and Gallipoli. Changed Conditions. "Paddy," as we all know him, says there is a Avorld of difference between then and now. He tells as that in the last war he had to work in the open aii, and that the men carried the food to their tents instead of messing in the halls we used to-day. The food itself has vastly improved, too, in his opinion. And he agrees with us that the New Zealande/s have brought some pretty hefty appetites to Egypt with them. "We just can't stop feeding them," he says.