WITH THE TROOPS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 169, 5 June 1940, Page 6

WITH THE TROOPS

A.R.P. IN EGYPT {N.Z.E.F. Official News Service). EGYPT, May 1 1. "Lie down, you!" I had been caught napping, and the 3 r ell in my ear made me jump as if a ghost had loomed out of the darkness ahjead of me. 1 dropped like a stone on to the sand of the parade ground, which was already dotted with outstretched figures, facing upwards to the starry skv. However much it looked like a game, the sight of these prostrate men was something far more relevant to present-day affairs. The air raid warning had sounded again, and when the liccfeis blare there is only one sure w«.y of avoiding se.gcanL- major's Avrath. In liis owii blunt words: "Duck—and <iuck quick!" In d.'.yiighl and terseness, now in the middle of a meal and now- during a parade, the alarm put us to the test at unexpected moments. SVe have just shared with the whole of Egypt, civilian and military popu lation alike, the experience of a week of mock air raid and blackout exercises. In the New Zeaiaitd camp realism was achieved by strict observance c.f bip.ck-out rules nnO smti-gas precautions. Active defence sections, special piquets and clecontrmination squads were trained in their duties. Umpires went their rounds to note and correct faults and to mark out prbtended gascontaminated areas. Friendly aircraft played the role of enemy raiders to make the mock air attacks still more effective. Striving after Realism. The striving after realism reached its height on the last night of exercises, when the shattering detonation of "bombs," exploded throughout the camp, shook us oui of our beds. The rattle of ga. ; alarms followed, and w r e took refuge in our respirators. Because "gas attacks" might come «t any time, we carried this jjart of oui equipment with us wherever we went, even if it was only to walk a few yards from the tents. Each tent was required to attend to its own blacking-out after dark, while vehicles travelled with lights shielded by blue-painted glass. Chinks of light through the walls of wooden buildings were carefully obscured before the exercises began, and mechanically-minded mem foers of my own unit devised switches which threw rooms lit by electricity into comparative darkness when outside doors were opened. Cairo in Moonlight. The city of Cairo was a study in soft moonlight, dark shadows and the blue glow of motor headlamps when I visited it one night during the exercises. The atmosphere of the lively city had changed completely. Gone were the brilliant adcertising signs, the bright theatre foyers, the glittering shop window.?. The facades of" tall buildings were gaunt and block, doorways were darkened" and street lamps were extinguished except at busy corners, where they shed only a glimmer of blue. Trams and buses went by in the faintest blur of light. My firs! impression was of a city suddenly awakened in the hour before dawn —so suddenly that the electric power authorities had had no time to reach for the street lamp switches. It was the cacophony of traffic noises more than anything els.? Which proved that the city still lived. No Lights Ssen. . Until I grew accustomed to the weird darkness I found myself bumvi ing into shadows that weren't shad ows at all, but b!acked-out pedestrians. Some of them carried flashlights for their own protection, and ] found safety behind the glow of a cigarette. Winking traffic signals, however, made good guiding stars, for they were easily the most conspicuous lights in the city. I passed sidewalk cafes where people sat in the darkness and dined* and chatted as if nothing hadhappened. I thought the indoor Lars and cafes must be closed, but -when a door swung quickly open and shut again I had a glimpse oi a bright room full of busy tables. 1 walked through streets lined wit's business houses and native dwellings alike, and no suspicion of bright light was to be seen. SN-M----hclmetcd policemen" patrolled tlie footpaths to ensure that the rrstrie lions were being observed.

There was something else I saw —something which, in Cairo, seemed inevitable. Wherever there is a chance of commercialising anything under the sun, the city's "street salesmen" will take that chance. The black-oilt was no exception, and it saw the sidewalk vendor change his- usual variety of wares into a tray full of cheap electric torches, or invest in a pot of blue pain t which to come to the aid —■ at a price—of motorists whose lights were not sufficiently dimmed Success of Black-.Out. The Air Raid Precautions authorities pronounced the black-out ex crcises a success, for the people of Cairo and of every other city and town in Egypt were quick to realise their responsibilities. From a high-flying 'plane only the silver ribbon of the Nile was visible in the Cairo area. Air raid warnings were obeyed more and more prompt ly and smoothly. In the city they were the signal to take cover, and people streamed into shelters and other places of safety, leaving the footpaths deserted and traffic at a standstill. Practice though it was, the week's exercise was impressive in its realism and thoroughness. The passive defence measures of which I have told were, of course, only one side of the black-out picture. Behind the scenes, machinery which would answer the challenge of real enemy raiders was ready to spring to life almost at the touch of a button.