FAST TRANSIT

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 4, Issue 183, 21 November 1941, Page 5

FAST TRANSIT

LETTERS FOR TROOPS

TAKING TEN DAYS

"Ten days to the Middle East 5 That is all it has been taking recently for our air mails to reach the Base Post Office," said the ter-General, Mr Webb, on Saturday.; "Under existing conditions this is particularly good." Mr Webb said that it meant that many soldiers were receiving their air-mail letters within a fortnight after dispatch from New Zealand. Although a little time must, necessarily elapse between the time of receipt of the air mails in the Middle East and their delivery to units, it could be said that the soldiers were receiving their news from home while it was still fresh. "Surface mails, on the other hand, which carry the newspapers, and parcels for the troops, are slow," said Mr Webb. "Some parcels and oewspaper mails take as long as three months "on their journey. For the last five months the- averiage time was 60 days. Further, althougtt surface dispatches are- made quently and regularly, the mails do not always reach their destination in tjie order of their dispatch. There is likely to be little improvement, because shipping facilities are not always available and only, on infrequent occasions are direct dispatches possible. Generally, surface mails have to be transhipped en route some times more than once, and tranship-* ment means d§lay." Parcels' Mails Mr Webb added that senders in New Zealand should not be unduly apprehensive if they received advice, that their parcels had not reached their soldier relatives and friends in the Middle East as early as they expected. Oil top of transmission lays there was the delay inseparable from "carding" parcels for readdressing, and in this redirection work parcels had to take second place, to letters. Afier being readdressed, parcels had to be forwarded to the units, many of which, as was now well known, were far afield in the desert. "In attempting to unravel some of the apparent mysteries of mail deliveries," concluded Mr Webb, "people would do well to remember that air mail transmission means exceptionally fast transit, while surface transmission for newspapers and parcels means exceptionally slow trans-* it."