TRYING TIME

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 5, Issue 17, 16 February 1942, Page 5

TRYING TIME

COMFORTS FOR FORCES

THE LIBYAN CAMPAIGN

l'he latest report received by the National Patriotic Fund Beard fronv its commissoner in the Middle East, Lieutenant Colonel F. Waitc, covers the Christmas and New Year period. It shows that, in spite of the transport and other difficulties created by the Libyan campaign, Colonel Waite and those associated with him were able to -make a wide distribution of gift parcels, cigarettes and tobacco, and other comforts to the New Zealand Forces in this extensive war theatre.

"Before Christmas," says Colonel Waite, "we had delivered one giftparcel and one tin of cigarette tobacco or five packets of cigarettes to each man in Alexandria and west of it. These got out to the Division in the field. We then had to devote our attention to the Christmas parcels and tobacco which had arrived from the Dominion by another ship. By Christmas Day we had delivered to the Division, the base, all hospitals, and to all "New Zealand personnel in the R.A.F. whose addresses Ave could get, one Christmas parcel and another round of tobacco and cigarettes. At- New Year we took stock and discovered that there were enough parcels to issue a second one and cigarettes to the men nt the base and to hospitals."

Parcels were delivered to most places by motor truck, to others by nil- and by boat. For isolated NewZealand units at distant points It

was necessary to send the parcelsthrough the British Army Post Office.

Colonel Waite comments that it must be difficult for people in New Zealand to realise what it means to> attempt to deliyer in war time, -anti through territory subject to enemy action, about 80,000 parcels, and the same number of rations of cigarettes and tobacco. Any list of locaaions made up one week was quite altered by the time the transport arrangements were complete-

The report also refers, to the allocation of another 50 battery radio sets which had arrived front the Dominion. Half of these were allotted to the Red Cross side of activities and the other half" to the Isolated unit's and the Division. No radios,, says Colonel Waite, had been issued to officers' or sergeants'" messes, all sets having gone to the men:. Officers and sergeants bought their own.

Outstanding: Service

Tribute is paid to outstanding .service given by the Y.M.C-A. during and after the Libyan battle as an expending agent of the National Patriotic Fund Board. The policy was to give everything away free during the engagement, and only to. start selling again when the brigades returned to the advanced, base. Generally, says Colonel Waite, this policy worked out satisfactorily, but it was necessarily expensive.

By personal call and by letter ap~ preeiation was expressed by Colonel'Waite by many New Zealand soldiers and airmen' for the comforts they received. It is also of interest, that an editorial in the "Egyptians Mail," of January 14, records that the New Zealanders, "thanks to a generous, and capably run Patriotic' Fund" were "particularly well endowed with comforts edible and otherwise." Owing to the vagaries' of mails, the paper states, some v

er troops had not been so well supplied, but the members of New Zealand units had shared' the contents of their parcels with men from other parts of the Empire, and they In turn had reciprocated! when their parcels arrived. One particularly happy action, the paper records, waj the 'adoption' by New Zenlanders. of some Poles, with whom they shared their Christmas parcels. Incidents of tills kind, the paper suggests, are p happy augury far > ttiff building of real peace.