N.Z. ENGINEERS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 05, Issue 56, 22 May 1942, Page 3

N.Z. ENGINEERS

VITAL WORK IN SYRIA | BEIRUT, May 12. Working long hours, in soma places day and night shifts, engineers "with the most iorward troops in Syria are playing a vital part in the military preparations of the Allied nations. Heavy war department traffic demands a standard of bridge and road construction far above that of peace time requirements here and it is the responsibility of the engineers to provide that standard. Extensive road and bridge reconnaissances have been carried out for classification purposes and no possible route cf military value to either side is overlooked. The work entails difficult driving over country which is stated by one officer to be the roughest of his experience. "Bould-er-hopping" is the expression used by the engineers to describe these excursions over rocky back country tracks, intercepted biy treacherous irrigation channels. Many bridges and culverts have had to be strengthened to stand the strain of military traffic and some bridges of considerable size have been almost rebuilt. For Syria the war has brought new and improved highways which in peace time would have taken man3 T yearsi to develop. Native women and even children Avork with their men folk on rij.d construction under the supervision of the New Zealandcrs and they work well. Girls earn about 8d a day, women boys to l/Bd, and men 2/1 Od. but the skilled worker receives; twice that sum., According to Syrian standards these wages are good. Usually the only machinery to be seen on a job is a steam roller, but the t5 r pe of road watcrbcund macadam is similar to many in New Zealand. Most of the metal is broken 011 the roadside and carried by basket 011 the head to be deposited where required. The women and children have been used to the task from an early age and work tirelessly throughout a long day. The presence cf an interpreter foreman or clerk ensures the smooth running of the job. More than one well which supplied the Romans is now providing water for the New Zealand troops. These and many other dating from later periods have been cleared by the engineers and made usuable. Drainage, of camp areas is another of their responsibilities. Scattered though they are and often living in small parties many miles from anywhere, the engineers like Syria and arc finding the. conditions the best they have experienced in the Middle East.