NEW GAOLS FOR OLD

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 06, Issue 100, 20 August 1943, Page 3

NEW GAOLS FOR OLD

(Official War Correspondent N.Z.E.F.) NEW CALEDONIA. Legacy from the clays of penal settlement overseas, and now converted to house troops in comfortable quarters, are the ruins of a French gaol in a certain island off the shores of New Caledonia. When the New Zealander.s set their camp on this site., gaol roof's had crumbled into heaps of rubble, and only rough stone walls, stood fast like ghosts from a decayed past. The New Zealanders, realising the potentialities of these solid "walls,, heaved rock about for half a day in an effort to clear tliQ. floors. It was slow progress, but an officer who called up to see the Avork found the boys still determined to finish, if a little less enthusiastic than early in the morning. A couple of hours after lunch, the officer called again, to find the job, which he had thought would take three days,, fully completed. An enterprising .soldier had paid a visit to a neighbouring construction camp during the lunch hour, and after a friendly chat Avith the Allied occupants, had. returned on the top of a bulldozer, Avhich, to the satisfaction of, all concerned; finished the clearing of the rubble in just one hour. v Later, w'hen timber and roofing iron had been begged from the same camp that supplied, the bulldozer, the ancient gaol rooms took on a fresher and cleauer look, and noAV provide excellent store rooms and cookhouse. This camp, in fact., has as many amenities as any in New Caledonia. Hot showers, and hot water for Avashing up, are provided bv oilburners and, forty-four gallon drums. "Wooden floors 'keep tenLs dry ami clean. Concrete steps obviate the mud nuisance that afflicts so many camps after rain. l.»y and large, the old gaol site has been a great boon to the New Zealand boys. They were among the first to arrive here from the Dominion, and in eight months have established a home away from home. Pictures are shown at nearby Allied camps every night of the wee'li, whk'h is more than the vast majority of troops can boast. When the time comes, as it must some day, to move away from this part of th? Avorld, the fruit oC the men's constructiA'e ability will be lelt behind with feelings of genuine regret.