ON FOREIGN SOIL

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2818, 8 July 1916, Page 6

ON FOREIGN SOIL

SOLDIERS' LETTERS FROM "SOMEWHERE IN FRANCE, 1 ' Writing from Franco on May 3, a Wellington gunner and ex-Anzac says:— "Been LTero now a fortnight, and, with the exception of the first few days, havo had lovely weather. The billet wo are in is a farm-house close to a village—in fact, within a quarter of an hour's wallc. anyway, you can strike* a village of some. sort. They are only little one-street towns, and havo not much ■,attraction for ns. In one of those villages is nil old church containing paintings presented to it by tho Kings of France. Another interesting sight to us is that on nearly all cross-roads stands an altar with burning. caudles upon it. Tho other day we finished'a shoot at i auH wore given leavo until 8. We spent the time in the town, wiiero wo saw the famous statue of tho merchants handing over the keys of tho city, whilst dimly in tho distanco wo could seo the coast of Old England. So you can pretty well guess whore wo are. It is a fair-sized town, but tho strootu aro awfully narrow, and the shops don't begin to como up to those in New Zealand. 1 can fell you Iho old place (New •Zealand) takes some beating; so iar 1 haven't seen anything to beat it. , . .

Our "Next-of-Skins." "As to our trip, we left Ismailia on tho canal and canto by rail to Port Said, and left-the same night, being given a good ,send-o(f by tho passengers oil tho Mongolia (P. and O. liner), which was lying there. Wo were no sooner under steam than wo Jiad lifelielts issued to us, with orders to wear them all day and sloop in Cliem at night—use thom as pillows. I give you my word it was « rummy sight to see all hands sitting at dinner with our belts on. We ha<l to carry them about so much that they called thom their 'next-of-skin.' You would be sitting on deck when a fellow would rush past you on his way below, having committed tho dread offence of Jorgetting Ills 'nest-of-skin.' Wo called at Malta for orders—only for a couple ot hours—then on to Marseilles. ■ We had a 1 full day there, but did. not get ■leave, being'only allowed.'in the'docks. Then a 52-hours' train journey through France, via Lyons, Dijon, close enough to Paris to seo the Eiffel Tower, Rouen, and. lioally stopped at Havre.'. . . The country here is-,lovely. The; leaves.,are' just beginning to burst out,'and everything looks; delightfully, fresh.' and green after Hie brown monotony of tho Egyptian desert. It all looks so peaceful, yet w« can plainly hear the'gnns-hanging.away In tho distanco. ... I havo scon hundreds of German prisoners. They are all wellmade men. ... "This France (May-6) is more liko a big garden than anything else. Every i bit of ground is cultivated. There are practically no fonces, (he fields for tho most-part having a fringo of tall poplars, which, are just now all out in their new spring* green. The fruit' trec3 are already in blossom, and to look alorig the village - road, it is almost impossible to imagine that the greatest war in history is raging' a few miles away. • Instead of us learning French, tho kiddies here have picked up our little bit of Gypo talk, such as baksheesh, imshi, and tiilahena. . Tho Australians were here before us/und taught them. . '. . There's an old Fronch ladv five feot away from mo now, poking French "at me as she grins. She.'has interfered with the miise, so I will, closo down, j. •

Shelling a Taube. "My hrsC,and.only glimpse of troublo W far- wao the spectacle of, a. German 'I'aubo being shelled. It was a good height up, but with the glasses you could see. the cross marking its nationality, l'lie shell's .it ere bursting-all round it, and the piano seemed to bear a charmed life. Wo were on .a brigade march on May 8, and had a good view of it, and, believe me, tinicss they stop this sort of thing, someone will be getting hurt. We have had lull marching parades daily, in'whicli you everything you piis-, se3s-(whioh.< isn"t much- in-, these-days), as tEough r?o were not coming back;'so yp.u can; imagine wo; don't -worry ; about putting, the .carpet .dow7i-.andhahging.thf blinds. Notwithstanding-this, we havo got a. Daw lot of hay .on tho : flooi', and it is mueh better in a loft than a tent in this country.. On our way across France we were issued gas-helmets and spectacle!/, afld since then havo had one trial of them..- They are, rather -uncomfortable for a start, but the longer they are kept on the easier they become. . . . Last Sunday X .was on a fatigue near the 1 church. There must have been' some cfilobraFion on, for a whole crowd of .girls wi'ie there in white dresses and veils, witft wreaths of flowers on their heads. Not being ablo to parley-vous, I am Gtfit guessing what was doing. It was very >iuuny ou the way lip to tee the French kiddies swing for our bully beef.. Tlisl and "souvenir" were about »lie only wortfs you sould get out of them. . , . Oh, people, if you could only see the sottth of ffrance, where tho vines grow, you would instantly understand why the Frenchmen are putting-up such a great fight."