THE LADS WHO GO

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2904, 17 October 1916, Page 6

THE LADS WHO GO

"THE BONNIE SOLDIER BOYS!"

MAGIC IN KHAKI

"What boiinio boys are, these lads who go. The bonnie soldier boys!" It was a grey-haired mother who said this, as sho watched a draft of troops parading through tho - City streets. Her face was aglow with emotion, and hor oyes were soft with tears. And bonnie boys they aro, without a doubt, these lads in khaki. Surely there is magic in tho uniform and all it stands for —smartness, clear-cub decisiveness, ruddy health, and a happy outlook. ■■' This morning the Twenty-second Reinforcements will begin to mobilise. They are a heterogenous collection of civilians. Many are not as smart as they might be, they have tho average civilians' indecision 1 of mind regarding many matters concerning which ho should hold decided views. They are healthy enough, or they would not he going into camp; but their health does not glow in sun and wind-tanned faces. It merely exudes in exuberance of spirits, and the outlook of many .recruits is not as happy as it might be, though they feel that they are leaving old worries behind them. ,The action of getting into khaki doos not make' the change, there is no instantaneous transformation. When the new recruits, in groups in charge of an n.c.0., walk round the camp in their first tour of inspection, they look as motley in their new gear as they dill in their soft caps and bowler hats. Their uniform rarely fits, for the first uniform served out is the fatigue uniform, which never fits exactly except by accident. Their Army boots look clumsy, their hats, without pugarces, and with the crowns still standing high, as when they came from the makersj bear no rcsemblauce to the soldiers' headgear, as seen in the-City streets. Moreover, the civilian, turned soldier, does not know what to do with his' hands. The desire to put them in his pockets is still latent; it is hard to lot them just swing at his sides. So at first they are a crude collection of examples of New Zealand manhood. But after the first week the change begins to. show, and ono of tho greatest of tho factors that bring this change about is the contentment of mind which the soldiers' life induces. "You don't want to have anything on your mind in this gamo," a mouthold soldier said. "Do your job"—it is always your "job" in the Army—"and don't, worry. You soon get into the habit. I suppose worry is only a habit, after all." *

Yet there.is something else that must be borne in mind. It is something which tho soldier never .speaks of. It is the spirit or driving force within which prompted him to enlist in the first place, and enables him' to carry on through the severe training and the dulness of transport lifo with his goal a battlefield where death or glory, and maybe both, await him. It has been said that the soldier never gets over his dread of shells and other death-dealing missiles until ho has, in effect, given his lifo for his country; though he is still alive and fighting, ho has made the sacrifice. Then ho be-comes-cool and unafraid. The beginning of that psychological ' change takes .place when a man. enlists, -St is growing all the time ho is in camp. Not only in outward appearance, but inwardly ho grows to bo apart from the civilian Somothing manly and self-sacrificing, that is -asleep in all men, wakes to life before a man enlists. 'He motloy crowd of recruits have that great spirit in common. It makes them high-spirited, keen for the adventure. Many aro cheeky to tho n.o.o's who parado them on arrival at the camp railway siding, and tho n.c.o.'s smile.. They have passed tho Main-Body and Twpnty-First Rcinforcomevts through. They recognise the same spirit that they havo seen in every draft. It is nothing to worry over or to suppress. . In a few days theso same men.will marvel that thoy did it. It is always in this way, or with. cheerful calmness . that the recruits arrive. You will never see a hang-dog look in a recruit's face. But among the unfortmiates who have been passed out of camp on account of physical unfitness,- a downheartedness is often manifest. They must still the 'awakened sense, put it to sleep again, and go hack to the civilian round. Yot even when,this has been done these men are different from those who havo never enlisted, nover felt their sense of duty and sacrifice to be stronger than more selfish desires and pursuits, or strong,home calls.

The "bonnio soldior boys" are apart from civilians. They do not despise tho man in ordinary clothes.' They wonder'at him, thai is all. And nowhere do they wonder about him more than when they are in tho trenches, with tho battles of tho greatest war tho earth has ever known raging about them and enveloping half the earth. '.'What aro you'fellows doing, nowadays ?" a soldior wrote to a Wellington chum who had failed to pass the test of service. What are we doing? Oh! nothing—just the same old round, one might reply. And the world is being turned inside out, liko an old garment, and altered so that it will never be the same world again. The grey-haired old mother was right. What bonny boys they arc, those lads who gol