GALLANT MOUNTED MEN

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 179, 24 April 1919, Page 5

GALLANT MOUNTED MEN

SPLENDID ACHIEVEMENTS

(By ''Ake Ake.")

Much has appeared in English and in .New Zealand "papers of the glorious achievements of the New, Zealand Infantry Division in France, but it is indeed time that more should be known by the people of their own land of that magnificent body of men, the New. Zealand Mountqd Brigade. ■ . . The men themselves need no praise: theirs is the spirit that finds content in tie consciousness of Lard, gruelling work and of. stiff fighting thoroughly well done. But it seems r. pity that New Zealand, who bred and sent these men, should remain so long in ignorance of their splendid achievements, of their personal worth, and of the fnme they, have won for her.

The reasons for the p"esent lack of aie not far to seek. In the first place, there wm no New Zealand official correspondent attaohed to the brigade; secondly, >the fnct that the Anzac Division consisted of two Australian Brigades and our undoubtedly made it impossible for the divisional commander, Major-General Sir E. Chaytor, K.C.M.G., D.5.0., himself a New Zealnnder, to sive them their, full meed of praise in official .reports. Thirdly, the value of the campaign and the number of the 'troops engaged were not realised by most people at Home in England, and even less so out here. Students of strategy knew the need for smaahing the Turkish pillar of the'Pan-German edifice, the vital necessity for pressure on nil sides'of the huge domain of German control, but for others, Palestine and Mesopotamia wore, "side-shows." In point of size, the army was equal to the British and colonial army that fought the Boer War. Tho mounted troops comprised the largest 'body of cavalry that had ever taken the field under one commander in the whole of England's history. Competent judgee gave the palm to the. New ftenland Mounted Brigade as being the best brigade in the whole of that mighty fore. .And yet slanderous people in New Zealand made reference at tinies h the "cold-footed Jfountotls, nicnicing in Egypt!" This of a force thnt fought in overy battle and nearly, every engagement from the Canal to Aleppo! A force, moreover, that was respected r.s much for its good behaviour when on leave as it was for its sallantry and' 'fighting capacity in the field. To those <who knew ;> it was simply laughable, but it did not* make the men exactly proud of some of the people they were fighting for. No one who was not there can ever, know just what the conditions were under which they fought and worked far nearly three wjary years. It is generally believed that the weather was "rather hot," that the flies wero troublesome, and that water ,was scarce, but it is impossible for the stay-at-home ito visualise just what that meaiis. And ttußi , conditions were . perpetual throughout the summer; wherever you were, in the field, or on leave, you never , \vere out of the country, which at times was cursed by the khnmsin, the. fiendishlv hot wind that blew for days from the Gcorchins: sands of Arabia. A furnace i' blast is the only thing in New Zealand that compares with It. Mou Iwnt their heads to avoid lits intolerable searing of the eyeballs. And through it all was tho work, of feeding and watering the horses, ofton with one's hands and limbs festering wifh septic sores that leave a soar like a bullet's. And tho lighting' wns no child's play. More often than not cover was non-existent—just great, iipen, .rolling country lor miles and miles, with the, Turks on Ihe hills. It is not generally known that the Turk hnd aerial supremacy from May, 1916, to about June,-1917,1 which meant that he could bomb us us' .often and as low down as he chose. Out lnlor machines altered that; but the. country was so ynst that the scope of our /planes and anti-aircraft Kims was inevitably limited. As mounted riflemen it was part of oiir function I.u seek out the enemy and attack him in his'trenches, which meant that'wo had iio such' cover, arid because of tho dis-1 lances we traversed we often fought without artillery support of Buy.kind axainst a stubborn enemy well armed '.with modern rifles, "niachine-;:uns, and heavy artillery,. p .'-.-. The -fighting spirit i)f the brijjmle was its greatest stand-by ;. ; tlktj and its horse.manship. Going, into action you could feel tha tremendous punch in- the brigade ; and the Turk and 'German knew it. and felt it, too. A German officer lalcen prisoner at Kafa said, "We never like to see you men, with (he soft hats. We. don't mind tho others. Wo can stop Iht-m .by-killing their officers, but you people cowe on just the same." And their comrades in arms know their worth. "Hullo, choom! There's something doing! There goes (he Fighting Brigade!" was a freijiient sort ol comment among the Tommies when the New /frnliiiuliH's ■ moved out. Through all their vicissitudes the. men kept up -the cliacry, determined spirit and pride in their country tiud in her good name. Egypt is known us n land of many temptations arid much rottenness. Do the New Zealand people take pride in tho fact that of the thousands of their men in , Egypt and Palestine cniv two per cent, contracted venereal disease? Dn they realise the eelf-re-shect and self-control; this thought and cure for the future welfare of New Zealand that those figures stand for? 'lieturninj; drafts of mounted men come straight from Egypt, calling at Colombo ■•mo , Australia on the way. , Kvery man hn:> lived for the period of his war service among natives, which means that every man h(is realised something of the ■'VVhito Man's! Burden," has felt and lived in tho pride of his race and the »nde of his country: Everv man has contributed his share towards the prowess and renown of New Zealand and the New ZcalaniW. They step off the , transport with feelings like that, plus one of unbounded joy and goodwill at (heir return —to be met with tlio coo) indifference of the average man who stayed at home. The mounted man says "Maleesh!" (i.e,, "What does it matter?"), and smiles at the people who tell him wlint n soft time he hi\s had, and who probably call him "Digger," a term th<it. belongs to the infantry, and is never used by the mounted man, anil goes off to his own folk, who have formed some -idea from his lettprs of what ho has teen through. Later,- the .history of the Mounted Brigade and',of the New Zwihud Camel Corps companies will doubtless be published, and become familiar to the general public, who at present know so littlo of the honour and renown won for them bv the splendid men of the N.Z M.B, and the N.55.1.C.C.