THE N.Z.E.F.

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 84, 5 October 1940, Page 13

THE N.Z.E.F.

NEWS FROM HOME

REGULAR SERVICES

NEW FEATURE ADDED

Members of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in Egypt and in England are being kept well posted with items of current interest from this country. For some time regular news services from the Dominion have been in operation, use having been made for this purpose of radio, airmail dispatches, and cables. The 8.8.C. is now to provide another service for the New Zealand troops, which, if it proves successful, not only will supplement what has already been done from this country, but will also serve to bridge in a more human way the many thousands of miles lying between the soldiers, their homeland, people they know, and events which appeal to the popular taste of the average young man. The object of the new 8.8.C. service is to provide a greater living touch for the soldiers with their home countries. The programmes will tffe of 20 minutes' duration and will be transmitted by the different countries co-operating in the scheme once every three weeks for reception and broadcast by the 8.8.C. It is realised that among other things reception conditions may at times dislocate the service, but the idea is a good one and represents another very fine effort by the authorities both here and abroad to keep the troops in touch with events in their own countries.

The first programme for New Zealand troops in England was to be broadcast at 7.40 a.m. today New Zealand time, and probably tomorrow the broadcast will be made for the troops in Egypt. These broadcasts are not for reception in New Zealand. They are not news broadcasts in the generally accepted sense of the term. The intention rather is to give a touch of familiarity by the recording of voices and snippets of descriptions of events which the troops are accustomed to at home. * NEW PROGRAMME CONTENTS. For example, there will be excerpts of relays from important sporting events. In this connection there is a definite limitation, owing to the unsuitability of racy speech for shortwave transmission, but the troops will be able to recapture something of the atmosphere of the particular event. There will also be short talks by people well-known in the national life I of this country. The .first programme of the series as prepared by the National Broad- j casting Service opened with a short greeting from -the Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. P. Fraser). Another who spoke was the Hon. W. Perry, M.L.C., president of the New Zealand Returned Soldiers' Association, and a member of the National Patriotic Fund Board, who told the troops something of the national patriotic effort being made in this country on their behalf. The preparation and broadcasting of these programmes involves a good deal. of trouble. They are being sent from this country to England by radio telephone, and several transmissions will be .made each time to obtain the best possible results. All New Zealanders will join with the. authorities 'in hoping., that this new service will prove satisfactory. THE NEWS SERVICE. In a short outline of the news services to New Zealand troops overseas, the Director of Publicity (Mr. J. T. Paul) said today that for some months a daily radio broadcast of 500 to 700 words had been transmitted to Egypt and there, under the name of the "New Zealand Daily News," circulated to the troops in the field. This service had been warmly welcomed and had proved to be most popular in the ranks. In addition, each outgoing airmail carried a large budget of news, and this was also circulated among the forces under the title of the "New Zealand Airmail News." The last issues received by Mr. Paul are the daily issues for the period from September 3 to September 8. "These issues contain a very wide range of New Zealand news and are, of course, widely read," said1 Mr. Paul. "Letters from soldiers have paid high tribute to these services, and every endeavour is made to supply a variety of news most in demand by men serving in Egypt, a point on which advice is received from time to time." The service to Great Britain for the Second Echelon, also conducted by the office of the Director of Publicity, consists of a fortnightly summary of news sent by cablegram. This summary, together with news gathered from every other available source, is printed in the "New Zealand News" in London and distributed free to members of the New Zealand Forces in England. In addition to this a regular air-mail service of original matter and news clippings is transmitted, and this is made available to the Press generally. This service has also met with wide commendation, and endeavours are made at this end to provide an ever-increas-ing news service to New Zealanders serving with the forces. AUSTRALIAN JOURNALIST'S PRAISE. "In connection xvith the news service to Egypt, the opinion expressed by Mr. J. A. Hetherington, Australian representative of the Melbourne 'Herald' and Sydney 'Sun' with the A.I.F. in the Near East, is interesting. Writing to his newspapers from Gaza at the end of August, he said:—

" 'An example of the interest the New Zealand Government takes in the mental welfare of the force was a news bull tin which I. saw in the camp. It was a typewritten copy of a daily news service wirelessed to Egypt at the Government's expense. A large number of copies are made and. distributed throughout the unit, where it is most appreciated by the men. The service includes sport and turf results and high lights of the day's New Zealand news.'"