"BLITZTOURIST"

Evening Post, Volume CXXXI, Issue 120, 23 May 1941, Page 9

"BLITZTOURIST"

TROOPS' MAGAZINE

SECOND ECHELON IN BRITAIN

SOUVENIR OF VISIT

The National Patriotic Fund Board has received from its overseas commissioner, Lieutenant-Colonel F. Waite, a copy of "The Blitztourlst," a magazine published during the voyage of the Second Echelon from Great Britain to join their comrades in the Middle East. The magazine is of 28- pages and is a record of the troops' visit to the United Kingdom.

In a report to the board earlier this month, Lieutenant-Colonel Waite mentioned that 4000 copies of the magazine were ordered and that so great was the demand for it that not only had unit regimental funds benefited by £71 5s 6d from the sales, after the cost of printing had been paid, but it was at once so popular that orders had to be rationed. The result was, he added, that it had become a real souvenir magazine. That the magazine was so popular can readily be appreciated from the copy received in Wellington. It is a [record not only in words, but. also in drawings and humorous sketches. Many humorous incidents-associated with the Echelon's sojourn in Britain are described and illustrated, but there are also contributions in more serious vein. The magazine was published at a port visited en route. The cover design is by J. K. Welch, and shows a New Zealander, hat off, travelling through space on a shell from New Zealand to Mie other side of the world. Another contribution by the same artist is a picture oi' All Saints' Church, Hollingbourne, Kent. There are also drawings and sketches by Selwyn N. W Clarke, — Blanch, and Cyril Maude, who has a page of caricatures of the officers. UNIQUE EXPERIENCE. The Second Echelon, in being diverted to the United Kingdom after leaving New Zealand instead of following the First Echelon to the Middle East, had a unique experience. and this is commented upon editorially in the magazine, the point being made that the troops had the opportunity of seeing for themselves the realities for which they were fighting. "We have seen for ourselves/ the editorial says, "the desolation that war has brought to the land that New Zealanders still call Home." Tribute is paid to "all | those ordinary families ot Britain who. I month after month, have endured the constant threat from the skies . . . those men, women, and children in the mean streets of industrial towns who have held the Front Line for us." The j editorial concludes: "The motto on our I badges, 'Onward!' trite and preten- ■ tious though it may seem to some, has i become a challenge we no longer can I ignore. To our generation of New Zealanders has been given the task of; binding yet closer the ties that, despite the political and commercial squabbles of peace, clasp us to our Motherland. Gallipoli and Passchendaele made us a nation, and only by the results of our efforts in the days ahead, our resolution and our sacrifices, are we in \ truth sons of the Anzacs." COMMANDING OFFICER'S MESSAGE. The contents include a message from Brigadier J. Hargest, Officer Command- | ing the Echelon. In this he refers to the changes in the war scene since their departure from New Zealand, changes which, he says, present a contrast between possible defeat and certain victory. "What share have we of the Second Echelon had in this trasformation?" Brigadier Hargest's message continues. "Perhaps only a minor one because of our small numbers; but our" arrival in the United Kingdom in the depths of the crisis, together with our Australian comrades, and the appearance of the uniforms of our troops in the towns and villages had a wonderful effect. Here was concrete evidence that the Empire was solid; that the battle of Britain was to be shared by men from the furthest Dominions, and that those who would attack the heart of the Empire must reckon with our race throughout the world " Brigadier Hargest refers to the friendly welcome received in Britain; the welcome messages and parcels received from home, and the co-operation lof the British Army. "We were not called upon to fight," he continues, "but ours was a privileged position, and to it we owe those great experiences of moving through Sussex lanes and over the Kentish Weald—of standing to arms on the South Downs where 2000 years ago Roman Legionaries had stood before us, and of practising our skill on the heights above Dover—the nearest point to the enemy across the English Channel. We saw at close quarters the English character, and tasted English hospitality, which we shall never forget, and I, for one, shall always be grateful to my comrades, who, by their quiet efficiency, their natural courtesy, and their excellent behaviour, endeared themselves to all! who came in contact with them. The affection of the British people, largely won by soldiers of an older generation of New Zealanders, and handed to us as a heritage, has been preserved— and enhanced." He concludes by ex- i pressing confidence that the men of the Second Echelon in the sterner task facing them would bear themselves like true New Zealanders. "PETER FRASER'S TOURS." Humorous "advertisements" are a feature of the magazine. One concerns "Peter Eraser's Tours" and contains these lines apropos rumourmongering: "Dates of sailing and ports of call will be rumoured round all camps in N.Z. about February and March. Don't believe the fellow on the next seat—have a rumour of your own. Book your bunk now," It is a bright production from cover to cover—a real souvenir as LieutenantColonel Waite has said. The magazine committee comprised LieutenantColonel Waite (chairman). Captain W. G. Lovie, Lieutenant E. G. Smith, Lieutenant W. W. Mason, Lieutenant C. W. Macara, Second Lieutenants R. Murray and G. C. Cox, Mr. J. H. Hall, and W.0.1l J. D. Baybutt.