MEDITERRANEAN MOVE

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 20659, 9 January 1942, Page 3

MEDITERRANEAN MOVE

GERMAN PREPARATIONS

(Reed. Jan. 9. 9 a.m.) LONDON, Jan. 8. • More evidence is accumulating of German preparations in the Mediterranean, says The Times’ diplomatic correspondent. The scale of preparations in Italy and the southern Balkans suggest that the Germans are working out a wide plan. A foreign military officer who has been with ; the .German High Command reported that the German plan embraces osi attack on the Suez and the Middle , East. A large-scale military move is not likely before the spring. DESERT REUNION NEW ZEALAND FORCES NEW YEAR CELEBRATED

(N.Z.E.F. Official War Correspondent.) (Reed. Jan. 9, 11 a.m.) CAIRO, Jan. 6. A despatch from the Western Desert dated January 1, states that flares and Verey lights shot high from the New Zealand camp to welcome the new year. Reunited for the first celebration since the campaign started, the Libya officers and men of the division joined messes in dug-outs to farewell an unforgettable year of three campaigns. Everywhere There was an air of festivity and the toast was “a new year victory and home.” German flares intended to light the Libyan battlefields showered across the sky, making a fireworks display for the New Zealanders. From early night till the small hours of the new year, the sky was bright with multi-coloured flashes. Italian grenades designed to frighten our troops, but noted for their harmless effect,' were tossed about like crackers. The fiercest dust storm for many weeks, marred the celebrations arranged for men whose Christmas dinner consisted of bully beef and biscuits during their return from Libya. Eels and mutton birds were cooked in the Maori Battalion hangi and a special meal for pakeha troops was eaten in the shelter of dug-outs. The gale force of the wind kept most of the others beneath cover for the day. The day on which the honour was conferred on General Sir Bernard Freyberg seldom saw him outside the wooden shed constituting his desert headquarters, while most of the division enjoyed a holiday, the G.O.C. and his staff worked at their desks. General Freyberg found time for relaxation in the evening, however, when *he entertained the senior officers and nurses of the division.