IN THE TRACK OF THE TROOPS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XLV, Issue 3989, 23 July 1915, Page 3

IN THE TRACK OF THE TROOPS.

MILESTONES OF THE JOURNEY

OFF TO THE FIRING LINE

(By Malcolm RosS, Official War Correspondent with, the New Zealand Forces.)

A voyage westward and northward across the oceans from the Antipodes in these times impresses the traveller not only with the vast, resources of the Empire, but also with the- splendid spirit that animates our race in a crisis calling for almost superhuman energies of mind and body. New Zealand, everyone admits, has done splendidly, and Australia was endeavoring to get level with her in the proportion of men sent to the front. Passing through the ports and cities of the great Continent, one saw few signs of the war—lie re and there officers in khaki, or a platoon marching, almost unnoticed, through the streets; hut in the big camps at Liverpool and Broad meadows there were thousands training, and it was hoped to send in all 100,000 men. On tiio great liner which is carrying His -Majesty's mails to the heart of the Empire we soon find that almost every man-—and woman* —is travelling to or because of the war. They are going in the track of the troops that have gone before. Albany, where months ago the great Australasian armada assembled for his historic voyage, is the first milestone along the route. There are others that mark historic stages in the great trek —the rusting ribs of the Emden upon the Keeling rocks; the great camps in the desert in Egypt; the fight on the Canal; and the operations in the Dardanelles. History is being “written in lightning flashes,” and there will without doubt be other milestones yet farther afield.

At Fremantle, a splendid New Zealand ship, crowded with Australian soldiers, their band playing, steams out into the silver wake of the setting sun. It is an inspiriting scene. The enthusiasm spreads to the passengers on the liner, and the flying corps in the well deck for’ard join in the lusty cheering, and then burst into a song wi tli the refrain—“We will never forget Australia And the friends we leave behind.” The crude poetry of the sung will bo not find a place in any anthology, but the sentiment appeals to the dwellers in the great sun-baked Continent, which already, almost, has become a nation. The Aviation Corps, which consists of a young captain, a young lieutenant, and some 38 non-coms, and men, is as keen as mustard. Drill, study, and physical exercise occupy nearly all their time. It is only the two officers who fly, but what with artificers and mule transport it takes another 3S men to “run'’ a plane in war tune. They arc a fine type of young men who compose this corps. One of the

“Tommies’’ owns two large sheep stations, and is rich beyond the dreams of avarice. He could buy up the whole ship, cargo and all; but he wanted to do his share in the war, and, knowing nothing of drill, decided to join as a private. ‘And,” says the stout farrier sergeant-major, who, by the way, wears the ribbon of'the Boer War, “-he is as happy as Larry.” The corps does not know where it is going; but it imagines it will soon be operating in the Persian Gulf. There are quite a number of young men on board, all bound for one or other of the campaigns in which Britain. is now engaged. Two go Home to join King Edward’s Horse. Two others hope for commissions in the Engineers. Then there are several voting doctors, fresh from their final examinations —among them the fast bowler of an Australian Eleven. They are, without exception, fine types ot 1.1 ie young Australian, and will give of .their host in the cause of Empire. There are also English officers keen to get to the war. The tall, clever cavalryman at the captain’s table has already been there. A horse fell with him, .and he was sent on a special mission, with two other officers, to buy horses in Australia twenty thousand of them. it is a game at which in the past big commissions have been made, but of late years tho methods of the War Office have been revolutionised, and so it happens that the only tribute in connection with this £400,000 deal is a box of somewhat inferior cigars pushed on board a. departing steamer by a man in Adelaide, and, in addition, a glowing letter of praise from an officer high up in the Army Remount Department.

An ex-P. and. 0. officer, R.N.R. who already has had eight cousins killed m the war, has left his sheep station mAustralia to do duty in the North Sea. His wife and two babies are with him. A captain, who saw servico with the Xetw Zealanders in the Boer War, and who has since roughed it in the “Malice, ’’ is returning to join his old regiment, the. Buffs—or what is left of it.

Ton days out from Fremantle the flashing of the Dalle light, and, later, a. flaming sunrise above the rone or Adams’s Peak, point to other scenes—to Ceylon, which, out of her four thousand planters, has sent three thousand to the war. At Colombo, except for the scarcity of freight ships and the dearth of tourists, it is a case of “business as usual,’’ for there is non no Enid oil afloat on the waters and no Germans wirelessing to her,about the movements of British ships. The Gallo Face at dinner is still an interesting sight, and here meet and mingle men from New Zealand and Australia, from Penang and Singapore, from Hongkong and Yokohama, and even from Pctrograd and Pekin. A chance meeting with an old friend lends to a dinner at the G.O.H. 111 interesting company. A clever Russian official and a young Russian from Siberia, are able to tell us much about the Eastern campaign and to give us comprehensive details of the latest driving force in the Czar’s dominions. Russian can tram twelve million men for this war. The figures are staggering. “But has she enough munitions for her present forces?” We are assured that she now has. England has helped, and so has Japan, and even. America. Colombo is the jmnping-eff-pla.ee for our outposts of Empire in the Far East —those possessions and dependencies in which the young 'men who are the pioneers of tropic -trade stew and swelter in the hot, moist ports, or toil -with tin and rubber in C o feverstricken jungles. There are men

boarding our ship from all theso parts bound for the war. Many have already gone on. The Straits Settlements, especially, have done splendidly, both in regard to men and money. These people tell -strong tales of happenings in the Far East —the Singapore riot, a jumpy time at Hong Kong and other things. * The German who engineered the riot at Singapore was head of a big firm there. He escaped to Java, and from there had the impudence to- telegraph back to the Governor thanking him for his hospitality, In Colombo, also, one hears strange tales of German spies. One of the German firms was the wealthiest m Colombo. The German Club was the best there. Tho former is now being conducted by tho Government. The latter is closed, and, as we dr.ve through, the residential quarter, we note the shuttered houses of these wealthy Germans standing untonanted and forlorn amidst tho gorgeous flowering trees and shrubs of their

| spacious grounds. The former inhabij tants are in an inland camp -under j strict guard. The late manager ol i tiie Gallo Face Hotel and the .wealthy ; merchant are among them. HagenI buck —brother of the celebrated ani- ! mal man —was caught red-handed j sending wireless messages. Owing to i some laxity he is supposed to have ! escaped to Java. Rumor states that a British cruiser went after him. What happened is known to a few people. A police official hints that he did not reach Java. Some say ho was shot. After the war we may know. Meantime his wife, a gay French woman, has been living at Cairo.

From all one hears of the happenings in the Far East one comes to the inevitable conclusion that tho authorities throughout the British Dominions

cannot be too strict in their tieatmont of the German alien within their gates. In some instances the ■ has been undue laxity, and precautions were taken only when-it was too

late. It all points to the necessity for the appointment of strong and capable men to important positions ol great trust in the outposts of Empire. It is interesting to listen to the opinions of men and women who have seen the troops from the oversea dominions on their way to the seat ol war. But this is scarcely a time tor comparisons and criticisms. On the contrary, so tremendous is the task before us that it behoves everyone to do all that is possible by word and act in stiniluating a friendly feeling and a healthy patriotism. It may no said, however, that one could not repress a thrill of pride in listening to the opinions of the people of Colombo upon the conduct and bearing of the New Zealand troops who landed there The New Zealanders wherever they have been have maintained untarnished the fair name of their line country. All that one has heard in the track ol our troops is a tribute to the care with which, they have lateen selected, to the officers who trained them, anti to the stock from which they have sprung. The moral of it. all is to weed out the waster, to discard the unfit. As time goes on and more drafts arc required this may he the more d'ffi<u 11 of accomplishment, but it will be none the less necessary. Among t-lie men who joined us at Colombo from the Far East was young Belgian Consul. Several of fns relatives and many of his irionds have fallen tn the war. He is going to the trenches. His mother, who is in Brussels, wrote that, as he was an only sony ho must eotne home and fight. Willingly he has left his post in the East, and is hurrying to the Wc-sto rn battlofields. As our voyage proceeds it becomes mote and more interesting, though

somewhat more risky. Lu the Arabian Sea the south-west monsoon drives v.s north of the -long barren island ol Socotra, and wo reach Aden late. Still later in the night the Salsetta glides in, bringing her load of AngloIndians, with piles of luggage, in which one notes the guns of the hunter, the rods of the ma sheer man, and the clubs of tin* loss adventurous golfer. • The stout little old man witn the eyeglass is a. general from tho. Persian Gulf. Next him, diving into the pile of luggage for his bundle, s a sergeant of the Royal Horse. Artillery. He is here with some 20 or 30 of his men from India going to train more artillery in England. He is nottroubling much about the war. Mar Is his job, and he will take it as and when it comes with the calm pliilo-

sophy of his type. Meantime, it is the necessities of the moment that lie i-> thinking about, and he delivers with much metaphor and appropriate adjectives a lecture to all and sundry upon the blighter who has ‘‘pinched ' his straps. A grey cruiser from the Persian Gulf has poked her nose m under the shelter of the old rock, and as the shore searchlights pierce the darkness this ship, and other craft ol varied kind, arc revealed with startling suddenness. On shore the gai nson is strengthened, and hig Sikh sentries bar your progress on the -upland* paths. peri in, with its lighthouse and its cable station, stares at us. as we enter the Hod Sea. Here are more soldiers. All that night the lights along the Pod Sea, formerly in the hands of the Turks, flash brightly, now tended hv British hands. Here we meet and ppss the converging 'traffic of East and West —a tank steamer with engines far aft, carrying ml from Java; a hospital ship going to the Persian Gulf or India; a Dutch steamer with her colors and name in huge letters bo that the German submarines may not sink her, and many others, all travelling in comparative safety by the Grace of God and the exertions of the British Navy.

The Canal to-day is a sight, in itself, port Said is more interesting than ever, and Alexandria provides scenes n• ver to go forgotten. We have come these thousands of miles in the track of the troops unescorted and without a mishap; with never a German flag in sight—a tribute surely to the nation that still rules the waves'. And throughout this long trek across the oceans, at every port,men are joining ns eager to take their places, in the fighting lines. Prom the fertile fields of New Zealand, from the sun-bathed plains of Australia, from China, front India, from Ceylon, from the-Malay Archipelago, and even from Somaliland, the young men are answering tile call, with the blood of their fathers still strong in tho.tr veins. They are travelling' westward in the track ,of the troops who have gone before.