Away at the War

Horowhenua Chronicle, 20 July 1916, Page 3

Away at the War

ELEVENTH ItMNFORCEMENTts.

The following extracts tu'e from a letter written by Private iWalter liarratt, who, not long since, was in tho Post Office at Weraroa, and is well known throughout this district. His letters is dated May '22nd, and the camp was then outside the oity ot Marseilles, France. By this time the men aic no doubt in the firing line. Writing on board the transport i'n the lilediterrancan. he says:— "Tho 11th Reinforcement* may congratulate themselves on having had an excellent trip from New Zealand to Suez. "We had plenty of amusement on board, a-nd enough talen to give a variety show anywhere. We were only four days in Egypt, but the heat was so intense and the flies such an abominable nuisance that we were not sorry to get away. Theie \v,b no opportunity of seeing the ancient ruins, of the Pyramids, but we found much to interest us at- Suez, which is rather pretty, with the palm trees and gardens. He we saw Egyptians, Greeks. Syrians and negroes, and the white man is supreme. He bosses and they woTk. TKey are low down in the social scale. The natives are unspeakably dirty, even filthy, eating anything out of the gutters, and clnd in rags. The railway is alongside the wharf and some of the engines are ancient. Ae we travelled we- saw the Eg.vqtians at work in the rice fields and flie ploughs were pretty ancient also. It seems hard to get these people to take up with modern ideas. They draw water 'Bv a- treadmill process. and the camel, tnule or cow have the eyes blindfolded as they move round and round ; this is because of the flies. The women carry water in pitchers balanced upon the head. It was also a comical sight to see the natives going to the ricefields" mounted on mules and camels, and the old reaphook did the reaping. Some of the "Egyptians keep their gardens spick and span, like the Chinese. We were camped <it Tel-el-Kebir. where in 1882 Lord Wolsley fought with the Dervishes. The fortifications still exist. There I saw Bob Sloan, and T heard other Levini'tes were there. Tt has lien rather hard on some of the young fellows, for home comforts are •eft behind and the new life tells on those who are physically strong. I had no sickness on the voyage and am now as hard as nails. iHaven't had a day's sickness since I left New Zealand. We are now (May 22) in France. It was sweet to get on the water away from the heat and fl.es. but after We landed at- Marseilles we were informed that we only escaped a submarine by a few hours. We are camped a few miles out of town. The train journey from the seaside to the camp was rather long, but oh. how pleasant it was to see green fields and waving trees after the heat and sand. And how the birds warbled. The little daisy seemed to smile «t us from the roadsides, and for miles we could see rows of grape vines and the ground between them without a weed. And

here were women working, with a young lad or an old man here and there. All who were fit of the male sex were >away at the front. When the train pulled up occasionally " - e were met by the women folk villi cheery greetings. They felt we hud come from afar to save their country, and they chatted and smiled a welcDinr which we could only understand by their actions. And they wanted our buttons are souvenirs, and of collide wo gave them ail we had upon our I coats. (Had we been prisoners of war th« rule is, i belioTe, to remove the brace buttons so that on the march the fingers are used to keep the trousers on). These French women, nearly all we saw, are vory pretty in features and dainty in figure, and their eyes shone as we tried to talk to them. Some of the boys have been so struck that they say, if they come out of the war unscathed, they will tind a nice French lassie and settle here. They are a light-hearted, happy people. Truly theiy treated us with womanly courtesy and kindness and they are a pleasant memory. We could perceive that 'in education and social standing there were differences, but adversity had brokoin down society barriers, and they mingled together for mutual help. There is so much I would like to tell you, but the censor rules it out. We are now in camp doing some stiff training. We shall learn how to wear the gas masks and endure a gas cloud. We shall see more of war tactics than hitherto. But wo are all jolly and have nothing to eonipiain off. Our tucker is even better than what we got at Trentham, and though wo are strong and hearty, we want to stand side by side with our follows who are now in the filing line. Tln re isn't a shirker amongst us though we are so close to the enemy. We will do our best—p chaps fall in the fight; maybe win a V.C. But don't be surprised if we take part in a "March to Berlin," and wit. news the signing of the Peace Treaty. The. 11th Reinforcements mean business."