NEW ZEALAND ARMY AT HOME.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XL, Issue 1901, 9 November 1918, Page 4

NEW ZEALAND ARMY AT HOME.

(Concluded from Page 1.)

pressed comrades who have been bearing the heat and burden ol the day, a man, alter a gulp, may say, “Yes.” But' every one guesses ho will be ready when the lime comes, though there is not that spontaniely there was about the earlier Reinforcements iii this respect. General Richardson addressed the troops. No one has .shown more, concern tor,Lite welfare ol the men limn lie lias; and he told them that while they were in the United Kingdom thev would find everything was being done for their comfort and happiness, as well as for litt.ng them for France; they would be amply fed in spile ol the stale of the food problems; they would Imve plenty of attractions to keep (hem occupied in their spare lime, ami m their future (raining they would have little to grumble at. They had nothing to lie apprehensive about if they did I heir work well, and showed a keenness to become lit to light in the New Zealand lines with th ; e who had come before'them. That tills is so, and that the enthusiai- tic care of our men is exceptional even with colonial armies, the descriptions of the camps, hospitals, and convalescent camps which r follow this article will show. BETTING ASHORE. Meanwhile, somewhere in an obscure cabin the ship's olbccrs and Ihe landing officials were conferring, and arranging all matters connected with disembarkation. The Landing Olliccrs for all New Zealand transports are New Zealanders. Then, when several thousands of spruce Americans, who, with their equipment, were not without interest to our troops, had finished disembarkation, and there was room at the wharf for our Ira import, getting (he men ashore was only a matter of half an hoar or so. Papers had passed between the ship’s officers and the Landing Ollicers, and once the men were ashore, Conducting Ulimers, who knew exactly .what to do, look' charge of (hem. There was no shouting or bullying, and very few commands. Crowds in England do not cheer newly-arrived colonial troops nowadays. The novelty has died out. Mixture of our men with citizens in town and country, and the establishment of our own hospitals and other war institutions, has gradually developed a. view (hat we are part and parcel of the Empire and equally in this quarrel with themselves (which is a very much heller view), and m>( (hat we are. so to speak, outsiders who have mime to help .and are to be welcomed as such. The people, when they see outside troops arriving, rather stand and stare, and seem to be wondering. OFF TO CAMP. The Reinforcement is told off by companies to its (rains, and marelied to tiie wlmrf-sfalioii. .Each man carries a ralioii to (ml on the journey. Before 1 leaving the vessel all had a good substantial meal. In a few minutes the first train —the unfamiliar leu-person compartment carriages of England —is comfortably loaded, and quietly vanishes. ‘■She didn't even whistle" is the usual comment of the newly arrived, ff you listen for whistles and “Scats please" in England, you usually get left behind. At brief intervals after I lie first train follow the others. All lias been arranged the previous day—nonslop runs for one or two hundred miles (o camp. Britain's peerless railway system is her jm-t pride. The same is being done on other lines for twenty times as many Americans as mir troops number. Our artillerists and Maoris by the same boa! are speeding elsewhere. Waking up when once amove, and under the inlluence of the beautiful peaceful country, with trim hedges, winding lanes, quaint old villages, through which the train speeds merrily, the men soon -st;;r( singing, waving to villagers and cottagers, who wave back', and they become once more “don't-care-a-hang, lel-'m-ali-come" colonials. By the time the camp station is reached they are in Ihe nroiier mood to take anything that is coming' to them. In this ease the run was to Broclon, the llille Brigade camp, in Staffordshire. The panorama on either side was rural England in springtime at her best, it was cheery and homely. Already you could feel the famous old ale running down your

dry “ship’s throat,'’ and hear strange music in the laughter of the comely village girls. After all. it was very like dear old New Zealand —the far-oif little island which, even at this early stage, 1 lie Maorilander cries fondly “is good enough for me!” and will repeal: more vehemently as time goes on and continued absence makes the heart grow fonder. Then comes the arrival at the station. Luggage and kit-bags disappear on G.S. wagons ; Conducting Ollicers take charge of the drawnup ranks; the cam]) band strikes up merrily: and with confident step, a fid answering quip for quip with the many older hands lining the way, tiie march is made to the camp. Here there is a royal rousing, cheering greeting from the men who have “come before.” And in a very little time the newly arrived “Thirtyfourths” have bedded down in camp, and are having a good solid meal. That meal apparently came as a pleasant surprise to the men —soup, hot roast and vegetables, and pudding served up on hot plates, bread and butter and cheese, or jam, and tea. It was served in one of the camp dining-halls, and on the system that obtains in ail the* New Zealand camps *at Home, which is, by the Headquarters order, based on the principle that good food docs not necessarily constitute a good dinner unless properl ly served up. “Better than ever we got in TreuIhain,” I hear one soldier say, as he rattled his. knife against his mug, on his way to his hut.