THE TROOPS IN EGYPT.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 117, 16 April 1940, Page 8

THE TROOPS IN EGYPT.

GROWING APPETITES. (N.Z.E.F. Official News Service.) March 16. Can Napoleon, when ho declared that an army marches on its stomach, have had a vision of the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force? If in our thrico-daily rush to mess parades we could stop to think, wo should probably reflect on the truth of his famous saying. Our appetites seem to grow apace in the dry desert air. For the cooks whose task it is to give tile meals the spice of variety as well as sufficiency, within the limits of the ration scale, our healthy hunger must be the start of a headache or two. Jt is a fact that the food question is one about which men can most easily find room to grumble, but it stands to the credit of the cooks that real causes for complaint are rare. When it comes to minor “grouses,” the more reasonably-minded of us have to agree that, after all, this is a war, and a war must mean a certain amount of sacrifice in everything. Wo find a sense of humour is the best antidote for any tendency to grumble. That spirit is exemplified at one mess hall where a notice above the doorwayreads: “Moaners’ Rest.” Of the food itself, we are beginning to think the traditional “bullv beef and stew” is becoming a mere legend. Certainly it still appears now and then, but it is overshadowed bv less historical rations. At breakfast, for instance, in addition to the basic items of porridge, bread, butter, jam and tea, we have bacon —usually with eggs or tomatoes—or steak and tomatoes. There is soup practically every day at lunch time, with such dishes as Welsh rarebit, tinned fish or tinned meat, and often an orange for each man. The evening meal brings us a hot meat-and-vegetable dish, with various puddings, pies and sweets. It is beyond our experience to compare our well-being with that of the New Zealanders in Egypt 25 years ago, but one who should know—SergeantCook Bonrke, held the same rank in the Wellington Mounted Rifles, serving in Egypt, Palestine and Gallipoli. He says there is a world of difference between then and now. He tells us that in the last war ho had to work in the open air, and that the men carried the food to tlieir tents instead of messing in the halls we use to-day. The food itself has vastly improved, too, in his opinion. And he agrees with us that the New Zealanders have brought some pretty hefty appetites to Egypt with them.' “AA’e ju6t can’t stop feeding them,” lie says. '