THE TROOPS IN EGYPT

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 160, 6 June 1940, Page 5

THE TROOPS IN EGYPT

AIR RAID PRECAUTIONS. (N.Z.E.F. Official News Service.) May 14. We have just shared with the whole of Egypt, : civilian and military population alike, ' the experience oj a week of mock air raid and black-out ‘ exercises. In the New Zealand camp realism was achieved by strict observance of black-out rules and anti-gas precautions. Active defence sections, special 'pickets and decontamination squads xvei'e trained in their duties. Umpires. xx r ent their r.ounds to note and correct faults and to mark out pi-etendcd gas-contaminat-ed ai-eas. Friendly aircraft played the l’ole of cncnxy raiders to make the mock air attacks still moi-e cffectix-e.

The striving after realism reached its height on the last night of exercises. when the shattering detonation of “bombs” exploded throughout -the camp, shook us out of our . beds. The rattle of gas alarms followed, and xve took refuge in our respirators. Because “gas attacks” might come at any time, xve carried this part of our equipment with us wherever xve went, even if it xvas only to walk a few yards from the tents.

; Eacli tent was required to attend to i its own blacking-out after dark, while vehicles travelled with lights shielded by blue-painted glass. Chinks of light through the walls of wooden buildings were carefully obscured before the exercises began, and mechanically-minded membei's of my own unit devised I switches which threw rooms lit by elecI tricity into comparative darkness when 'outside doors were opened, i The city 7 of Cairo was a study 7 in soft moonlight, dark shadows and the blue glow of motor headlamps when I visited it one night during the exercises.

Tlie atmosphere of tlie'lively city had changed completely. Gone were the brilliant signs,, the bright theatre foyers, the glittering- shop windows. The facades of tall buildings were gaunt and black, doorways were darkened, and street lamps were extinguished except at busy 7 corners, where they 7 shed only 7 a glimmer of blue. Trains and buses went by in the faintest blur of’ light. Some of the pedestrians carried flashlights for their own protection, and I found safety behind the glow o"f a cigarette. Winking traffic signals, however, made good- guiding stars, for they were easily' the most conspicuous lights in the city. In sidewalk cafes people sht in the darkness and dined and chatted as if nothing had happened. ( I walked through sti'eets lined with' business houses and native dwellings alike, and no suspicion of bright light was to be seen. Steel-helmeted policemexx patrolled the footpaths to ensui'e that the restrictions were being obsei-ved. There was something else 1 saw—something which, in Cairo, seemed inevitable. Wherever there is a chance of commercialising anything under the sun, the city’s “street salesmen” will take that chance. The black-out was ! no exception, and it saw the sidewalk vendor change his usual variety of wares into a tray full of cheap electric torches, or invest in a pot o£ blue paint with xv hi eh to come to the aid—at a price—of motorists xvliosc lights xvere -not. sufficiently dimmed. The Air Raid Pi-eeautions authorities pronounced the black-out exercises a success, for the people of Cairo and of every 7 other city 7 and town in Egyixt xvere quick to realise ‘tlxcir responsibili- : ties. Front a high-flying ’plane only the silver ribbon of the Nile was visible in the Cairo area. Air raid warnings were obeyed more and more promptly and smoothly. In the city they xvere ■the, signal to take, cover, and people streamed into shelters and other places of safety, leaving the footpaths deserted and traffic at a standstill. Practice though it xvns, the week's exercise was impressive in its realism and thoroughness.