WITH THE TROOPS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 163, 10 June 1940, Page 4

WITH THE TROOPS.

. EXPERIENCES IN EGYPT. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF “NAFFY.” (N.Z.E.F. Official News Service.) May 21. An expression that sounds like “naffy” falls frequently and casually from the lips of every New Zealand soldier in Egypt. It is the brief way of saying “N. A. A.F.1.,” which in turn is a contraction of the name “Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes.” To the Briton serving anywhere overseas, N.A-A.F.I. means canteen. In the camp of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force alone there are eight of these institutes. They are the soldier’s source of almost everything he wants to buy—postage- stamps, soap, cameras, films, tobacco, beer, hot suppers, and many other luxuries and necessities. Even messing issues are made through the central store and distributing depot in the camp. . Each of the institutes is a large wooden building with two spacious rooms, filled with tables and chairs, opening on to the central servery and kitchen. One room in the past has been available for general use and the other reserved for corporals, but it is now planned to convert each- corporals’ room into a recreation and social centre. Each institute also has a reading and writing room controlled by the Y.M.C.A. The canteen maintains its traditional popularity as a rendezvous for the men of the force. On pay nights in particular it presents a cheerful, convivial scene, and is frequently used for smoke concerts by sections or platoons. Community “sings” held there periodically are always ■well attended. Prices of several of the articles stocked are lower than those ruling' in ordinary retail shops. According to a statement issued on the operation of the institutes, they are conducted by a non-profit company, w.hich has no shareholders and does not pay dividends. The company is controlled by a council whose members are drawn from the three services and a board of management made up _of service representatives and civilians with business experince. Of the money spent at the institutes. it is stated,- the greater part merely covers the cost of the goods purchased. A percentage of the remainder goes back to the units in the form of a rebate, and after reserves have been allowed for. the balance is expended" for tlie benefit of the services as a whole. “For the first time in history,” it is claimed, “an efficient canteen service was ready to take the field at the same time as the trooos. and is functioning in every part of the world where British sailors, soldiers or airmen are serving.”