BROTHERS IN ARMS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 243, 11 September 1940, Page 8

BROTHERS IN ARMS.

NEW ZEALANDERS AND AUSTRALIANS.;

The Sydney Morning Herald’s war correspondent with the A.l.h • leport from Cairo: — . . Yesterday (August 27) I visited an Australian Anti-Tank unit m a camp “somewhere in Egypt.” J hey are under canvas with New Zealanders oil the fringe of the desert, on the site ot a big Light Horse camp of the last war." Their instructors are New Zealanders of ilie Anti-Tank Unit which was formed in England Irom New Zealanders resident there when war broke ° U ] found one group of slouch-hatted members of the A.I.F. manning a slim, deadly-looking anti-tank gun, under the orders of a New Zealand, non-commis-sioned officer. Inside a nearby hut other Australians sat in a circle, watching intently while a New Zealander explained the gun’s mechanism. It is a tribute to the efficiency of this kiwi unit that they arc instructing net only Australians, but also Indian and British troops. This is the first time Australians have worked together with New Zealanders in this war, and they are enjoving. the experience. 'One gunner’s reply to the i question how he “Enzeds” is typical of all. “They are a wonderful lot of blokes,” he said, “Wo couldn’t ask for better cobbers.”

Unlike those of the Australians in Palestine, who are encamped on a fertile coastal plain, the New Zealanders’ tents arc pitched on a barren plateau on the edge of the desert. They are actually within easy striking distance of a big city, but one secs, when looking out from their camp, nothing but desert country, utterly desolate, and bare of vegetation. The New Zealanders, however, are in excellent spirts, though, like the Australians, they are anxious to get into action.