BURNHAM CAMP

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24424, 9 October 1940, Page 3

BURNHAM CAMP

EARLIER DISCOMFORTS REMOVED FLOWER-BEDS BEING LAID OUT Eighteen months ago Burnham was the Southern District Military School and was merely a vague place to which territorials went once in a while. Then came the war, and Burnham took on a new meaning. For some weeks it was "the scene of a great deal of building activity which has since settled down to steady progress, and to-day Burnham Military Camp has attained the size of a respectable township. Many of the inconveniences of a year ago are gone. No longer does a wet day provide a good alibi when a sergeant has things to say about boots which have not been properly cleaned. No longer does a nor’-wester send up swirls of dust. The bitumen roads have settled these bugbears of the soldier’s life. , ■ . The inevitable odd and often ugly places have been cleared, and neat lawns have replaced them. Further additions to the beauty of Burnham are the flower beds which are now being laid out. These harmonise with the cream and green paint of the buildings. Soldiers of the last war have said when they have seen the neat cream buildings faced in green: "We didn’t even dream of such things in 1914.” Though other camps m New Zealand have been built to the same standard. Burnham is outstanding in, the matter of tregs. The large belts of trees mre effective breakwinds, and in Burnham itself is a plantation of native trees which is carefully conserved. These trees have always been protected by the military authorities; so ! much so that when, some years.ago new buildings were planned, care was taken that the native trees were left undisturbed. A Burnham tow has its own railway siding and ;f|l the stores. are housed in modern concrete buildings. in addition, there are modern garages for the army vehicles and a fullyequipped repair shop.