NEW ZEALAND TROOPS POPULAR

Southland Times, Issue 24881, 22 October 1942, Page 4

NEW ZEALAND TROOPS POPULAR

Outstanding Fighting Qualities

“The New Zealand private soldier is the finest fighter in the world and a wonderful ambassador for the country when he goes overseas,” remarked Lieutenant Paul McLauchlan, of Clyde street, Invercargill, in an interview yesterday. He recently returned home with a leg wound received during the Battle of Egypt. He said that for standard of education and for soldierly qualities •the men in the ranks of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force overseas could not be beaten by those they had met from othex- countries. Lieutenant McLauchlan had opportunities to watch the N.Z.E.F. at play and in action because he was in charge of sport at Maadi camp for some months and later led his unit into action in Libya and Egypt. The Maoris were magnificent, he said, and were greatly feared by the Germans and Italians, but the New Zealand pakeha troops were at least the equal of those of any other country. Not all the troops from Allied countries were so welcome wherever they went as the New Zealanders, nor did they add to their popularity so surely, he continued. In Syria, for example, the New Zealand troops had found . the natives most friendly. The Syrians’ attitude towards the French, whether Vichy or Fighting, contrasted most strongly because the record of French colonization in the country had not been good. The New Zealanders had thoroughly enjoyed their months in Syria because the natives were friendly and the country was similar to New Zealand and a most welcome change from the desert of North Africa.