LANDING IN EGYPT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 187, 16 January 1915, Page 3

LANDING IN EGYPT.

ENGLISH PRESS COMMENT. CHANGE FOR THE BETTER. j London, December 8. j "The Australian and New Zealand contingents have disembarked in Egypt, to assist in the defence of that country and to complete their training there. When their training is completed they will go direct to the front to fight with the other British troops in Europe." This is the bald statement in which the Press Bureau announces the disembarkation a few days ago of our men in the Suez Canal. It was known in restricted circles for some time, and the publication of the fact has greatly disappointed many New Zealanders here who were hoping to welcome their countrymen Home. But after the first feeling of disappointment, there is a general admission that t"ie change of plan is well conceived.

From what I have scon of Salisbury Plain and the conditions under which tlie Canadians are training there T have felt! many misgivings as to the effect of a | sojourn of two or three months there' upon our troops arriving from New Zealand. The Canadians are not at all. happy there, and the weather has prevented them from doing their training as well as might have been wished. Although hutments were also ready for the. New Zealanders, they would not have been nearly so well placed from a health point of view on Salisbury Plain as ill Egypt, where the winter permits of a continuous training in a healthy climate. The Xew Zealanders are now at : once a factor in the war, and operating under war conditions, for which the Canadians in the west of England are openly pining. On the whole, our men will have a much brighter winter in Egypt, and, whether they are fighting or whether they are not, they will be serving the very necessary purpose of impressing the Egyptian population, about whose loyalty there was at first some anxiety. The preparations for meeting any Turkish advance through the desert are well iu hand. "Though accustomed to see transports and warships pass in times of 1 peace," says the Times, "the dwellers oil the banks of the Canal have marvelled j at the immense host of ships crowded! with troops ami escorted by men-of-war which have passed by coming from the East." The Moslems of Egypt have extended a warm welcome to those of India, and the Bengal Lancers have, much' impressed the Bedouins, who have an eye to good • horsemen. The exemplary behaviour of the troops has much impressed the whose education lias been advanced by the sight of British and French officers, ships and troops acting in hearty co-operation." There are, lnorcver, good accounts of •the attitude of the Egyptians themselves. The. Mudir of Sharkieh province, which is adjacent to the canal, is said to have exercised a wise and firm restraint to prevent Turkish emissaries moving about freely within his jurisdiction. Ruslidi Bey, the Premier, in an interview with the. London Daily Telegraph, says: "Egypt requires the protection of a great power, to enable her to work out her dostivy. And what Power can better giv. that protection that England? We cannot forget what England has done for us. The benefits of British administration are almost incalculable. England is the natural protctor of Egypt oil many grounds." Commenting on the disembarkation in Egypt the Times says:—"The news will, we think, give satisfaction at the Antipodes. We can conceive no more welcome nor more paramount duty in which the gallant troops of Australia and New Zealand can be employed than ' ill the defence oi' the great waterway which forms their principal route of communication with Egypt. Should the Turks appear, our brethren will find themselves campaigning beneath a cloudless. sky in what is at this season the most glorious climate in the world. They will find plenty of British comrades to greet, them, and Hill have an opportunity of observing the prowess of some of the hot regiments of the Tndian army. Meanwhile, they can complete their training under conditions very different from the damp rigors of Salisbury Plain and should be ready to take their place in ' the liritifh armies of Europe all till: 'better for an agreeable encounter with the Turks."