THE MEN IN EGYPT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 212, 15 February 1915, Page 6

THE MEN IN EGYPT.

WORK Of ARTILLERY. TROOPS IX HARD TRAINING. NEWS FROM HOME WELCOME. Serial letters are being written by many members of the New Zealand Expeditionary Fore<, from Egypt, relating their impressions of military life and their excursions to the places of interest within reach of tne camp. A gunner in the field artillery, writing on December '2O, stated that the work had been mainly exercising the horses, and getmg them into working order after the trip. They were led for a couple of days, then ridden bareback, and linally put into harness. At the time of writing the guns had been taken out once. The force was becoming more eilieient every day. "We wer c oat the other dav practising fo r a night bivouac, and in all probability wo shall be away for a couple of days next week, sleeping m the open," lie writes. ''You. would be surprised to see how we have become accustomed to the sand, and how comfortable a shelter we make, with our ground-sheets laced together and stretched over the guns and ammunition waggons. In a quarter of an hour from the time we were trotting over the Sivnd with all our blankets, overcoats, feed-bags, etc., on our horses, we had th 0 horses unharnessed and picketed, covers over the guns, and werc all under the shelter, ready for sleep. imr New Zealand batteries are becoming very eilieient, but we shall ha ve to train hard to reach the standard of the real English 'Tommies.' " Referring to the. canteens, the letter says that everything is stocked that the •lm n require, and the goods are very eh'-ap. There is also a wet canteen, but as it is "run on proper lines,'' (here is no drunkenness. 11,, adds that the men do not spend much money at the canteen, but save it for spending on seeing the sights. An event of Christmas Day was the arrival of the contingent of New Zealanders formed in England. Tn a note written on December 23, the writer remarks that Cairo and the surroundings bad become less attractive, and the men seemed to exist from one day to the next on the expectation of news from home.