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PRIDE OF COUNTRY.

NEW ZEALAND IN BRITAIN. AN EFFICIENT AND CAPABLE ORGANISATION. The New Zealand press delegates, during their visit to Britain, saw much to strengthen their pride of country and their respect for their countrymen. They found New Zealand represented in Britain by an efficient and capable military organisation, and they found, what was even more gratifying, that the New Zealand soldier haß made for hiuiself an exceptionally high reputation. From the very beginning of the tour the delegates noted the enthusiasm with which residents of the Britisli Islts spoke of the New Zealander. The en thusiasm continued to the end, and the testimony came from all sorts and conditions of people. The New Zealander has won fame as a fighting man, but that in Britain is but an echo from France. What one finds emphasised is his character as a man, his appearance, his manner—all the personal qualities of which the Britisher can speak from intimate contact. In London the New Zealand hat is as well known and &a much honored as in any part or New Zealand. For miles around the New Zealand camps people speak of the manly bearing and good conduct of the New Zealand boys, and of their own pleasant associations with them. The same story is repeated in the vicinity of every New Zealand hospital, and throughout the kingdom, for New Zealandcrß on leave have travelled far and have made more than a passing impression wherever they have gone. Among their comrades in the Allied armies, among their own officers and nurses, among the great band of warworkers, who meet and help the soldiers, they are equally weil esteemed. ! One hears, for instance, in Scotland, and from New Zealanders themselves, of a mutual and reciprocal bond of admiration between Scottish and New Zealand troops, in Canada, 01 many firm friendships formed between New Zealanders and Canadians. When inquiry is made from New Zealand officers and nurses, or in soldiers' rest homes the warmest corroboration is given of all that is said in praise of the New Zealand men. No doubt there are exceptions, but wherever a. New Zealand civilian moves in Britain, wherever he hears his countrymen discussed, the story of the lost sheep is wholly overshadowed by the record of the ninety and nine. The delegates naturally took much interest in the New Zealand military organisation in England. For administrative purposes the New Zealand Expeditionary Force is a complete nrmy unit. It has its own camps, its own hospitals, its own headquarters staff, The press delegates took an early opportunity of visiting the training camps at Codford and Sling. They are close together, near the ancient city of Salisbury, and surrounded by camps used by soldiers from all parts of the British Empire. Codford is a hardening school; Sling, the final training ground. The majority of the men sent to Codford had seen service and were drawn from convalescent hospitals. A smaller number were men considered of doubtful physique on their arrival from New Zealand. All were classified and set to the grade of training approved by the medical officers, this ranging from gentle physical exercises to stiff military training, those in the latter category being close to the point of transfer to Sling. On account of the number of men necessarily discharged from the ranks at Codford much attention was paid hero to the education of the soldier, in fact the depot would be better described as a school of physical and mental development than a3 a military camp. The delegates were cordially received by Lieutenant-Colonel Griffiths, the commanding officer. They were given every opportunity to converse with the men, and they left convinced that the camp was well organised and capably conducted. Sling is essentially a military camp. It has been the New Zealand base in England. At the time of the visit there were 250 officers and over 700 men being ready to move to France, while another 700 were within a week of completing their training. The delegates saw the Auckland, Wellington, Canterbury, and Otago regiments at various stages of training under specialist instructors, and at the close of the day they witnessed the four thousand odd men march past. This was an impressive demonstration of the finish put on the soldier by the strenuous course at Sling. Of the hospitals nothing too good can be said. They are abreast of every advance in medicine and surgery, they are staffed with highly skilled nurses, they are cleanly and homely and overflowing with kindness. At Walton-on-Thames and the associated hospital at Oatlands Park there are 1850 beds; at Brockcnhurst land the auxiliary hospitals attached to it there are 1500. This gave an <:mple margin for emergency. The Hornehurch Convalescent Hospital has accommodation for 2500. At all of them extensivo gardening is carried on to reduce the food bills, and as in every hospital in England, great care .in taken to prevent waste. Technical instruction is given to patients fit for work, and there is abundant amusement, the Walton-on-Thames and Oatlands Park Hospitals being specially well situated in this respect as they stand near the banks of a fine stretch of the Thames, admirably suited for boating. Relatives of New Zealand soldiera can rest assured that nothing better is being done for wounded soldiers anywhere than is being done day by day "in the New Zealand Military Hospitals. The work of the headquarters staff includes everything connected with the care of 20,000 men, for there is constantly about that number in England, in training, in hospital, and on leave. Perhaps all of it is not uniformly well done, but it can be said unhesitatingly that it is as free from blemishes as any army administration in England. Apart from the essential and largely routine services there are some features of the administration which deserve to be widely known. The educational scheme has been dealt with separately. A kindred work is going on at headquarters in the collection of material for a New Zealand War Museum or museums, and in the preservation and indexing of war diaries written by officers at the front with a view to assisting in the compilation of a New Zealand history of the war. A similar work is in progress at the Sidcup Face Hospital, where the New Zealand members of the" staff have established a nmseulm of plaster casts, drawings, and photographs illustrating their work in the heftlinj of ffw* wounds. In another,

. field, that of food and other necessaries, New Zealand has established quite an exceptional organisation. It supplies all its own camps and hospitals, and in addition is conducting a retail business in meat and groceries, and issues its own food cards. New Zealand soldiers on leave in London can thus have better food, and at a cheaper rate, than the average Londoner. All purchases are made by a Contracts Board, consisting of three prominent New Zealanders; Lieutenant-Colonel G. T. Hall, Major J. T. Watson, and Mr Gilbert Anderson, and no expenditure exceeding £IOO is authorised until sealed tenders have been called for and accepted by the board. Another department has begun the compilation of information to facilitate demobilisation. Each man in the force is being catalogued, with particulars of his rank, his civilian calling, his outlook in respect to occupation, his place of residence, his age *na family responsibilities, and a reference to his last employer. Cards containing all these and other details are being filed with a view to being sent to New Zealand for the information of any organisation that may interest itself in the future settlement and employment of soldiers. These activities of the headquarters stall' indicate that its outlook is not narrow. It is a working organisation in complete sympathy with the soldier for it is composed entirely of men who have seen service, and all of them are now classed unfit for service with the exception of a few who' are the only surviving sons of families which have suffered severely in the war. In many ways New Zealanders on war service are demonstrating exceptional ability and resource. At Sidcup, the greatest hospital in England for the remedial treatment of facial wounds, there is a New Zealand doctor in charge, and New Zealand doctoi'a and dentists are' operating a large sectionof the hospital, and are doing marvellous work in repairing the most pathetic of all the damage caused by the war. To one of the New Zealand hospitals British army doctors come in great numbers to see and profit by the skilled work of a New Zealand-born surgeon. The American Y.M.C.A. has sent a commission to gather information respecting the New Zealand educational scheme, and has decided to copy it. These are instances of the marked success and appreciation attending the efforts of New Zealanders. But appreciation of New, Zealander's share in the war is not confined to individuals. Our men everywhere have mads t, good name for themselves and for their country. Incidentally they are teaching the Britisher where New Zealand is and what it is. They are spreading a knowledge of it and creating everywhere the most friendly feeling for the country and for its people.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TDN19181216.2.60

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Taranaki Daily News, 16 December 1918, Page 7

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,531

PRIDE OF COUNTRY. Taranaki Daily News, 16 December 1918, Page 7

PRIDE OF COUNTRY. Taranaki Daily News, 16 December 1918, Page 7

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