IN HIGH SPIRITS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 15 February 1940, Page 7

IN HIGH SPIRITS

MEN OF FIRST ECHELON FIRST NIGHT IN CAMP IN EGYPT. MILE-LONG CLUSTER OF TENTS AND BUILDINGS. The following account by a New Zealand soldier-journalist of the First Echelon's arrival in Egypt was commissioned by the Government, and issued to the Press last night by the DeputyPrime Minister, Mr Fraser. The author is Robin T. Miller, in civil life a reporter on an Auckland newspaper, in the Army a signaller. EGYPT. February 13. We of the First. Echelon of the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force have witnessed tonight the thrilling spectacle of the sun setting over the sands of Egypt. It was a climax to a whole series of adventures and surprises, for it was the end of our first day in the camp that is to take its turn as our home, and the end of five weeks’ journeying by sea and land. Our spirits are high tonight. We have passed through the temporary stage of confusion that seems to beset us every time our environment is changed, and the impression which is growing with most of us of conditions in this newly-built camp seems one of aggreeable surprise. What is more, we are realising more fully than ever before that we are seeing a world far bigger than that which once may have seemed bounded by the shores of New Zealand. In short, however gravely we regard the duty which has brought us here, we have been gripped by the adventure which that duty has thrown upon us. AN ISOLATED SITE. This new camp is a mile-long cluster of tents and wooden buildings set on rising sandy ground well clear of places of normal habitation. Native workmen are still busy with the final stages of the construction of buildings for administration, cooking and other purposes, but the tents to which we were allotted today were ready even to' the placing of our beds and mattresses. It seems an age since our convoy sailed majestically out of Cook Strait, yet strangely enough no period of time has passed so quickly. The weather has been so exceptionally fine that few of us have yet tasted the discomforts of seasickness and more than one was disappointed at missing the experience of a storm at sea. Added to the pleasantness of the voyage was the fact that an abundance of activity and diversions left little chance for monotony to creep in. There were jobs and duties to do about the ships, training was continued as far as possible, and we provided the talent and the audiences for concerts and sporting events. DAYS IN AUSTRALIA.

Australia seemed to take us to her big heart when we went ashore to spend leave. It was almost as if we were given the key to the State capital. so generous and warmhearted was the welcome which we received. There, too. we had our first opportunity of greeting the men of the Australian Imperial Force, whose convoy had by this time linked up with ours. The meeting was so happy that we felt sure the spirit of Anzac is living all over again. After we left Australia we continued steadily northward till our course followed the sea lanes of the East. Our arrival at our next stop found us almost impatient in our eagerness for a first glimpse of a land that was really different. While memories of these interludes were still with us we now looked more than ever to the future, for we knew we were beginning the last stage of our voyage. The sight of land excited us and the thrill of anticipation grew strongest when the modern skyline of Suez appeared through an early morning mist. That day and on the next and the next again troops streamed from our ships and quickly and quietly trains whisked us past kaleidoscopic scenes to our camp on the Egyptian sands. TRANSPORT FEAT AN AMERICAN TRIBUTE. ONE OF THE WAR’S MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS. (Received This Day. 10.50 a.m.) NEW YORK. February 14. The "New York Post" editorially states: "The transport of 30,000 Anzacs 10,000 miles, in complete secrecy and apparent smoothness, is one of the war’s major achievements. It is a tribute to the efficiency of the officers in charge.”