WITH THE SECOND ECHELON

Wairarapa Times-Age, 9 October 1940, Page 8

WITH THE SECOND ECHELON

MASTERTONIAN’S EXPERIENCE. ONE HUNDRED MILE ROUTE MARCH. “We get a great thrill watching a Spitfire shoot down a ‘Jerry.’ Last night I saw, for the first time, a Jerry plane shot down by anti-aircraft fire. It was a fine sight to see it crashing to earth like a blazing meteor,” writes Corporal Ivan McWhinnie, of the Fifth Infantry Brigade, Second Echelon, England, in a letter to nis mother in Masterton. “We are in a mobile unit and are driven about the country in big buses which gives us a great opportunity to see a good deal. However, just to keep us fit we have a fair bit of route marching and have just finished a 100mile route march through Southern England. It took us five days to complete and at night we slept under hedges or in deer parks. This gave us an opportunity to have a look at the great castles and estate of different lords and ladies. One is amazed at the size and grandeur of some of these. One in particular had a stone wall 12 feet high and 2 feet thick running some 14 miles around the estate.” “I have just finished 7 days’ leave which I spent in and around London and .went to all the places of interest and got into all the well-known haunts out of curiosity,” he continues. ... “I was shown over all the big markets — Smithfield, Billingsgate and the corn markets. . .” “Of course I saw Frank Long (Flying Officer F. Long, D.F.C., also formerly of Masterton and a fellow pupil of Wairarapa High School) while on leave. He had had a minor car accident and so came down to London to see me. We were together for a couple of days and had a marvellous time. I understand that he is going to a ‘rest squadron’ shortly, which means 6 months off operations and he certainly has earned a deserved rest.” Corporal McWhinnie formerly resided in Masterton where he played in the Red Star senior cricket team for some seasons and in the Wairarapa representatives.