KIWI & SPRINGBOK

Wairarapa Times-Age, 1 August 1941, Page 8

KIWI & SPRINGBOK

FIRM FRIENDSHIP ESTABLISHED IN EGYPT SIMILARITY IN OUTLOOK. FUTILE NAZI PROPAGANDA DEVASTATED. (From the Official War Correspondent with the 2nd N.Z.E.F.) CAIRO, June 26. Keenest of rivals on the football field in time of peace, representatives of New Zealand and South Africa among the forces serving in the Middle East are proving closest of allies in time of war. Numbers of men of the Union Defence Force are now stationed in the vicinity of New Zealand camps and common interests have united members of the two forces in firm friendship. It must be remembered that the people of South Africa were introduced to members of the N.Z.E.F. long before their own troops came to Egypt, after their own victories over the Italians in Abyssinia. How many members of the contingent from New Zealand that spent a considerable period in England can forget the hospitality extended to them in South Africa? Not only were they treated royally at Cape Town on their way to England, but they were later given another opportunity of renewing South African acquaintances. This alone is sufficient justification for the cordial relations between the New Zealand and South African troops in Egypt today. But there is even something more than that which binds the two peoples. Their general outlook is similar. Then there is, that strongest of interests, Rugby football. Here and there will always be found groups of South African and New Zealand soldiers discussing"the sport in a general way, or even playing all over again some of the more famous Test matches. Furthermore, there are Rugby internationals in the ranks of both forces.

But the alliance has something more than football as its basis. I have heard groups of soldiers in conversation remark how similar members of the two forces wore in outlook. It is not so much that they have certain identical interests and characteristics, but rather that they appear to manifest very little in the way of differences. Further indication of the readiness with which men of the Union and New Zealand forces have formed a firm friendship is shown in the presence of so many of the Union soldiers at the New Zealand Forces Club while on leave. It is an interesting aspect of the relations existing among various Imperial units in the Middle East that they freely and generously offer hospitality to one another. This exchange of hccpitality is now seen in the frequent spectacle of New Zealanders, Australians and members of the Union Forces fraternising in the same institute.

There are many incidents in lighter vein which could be related to indicate how great has become the spirit of brotherhood in the ranks of the Union and Dominion forces. One of the delights of a day in Cairo is to see a garry whose passengers comprise as many South Africans as New Zealanders. A garry, by the way, is a four-wheeled, horse-drawn, hooded vehicle; which, for a modest fee, will show the sights of the city to those interested. A mixed party of laughing South Africans and New Zealanders is now. a usual sight in Cairo. Whether it is in the New Zealand Forces Club, in a restaurant, or in a garry, the New Zealand soldiers are ever' ready to return in some measure the hospitality that was showered on New Zealand troops in South Africa. And it is with that same spirit that men of both parts of the Empire are prepared to go into action when the opportunity will demand it. This cameraderie among newly-met members of the fighting forces of the Dominions heaps additional devastation on the futile Nazi propaganda which attempted to fool the world into believing in the disintegration of the British Commonwealth of Nations under the test of war. This daily destruction of the false hope of the Nazis has increased a hundredfold by the really alliance of members of the Union and New Zealand Forces.