WORLD WAR OUTPOST

Wairarapa Times-Age, 4 September 1941, Page 5

WORLD WAR OUTPOST

RELIC OF FIRST N.Z.E.F. DISCOVERY IN EGYPT. PREVIOUS CONFLICT RECALLED. CAIRO, August 16. Any boy or girl at school knows full well that, apart from camels and the pyramids, Egypt is renowned for its antiquities and the links with the past that are unearthed there from time to time. Little did a party of New Zealanders, recently engaged an a night exercise, realise that they were also engaged in the task that has attracted Egyptologists and antiquarians to Egypt for many years. Little did they realise that they would unearth relics of the First N.Z.E.F.’s association with the land of everlasting sand and eternal sunshine. It was an exercise in desert navigation at night, carried out by headquarters of a New Zealand Brigade comprised mainly of personnel of the 3rd contingent which left New Zealand. Included in the party were the Intelligence Officer, the Signals Officer, and the Officer Second in Command of a Southern Infantry Battalion. Suddenly the progress of the party was halted. There was something in the distance that attracted their attention in the dim light. Investigation revealed that it was an old company post protected all round by dannert wiring. It was between 200 and 300 yards in diameter, and obviously was in the same state in which it was left, perhaps by a party of New Zealand Mounteds, over 26 years ago. There was only one thing to do, and the party drove through the wiring in their desert car to make fuller investigation.

The post had certainly been well dug in. Many years of desert storms and cyclones had assailed it. Sandbags at strong points indicated the positions of section posts, and it was only natural that the discoverers were eager to reconstruct the history of over a quarter of a century ago. One of the first discoveries after a light sweeping of the surface sand and dust was a quantity of old “bully” tins only too well known to the original Anzacs, and by no means unknown to the present-day New Zealand soldier. Farther afield, an old “dud” shell was found, indicating a battle had taken place in this area. The discovery of dozens of rusty cartridge clips or chargers confirmed the belief that here a battle had taken place. Further signs of last war activity were found beyond the old company post. Odd scraps of wire indicated where the outposts had been established. More interesting still was the unearthing of discarded horse shoes in some of the outposts. What memories will that stir in the minds of some of the old mounted rifles stalwarts of the Great War! What will be the memories of some of those who took part in the activities in the Sinai Desert when they hear of these interesting discoveries? How many will remember, for instance, a company post of the diameter of the one mentioned earlier, protected with triple double-apron wire fences? “The navigation was almost too good to be true,” said an officer subsequntly, referring to the night exercise. When the Intelligence Officer was asked to give their position he said they were near a certain well. Navigation had been by stars and dead reckoning. The barking of dogs confirmed the statement that they were near a well in the desert, and the light of early morning proved he was correct. There was a well a reasonable distance away.

But to return to the discoveries of the party. The members themselves were imagining just what interest such a discovery would have for the old mounteds. They were convinced that the post had been used by a New Zealand mounted unit of the Great War. In the vicinity the Brigadier himself had discovered the mounds obviously indicating where trenches had been formerly dug. Unfortunately, there are good reasons why the exact locality cannot be mentioned yet. Suffice it to say that the locality is but a few miles from a place associated with some famous football matches last war. These matches are perpetuated in the name of a Rugby trophy so well known to the secondary school boys of New Zealand.