CAMP JOTTINGS

New Zealand Listener, Volume 1, Issue 19, 3 November 1939, Page 4

CAMP JOTTINGS

A New " Tipperary " "Wish Me Luck As You Wave Me Good-bye" is the new marching song for the British troops in France. Report says that it is the new "Tipperary," for it has a brisk, marching movement and it captures the spirit of the times. "Wish Me Luck" was first. sung by Gracie Fields, and the first issue of gramophone records was sold out. The words are by Phil Park and the music by Harry Parr Davies. Chappell & Co. are the publishers. Above are the first few bars’ Auckland Hospitality The Y.M.C.A. at Auckland has done fine work in billeting soldiers on leave from the Ngaruawahia Camp. Nearly 100 Auckland people have taken soldiers as their guests during the week-end. Many of_the men have no friends or relatives in the city, but their hosts and hostesses have done everything possible to make their visits happy and comfortable. The names of the citizens are given to the Y.M.C.A., who arrange the billeting before the men arrive. Similar hospitality has been extended to soldiers by Hamilton residents. New Army Pay-Books The soldier's pay-book of to-day is quite a volume compared with that of 1914-18. Almost the full history of each soldier is contained in the new bookhis full military record, the condition of his eyes, his decorations, next of kin, medical inoculations, and a complete statement of his army financial position, along with other particulars. But the book is still a bright, pillar-box red. Inoculations Begin Recently soldiers in camp got their first stab of the hypodermic needle when they were inoculated against typhoid fever. But that will not be the only one. If they go overseas, they will be inoculated periodically. Old soldiers of the last war remember the frequent "stabs" against all sorts of the complaints, but agree that it was a wise precaution on the part of the authorities and saved many lives. Men who served in France were inoculated against tetanus. Any wounded soldier was immediately given an injection to prevent the possibility of infection from the soil. All injections, vaccinations, etc., are recorded in a soldier’s pay-book. Identity Numbers Soldiers of the Special Military Force have received their identification numbers. Those at Ngaruawehia are numbered from 1,000 to 4,000; those at Trentham, 4,001 to 7,000; and those at Burnham from 7,001 to 10,000. Thess numbers are used for identification pur~

poses, and each soldier wears one on a disc round the neck. On official inspection parades of kit the disc must be shown otherwise an explanation is demanded. During the 1914-18 war the various units, at the beginning, were distinzuished by a unit number, as well as an individual number. For instance, quoting

from personal experience, the four battalions of the Rifle Brigade were numbered 23, 24, 25 and 26, each with a bar. General Fulton, who commanded the brigade, was 23/1, and Colonel Austin, O.C. 1st Battalion, was 23/2. Lieut.Colonel E. Puttick was 23/5. Lieut.Colonel A. E. Stewart, who commanded the 2nd Battalion, was 24/1. Similarly, units which left New Zealand before the Rifle Brigade. each had a distinguishing number, such as 1/, 2/, 3/, and so on. In the later stages of the war the unit numbers were dropped and the men of reinforcements leaving the Dominion were numbered consecutively, as they are to-day. The identity numbers on letters to soldiers overseas were a great help to the field post office officials,