FUN IN THE TROOPSHIP JOURNALS

New Zealand Listener, Volume 2, Issue 47, 17 May 1940, Page 4

FUN IN THE TROOPSHIP JOURNALS

(By

N.Z.R.

B.

OPIES of the magazines published on each troopship of the Ist Echelon have reached New Zealand fromi Egypt. Some of them are bright publications; all of them have their fun at the expense of authority. The magazines are modest, typewritten sheets of paper similar to those published on the troopships of the Ist New Zealand Expeditionary Force. From what I remember of those humble efforts of the last war, there has been little ‘change in the style and still less in the brand of humour. Anyone holding tank above that of a lance-cofporal is fair game; senior officers get what bridge players term a "grand slam." "Z3: Front Line" and "New Zealand Abroad" are two typical journals, filled with references to the fun and games of those who went ashore at the various ports of call; senior officers are pilloried both in prose and verse, but always with a light and amusing hand. Any characteristic habit or failing of n.c.o. or officer provides the subject for an imaginary set of orders for the day. One journal carries the inevitable "If," with apologies to Rudyard Kipling, and begins: "If we can dine on caviare and gherkins CWithout a visit to the dry canteen) If we Wwete buttlered by Chief Steward Perkins, And can return from leave unheard, unseen, If we can weather storms without green faces And come through Army life without a cfime .. That theme ripples on and on, brooklike, for almost a page. Dark doings at ports of call have been ‘fully chronicled, as, for instance, the mysterious story of a cat which had evidently been gathered up at one port

of call and taken aboard that particular | ship. A "Sensitive Soul" has written a soliloquy, which sings the usual hymn of | hate about censorship and the trials of | military life, but one suspects that the author really rather likes it. Much of the information contained in | the journals refers to subjects which are mysteries to the ordinary civilian. One set of verses, which tells its own little story quite neatly, concludes on this sombre note: "All our eyes afe red and bleary, Faces thin and pale, Oh, Colonel, how our hearts are weary All through dat damn Tooth’s Ale." Two copies of "New Zealand Abroad" had appeared by the time the ship had been a month at sea, An editorial states that the voyage had been "without incident," but a column entitled "Incidents on Leave’ suggests a different story. "From Bow to Stern,’ a page of secret history gathered from all quarters of the ship, suggests that "Crown and Anchor" boards are still in evidence unofficially. A bulletin of "Unofficial War News" has given the lads a chance to air their personal views on the present campaign and those engaged in it-with particular reference to Herr Hitler. I liked also, a polite version of a set of verses entitled "The Stationmaster’s Daughter." A few of the items would not pass the New Zealand censor, but these little papers have enabled those who wished to do so to exercise themselves in print. Th artists have been busy, also, with caricatures of the officers, most of whom, I imagine, have been amused but never flattered. However, in years to come, these journals will make good souvenirs of stirring days.