DEPARTURE JOTTINGS

New Zealand Listener, Volume 3, Issue 53, 28 June 1940, Page 2

DEPARTURE JOTTINGS

Vice-Regal Quietly and unobtrusively, the Gover-nor-General, Lord Galway, walked on to the troopship on which the Maoris had embarked. He wished to see for himself how they were faring before the voyage began. After spending some time looking at the various appointments of the ship, His Excellency went below to see the men having their first meal on the giant troopship. The following morning, accompanied by Colonel O. H. Mead, D.S.O., Lord Galway went round the troopships by launch. Then-Now At the foot of the gangway to one troopship a soldier stood on guard, an elderly man. One glance at his tunic told its tale of the last war. His gallant show of ribbons began with the» Military Cross, a tiny silver star revealed that he had received a bar to that cross, Thus an officer of the last war plays his part in this on the home front — as a private soldier. Superlative Old lady, proudly pointing to the largest of the trawsports, explains to her grand-child: "There’s the great big ship. Doesn’t it make a tiny little boy feel like a very, very tiny little boy?" Parcels Piles of parcels and letters were delivered to the office of the Embarkation Staff on the day the units went abroad. There they were sorted into groups for each transport and safely delivered. Many people were afraid that their lastminute parcels would not be delivered. There was no need to worry. Any parcels left at the Embarkation Office are put on the right ships. This will apply to all future departures of convoys. Proof Here is proof of how parcels were delivered in the last-minute rush. One girl

had flown from Picton to deliver a parcel to a friend, thinking that she would be allowed on the wharf, or would see him as he marched to the ship. When she found that the trains ran close to the ship, and that she would be lucky if she saw her soldier even in the distance, she was on the verge of tears. A few minutes later she saw an officer on the wharf, told him her story, and gave him the parcel. Her soldier received it ten minutes later, and she was placed where she could wave to him. Tears Another girl, this one in tears, did not arrive until the troopships had pulled out into the stream. Then, because worry had taken such possession of her, she missed sending it. out by the Harbour Board’s tug. After listening to her story, an officer from headquarters despatched the parcel in a swift launch. Courage At midnight a soldier walked on to the wharf to rejoin his unit, already embarked. His daughter had died a week previously and he had been given leave of absence until midnight on the night of the embarkation. he authorities wished to delay his departure until a future echelon, but he felt that he would rather go with the unit to which he was attached and with which he had been training. That, also, was the wish.of his brave wife. "Oil" Army expressions are very much to the point. Nothing could be more apt than phrases which describe activities both great and small. One of the greater activities was the embarkation of units of the 2nd Echelon, the organisation of which was the work of the Quartermaster General’s branch at Army Headquarters. "Running in a bath of oil" was how the army described the embarkation.

WAR DIARY