HOW HE DISCOVERED NEW ZEALAND

New Zealand Listener, Volume 12, Issue 301, 29 March 1945, Page 7

HOW HE DISCOVERED NEW ZEALAND

Major Lampen Left Japan For A Song

almost unnoticed, may have the effect of completely altering the trend of a person’s life. For instance, had Major F. H. Lampen not joined a group of war correspondents in a vocal recital of patriotic songs at Kobe, Japan, on July 4, 1904, as a protest against Japanese treatment, he would probably never have discovered New Zealand. In an interview with The Listener, Major Lampen (whose talks are a familiar feature on National stations) harked back to the Russo-Japanese war and, after touching on many subjects on the way, finally arrived conversationally in New Zealand, where, we gathered, he proposes to spend the rest of his life. While in the Indian Army in 1904, Major Lampen and a brother officer had a year’s leave. The Russo-Japanese war was’ in the air, so, with the idea of. possible adventure, they decided to go home on the eastern route instead of making the western journey. At Singapore they found things warming up. Meeting some war correspondents on their way to the scene of operations, they followed along,. working their way to Hong Kong, Shanghai and Wei-hai-wei, and across to Korea-by Chinese junk. By this time the number of war correspondents from various newspapers had grown to 30, each man seeking firsthand news of the Russo-Japanese situation. | TRIFLING incident, passing a" From a "Tourist’s" Viewpoint

"Did you do any fighting in Russia or Japan?" "No, because British officers had been sternly warned to have no hand in the matter. But we quickly learned the difference between the Japanese and the Russian attitude towards’ British officers. Whereas the Russians were kind enough to put up with us, the Japanese were only too pleased to find any excuse to get rid of us," said Major Lampen. "What was the Russian soldier of 1904 like?" "He seemed to be gloriously ignorant but most generous hearted. There was none of the present-day camaraderie between officers and men. In fact, whenever a servant entered a messroom Russian officers would change their language to French in their anxiety to keep any news completely away from the men. In those days a Russian officer had to have some measure of social success before he could become an officer at all." For a while Major Lampen and his friend wandered about and observed hostilities from a "tourist’s" viewpoint. Then the Japanese suddenly decided that they had seen enough and sent them to Yokohama and to Tokyo, thence to Kyoto, on to Osaka and finally to Kobe, where they learned that a number of correspondents had been rounded up by the Japanese. "A Bit of a Demonstration" All were confined to one hotel. Restive at their treatment, they decided to stage a "bit of a demonstration." They gathered in front of the hotel — funnily enough it was the Fourth of July-and let their voices go in western patriotic songs. However, the concert didn’t last long, |

There was a demand for them to attend a court for interrogation. When it came to cross-examining Major Lampen and his colleague, the most insistent question was: "And where do you come from?" They decided to select what they considered to be an almost impossible place to hail from-they had seen it as the merest speck on the map-and said New Zealand. Scarcely had they got the words out when the answer was rapped back: "We have a boat leaving for there to-morrow."

There was no alternative but to agree and they joined what s@éemed to be the most dilapidated old tramp steamer that had ever pointed her nose towards New Zealand. Her captain was the perfect representation of a pirate chief (at least Major Lampen says so). So badly found was this old vessel that the water tanks were lashed to the upper deck. Scarcely had she cleared Kobe than a typhoon washed all the tanks but one overboard and smashed every boat except one, Japanese Beer With drinking water pretty low, the outlook was grim. But in the cargo destined for a small island near the Equator were a few cases of sake, the highly-intoxicating Japanese drink, There were also many cases of Japanese ‘beer which the Japanese authorities were trys ing to make popular. "What was it like?" we asked. "Excellent! It had been. made by brewers imported from Germany to teach the Japanese the Teutonic secrets of beer-making." After a very long trip they arrived in Auckland Harbour, two very anxious British officers whose leave was rapidly coming to an end. Luck came'their way in the shape of a Union Steamship Company vessel trading to India, which landed them back with a small margin of leave remaining. But they had fallen in love with this country and in 1912 the major returned..He has been here ever since, apart from a few short wane derings here ‘and there.