PLENTY OF PETROL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 61, Issue 39, 26 November 1940, Page 4

PLENTY OF PETROL.

BUT VERY SHORT OF WATER ASHBURTON SOLDIER’S LETTERS. 'Sidelights on the life of the New Zealand troops in the Middle Eiast are given in letters which have come to hand from 'Corporal E. L. Tinker, of the Army Service Corps. Referring to petrol supplies, Corporal Tinker, son of Mrs J. W. Tinker, of Aitken Street, Ashb.urton, says that in the driving of his truck ho uses from S to 30 gallons of petrol a day in transporting supplies. “We can get petrol,” he says, “but water is short. If I get a chance and can And some water I will have a bath (about half a gallon) and do some washing . . The sun is still quite hot, but the nights are a bit colder. I have made myself a sleeping bag out of a small tent, so I’m set for tho cold nights.” “We go to bed about 6.30 p.m., and rise at 6 a.m./’ the writer says in ananother letter ... I won’t go to breakfast to-day, which is, about due at 6.30, but I’m not, going out to-day and it does one good to miss a meal now* and again. I will probably have morning tea, though—coffee and milk.” “I received the parcel from the Ashburton Red Cross,” he writes in still another letter. “I contained a pail' of socks and mittens, so you chn thank them for me . . . We celebrated our first year in the Army with a dinner. It started at 8 p.m. and finished at 11.15 p.m. We had -roast mutton, halted and boiled potatoes,' spinach and peas, gravey and) mint sauce (yes, even mint sauce). For supper we had cake and toast. The dinner was the best we’ve had since I left home ; it was great. Yesterday 47 cases of apples arrived for our section, so we are enjoying them.”

Reference is made in the letters to the write’s meeting with Tom Pethick, a friend of his, and a, son of Mr T. ,Pethick, of Ashburton. “He gave me a tin of pipe tobacco he had brought from and I gave him a tin of cocoa and a few.tins of milk,” the writer contines » . . Things are much the same here; a bombing raid now and again just to let us know there’s a war on .

“Last Saturday we had a real sandstorm. It started about 7.15 a.m. and stopped at 3.30 p.m. There was sand in everything, about a, quarter to half an inch on our beds. We are still shaking the sand out of things I started off to see Tom Pethick that morning, but I got only about half way and had to turn back, as we couldn’t see the road. At times I couldn’t see the radiator cap and for about half a mile I had a chap walking in front. Ho was wearing goggles and when he saw a truck or ear coming he would stop, and so I kept on the road that way. The wind wasn’t at all hot like the sandstorms we experienced when we first arrived here, but it was about twice as strong.”