THE POSTAL UNIT.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 61, Issue 288, 17 September 1941, Page 2

THE POSTAL UNIT.

ARDUOUS JOB ON SERVICE. “Carry On,” the unofficial slogan of the postmen, implies a spirit of service that the public of New Zealand greatly appreciates, and the shot and shell of war can no more keep the postman from his duties than the storms and floods of peace time. Private information received from a member of the postal unit with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in the Middle East gives some idea of the efforts and sacrifices made by the postman on active service to deliver the mail to the troops. He writes that 25 postal sorters' went to Greece with the troops, taking 40 tons of mixed mail-letters, parcels and newspapers. Only six of the 25 returned. The others were reported missing, believed to be prisoners of war. “When the postal unit found that its position was hopeless and that its members were likely to be captured,” the letter adds, “they endeavoured to destroy what was left of the tmdelivered mail. Most of it was made useless.” Dive bombers, tommy ,guns and hordes of Nazis could not deter the postmen in Crete. There was mail to be delivered to New Zealand soldiers fighting in that nightmare of bomb blast and machine-gun fire, and in the line of duty members of the postal unit carried on. One of them was wounded but the others escaped. Some soldiers read the latest news from homo before they passed on, because of the gallantry shown by the postmen. Handling the mail in Greece and Crete was a full-sized man’s job and it was taclded witli as much goodwill on those fronts as ,at home. Commenting on the letter, a postal officer said it served to draw a true picture of the difficulties of delivering the soldiers’ mail and convey to those people who were apt to express disappointment at the non-arrival of parcels and other forms of mail at their destination, an idea of the circumstances. Sometimes there wore delays, and complaints were heard that the overseas postal unit should be enlarged to enable delivery to bo speeded up, but it should be remembered that the larger the number of men employed on postal duties the smaller the number available for the fighting forces. The delivery of the mail was important, but it was fighting men that were needed, for the war would be won by fighting.