New Zealand's Quota "Ah! La, La, M'sieu!"

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 23, 28 January 1939, Page 7 (Supplement)

New Zealand's Quota "Ah! La, La, M'sieu!"

DETAILS of the arrangements for the reinforcing of the Dominion forces overseas were announced to the public of New Zealand in the New Year of 1915. The Defence Department in a statement to the Press announced that for the time being the Imperial Government required the Dominion to keep the Expeditionary Force up to full strength. To do this it was necessary to equip •n«l train men numbering J"> per cent p*r month of the infantry and 10 per n>nt per month of mounted rifles. This meant a draft of 1800 officers and men for as long a* the war lasted. After th« departure of the third reinforcement*, added the statement, all drafts would receive four months' training before sailing. The remainder of the men's training before thev went to the front would be completed under arrangements made hy the War Office. The statement also appealed for fiOO more infantrymen. Tt was pointed out that there were sufficient men at Trenthsm for the mounted rifle* of the third and fourth reinforcements and also for the infantry of the third reinforcements, but that there was a definite shortage of infantry for the fourth reinforcements. Five hundred of the Hamoan garrison were being brought back to go with the fourth reinforcements, while artillery

reinforcements for the first year of the war would also lie sent away with the others, added the statement. The fifth reinforcements were to lie called for about the middle of February and the sixth in April, and additional men at two-monthly intervals. The Department also announced that 7oft horses, to replace wantage at 5 per cent per month, as well as to equip the men of the mounted reinforcements, would he sent away with each draft. Instructions had been sent out to the district officers to recruit the 600 men necessary. In Otago, according to a report from Dunedin, the authorities were slightly perturlK-d at the failure of men to volunteer. Numerous men had volunteered over the holidays, but the response from Ota<ro generally had been poor and it appeared probable that the province's quota for Samoa would have to be made up from the North. Dealing witii the financing of the Dominion's client In the war the Prime Minister, .Mr. Ma~*ey, (Hi id that the flrivernnient was obtaining the necessary money at. a low rate and on very easy terms. At the end of the war it would lie necessary to make provision for the payment of interest as well as for a sinking fund to pay off the loans. Additional revenue would he necessary, but the (Jovernment had not yet reached the stage of considering by what means the money would be raised.

rpHE interesting and ii nnisi"n<; "C'liatty Talk by Lance Private" revives memories of th<*o self-same brewery vntfi near Armentieres.

He mentions our having paraded in greatcoats and boots during the time of waiting for our more intimate garments to bo de-loused; ami how we visited the village in this attire. At least on one occasion three hefty New Zealand gunners, not merely paraded the street, but ran its full length —naked as the hour they were born. It happened thus: We had been paraded for this particular purpose} a hath and cleaning of clothes. During the process, Fritz shelled the place. Naturally, there was a wild scatter. Naked inen fled for their lives in all directions. The three with which my story is concerned scaled up the village street, not halting to collect anything to hide their nakedness, until they reached an estaininet, kept by an elderly Frenchwoman, which they entered. Readers, unfamiliar with the French people, mijiht imagine Madame as being highly shocked. Not a bit of it. As the naked trio rushed in she merely laughed.

"Ah, la, la, M'sieu's," being her only comment as *he set about serving them with a "vin." After the shelling stopped they leisurely returned to the brewery for their clothes. Those same girls upstairs that Lance Private talks about had their full share of amusement from the diggers who vis-ited those baths. There were many things those petite coquettes saw that the soldiers did not intend they should; or suspect they would. One night some troops were taken into the brewery for a rest. They settled down and had a good sleep. In the morning they arose and went about their natural occasions, the amenities for the purpose being primitive in the extreme. Presently from upstairs came hilarious peals of laughter, with many comments, in French and broken English, on the doings and physical characteristics of the lads below, who up to this, were quite unaware of the i>ossibility of their being overlooked in such fashion. The situation proved a bit embarrassing —but certainly not to the ladies of the hot irons upstairs. Frenchwomen could not be easily shocked! Soldiers, naturally, soon absorbed that very necessary attribute. Ah, la, la. Que vous voulez? D. 8., N.Z.F.A.