HOW THEY EAT!

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 88, 13 April 1940, Page 7

HOW THEY EAT!

SOLDIERS IN EGYPT. KEEN DESERT APPETITES. FOOD VASTLY IMPROVED. (N.Z.E.F. Official News Service.) EGYPT, March 16. When Napoleon declared that an army marches on its stomach, can he have had a vision of the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force? If in our thricedaily rush to mess parades we could stop to think, we should probably reflect on the truth of his famous saying.

Our appetites seem to grow apace in the dry desert air. For the cooks whose task it is to give the meals the spice of variety as well as sufficiency, within the limits of the ration scale, our healthy hunger must be the start of a headache or two. 'It is a fact that the food question is one about which men can most easily find room to grumble, but it stands to the credit of the cooks that real causes for complaint are rare.

When it comes to minor "grouses," the more reasonably-minded of us have to agree that, after all, this is a war, and a war must mean a certain amount of sacrifice in everything. We find a sense of humour is the best antidote for any tendency to grumble. That spirit is exemplified at one mess hall, where a notice above the doorway reads, "Moaners' Rest."

Of the food itself, we are beginning] lo think the traditional "bully beef andi stew" is becoming a mere legend. Cer-I tainlv it still appears now and then,' but it is overshadowed by less histori-J t cal rations. At breakfast, for instance,! in addition to the basic items of porridge, bread, butter, jam and tea, wej have bacon —usually with eggs or toma-i toes —or steak and tomatoes. is; soup practically every day at lunch' time, with such dishes as Welsh rarebit,j< *iaaed fish or tinned meat, and often]

an orange for each man. The evening meal brings us a hot meat and vegetable dish, with various puddings, pies and sweets.

! It is beyond our experience to compare our well-being with that of the New Zealanders in Egypt 25 years ago, but one who should know—SergeantCook "Paddy" Bourke—held the same rank in the Wellington Mounted Rifles, serving in Egypt, Palestine and Gallipoli.

"Paddy," as we all know him, says there is a world of difference between then and now. He tells us that in the last war he had to work in the open air, and that the men carried the food to their tents instead of messing in the halls we use to-day. The fowl itself has vastly improved, too, in his opinion. And he agrees with us that the New Zealanders have brought some pretty hefty appetites to Egypt with them. "We just can't stop feeding them," he says.