BACK AGAIN.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 309, 30 December 1940, Page 4

BACK AGAIN.

SIR JOHN DUIGAN.

PRAISE FOR N.Z. TROOPS.

That the New Zealand troops were in great heart and full of fight when he left the Middle East was the news ■brought back to Xew Zealand by MajorGeneral Sir John Duigan, K.8.E., C.8., D.5.0., Chief of the General Staff, who arrived yesterday by the flying boat Aotearoa. Major-General Duigan led the Xew Zealand delegation to the recent Eastern Group Conference at Delhi and later paid a visit to Egypt, following it with a flying trip to Greece.

He said the troops had been working hard night and day to make themselves efficient, and there was a wonderful spirit of comradeship and team work among them all.

After stating that the amenities in the training camps were excellent, Sir John said the organisation for the care of the sick and wounded was second to none in the Middle East. From his observations the base hospital at Helwan, formerly an hotel, was fully capable of giving the troops everything they needed. Dealing with Tanks. The training of Xew Zealand troops in connection with meeting enemy tanks was also referred to by Sir John, who said that in modern warfare every soldier must be a potent tank-hunter. Armoured vehicles were difficult to stop and the Xew Zealanders were busy devising all «*orts of ingenious methods of dealing with the enemy tanks.

Sir John paid a visit to Greece while the Greek Army was scoring repeated successes against the Italians in Albania. He said he had seen a large number of Italian prisoners who "were so tame they would eat out of your hand."

"The Greeks have a new riddle," he said. "They say: 'What is it that wears feathers which is not a bird? What is it that has feathers that is not a man? What is it that wears feathers which nn* faster than a hare?' The answer is the Bereaglieri, who are crack Italian troops with a distinguishing feather in their hats." Britain Roles Sea. Throughout his flight from Egypt to Greece, Sir John added, he saw no signs of Italian ships or aircraft and it was obvious that Britain ruled the Mediterranean Sea without difficulty. The Navy and the Heet Air Arm had had a wonderful success at Taranto; the Greek Army had given the Italians a hiding in mountainous Albania; and the British Army had had an astounding success at Sidi Barrani. All these must affect the morale of the Italian forces on the sea, in the air and on the land. They had yet to meet the flower of the manhood of Australia and New Zealand.

"They will require another lot of running shoes then," Sir John concluded. He brought with him greetings from the Middle East to the Prime Minister and people of New Zealand from MajorGeneral B. C. Freyberg and all officers and other ranks serving under him in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force.