CHRISTMAS EVE.

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

CHRISTMAS EVE.

IN WESTERN DESERT DOMINION TROOPS. THOUGHTS TURN TO HOME. (From the Official War Correspondent with the N.Z.E.F. in the Middle East, Mr. Robin T. Miller.) WESTERN DESERT, Dec. 24. The night that will be the first Christmas Eve that the soldiers of the Second N.Z.E.F. have spent in the field is creeping coldly over the great Western Desert as this message is written. New Zealanders scattered across hundreds of miles of foreign soil are turning their thoughts homewards, remembering the crowded expectant days of reunions and farewells that marked this time just a

year ago. Here, on tlic dusty seaward slopes which hold the biggest concentration of those first men to leave their country's shores, Christmas can still be peacefully and happily celebrated in the traditional way. No pains have been spared in the plans made to preserve its spirit with good cheer, even in these strangest of surroundings.

Ration trucks rumbled along the road from the camps in the morning to be laden at the railway depot with turkey, chicken, mutton, vegetables, fruit and beverages by the ton for dinners that will be spread before the men to-morrow on scores of mess tables, in tents, dugouts and in the open air.

With m'einis planned well in advance, army cooks have mobilised stoves and home-made ovens and are ready to make their best effort. Christmas pudding in Western Desert style is made with less worry than might be, by the fact that the mixture is being supplied to the forces in bulk; but there will be any amount of work in tending roasts and preparing the sauces and extra delicacies with which the atmosphere of Christmas at liome is to be recaptured. Santa Clans on Wheels. Frciin the base camp hundreds of miles away a fleet of lorries swung off the highway two days apo with case after ease of pi ft parcels sent by the New Zealand public. There has been alsa a steady flow of Christmas parcels and mail from the soldiers' homes and personal friends. 4 All leisure possible will be given the troops to-morrowj and the padres are arranging sjiecial services. At brigade headquarters the officers have organised a seveii-a-si<le foot'ball tournament against the men. Far in the west on either side of the disputed border. Christmas cheer will be enjoyed sooner or later bv the comparatively few New Zealaiulers actively engaged in the war. For the motor transport drivers it will mostly be later. A tin of bully beef may have to suffice as the Christmas dinner for many until the cookhouse is reached at the end of the long supply journey.

It is certain, however, that these men would not exchange the eventful days in the forward areas even for Christmas Eve in a city such as Cairo, where countless other New Zealanders will probably be mingling to-night with crowds.

Snatches of eong can already be heard in this camp from the tents and canteens in which the men have gathered. Here, they are lifting their voices with the Christmas radio programme. There, a month organ catchily plays the opening bars of a familiar carol. Burets of laughter ring from the mess tent in which a plot is growing to serenade the commanding officer with midnight anthems, and a possible motive is revealed as a few words drift down on the breeze: "And he will be a poor sport if he does not ask us in for a drink."