THE TROOPS IN EGYPT

Press, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23177, 14 November 1940, Page 9

THE TROOPS IN EGYPT

BATTLE STATIONS

PREPARED ADVANCE TRAINING IN THE DESERT [From the Official War Correspondent attached to the N.Z.E.F. in Egypt.] CAIRO,. November 12. With something of the aft of concealment instinctive in other creatures of the desert, the fighting troops of the first New Zealand contingent are ready to merge themselves into the dust-blown rolling waste the moment their present sector is threatened oy enemy land action. The defensive positions on which they have tirelessly worked since they moved as a complete formation to the Western Desert are their first real battle stations. The part played by New Zealand’s first overseas draft in the war so far has been a more or less negative one, and no opportunities of spectacular achievement have yet come its way in the long months of preparing and wailing for action. Behind the scenes, however, the contingent has carried out a diversity of duties as valuable as they have been unostentatious. Many of these ments have been linked with internal security measures, for example, guai cling lines of communication, aerodromes, and similar vital points. Another major activity was assistance with the building of desert fortifications. This task, which is now only a memory of intense physical cnort, took the fighting units into the blue in relays, and earned them .the right to inherit the name of diggers. Infantry companies have also helped to guaid the Italian Libyan prisoners. Camouflaged Stations

Relieved largely of the.se duties, the greater part, of the contingent took Us place several weeks ago among the Empire forces which await a further advance by the Italians. In line the present general policy of ac Vy < - defence, the New Zealanders Ins battle stations are defensive in nature, ready to be manned and held at the briefest notice. Their trenches, dugouts, and gun positions, cunningly blended into their surroundings, are an invisible monument to the science of concealment and sheer hard work. Yet it is impossible to say how much closer the contingent is to action today than it has ever been before. The situation is perhaps best compared with that which ruled so long on France's western front in the early j days of the war, when land hostilities ■ were confined to sporadic outpost raids, and the Allied troops even found lime to help the peasant farmers behind the Maginot Line. The chief point of difference is that the New Zealanders have been too busy with such tasks as digging in to feel the pinch of real boredom. This waiting phase, moreover, has been seized lately as an opportunity for advanced training exorcises bv companies, regiments, and the full brigade. Excursions deep into the wilderness of the desert have been made by troops who go fully mechanised, armed, and equipped, ready not only to play realistic war games but also to close in real battle. It would be unnatural, however, if New Zealanders failed to echo the plea heard , among waiting troops everywhere; "Give us action.” This spirit is typified by the case of one body of men who actually asked their senior officer to try to arrange some sort of war. Rumours which have arisen at home that the contingent has been in the thick of things are wistfully branded by the men as wishful thinking. The small percentage of battle casualties, of which all have been caused by aerial bomb splinters, is a complete enough answer to these rumours.