SANG CAROLS IN JUNGLE KIT

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30633, 26 December 1964, Page 16

SANG CAROLS IN JUNGLE KIT

(N.Z. Press Association) WELLINGTON, December 25.

New Zealanders were scattered in tents from the Antarctic wastes to the fringes of the Malaysian firing line and beyond as they celebrated Christmas Day today.

In Malaysia the New Zealand Regiment remained on the alert throughout its festivities. Members of a carol party which toured the housing area of the 28th Commonwealth Brigade Group at Terendak,

Malacca, wore their jungle kit in readiness for immediate action. Today Warrant Officer F. Preston and eight Army cooks, helped by local labourers, made Christmas dinner for 500 soldiers. It was served by sergeants and officers. There was fried chicken, Hawaiian ham, roast pork, ice-cream and Christmas pudding. In South Vietnam the New Zealand engineering detachment had Christmas dinner in Phu Daut Mot. From now till the New Year half the men are to go on leave in and around Saigon.

In Singapore members of the R.N.Z.aV’s No. 14 (Canberra) Squadron dined at a

, Chinese restaurant on such ; delicacies as shark fin soup, i young hai, and nasi goreng. Nearby, officers and men of H.M.N.Z.S. Otago had their Christmas fare at midday. Many had been invited to the homes of Singapore families in the evening. Other Navy men did not fare so well. The complement of H.M.N.Z.S. Endeavour celebrated Christmas Day in the sheltered waters of McMurdo Sound on Monday preparatory to leaving for New Zealand for further supplies. The ship is expected at Lyttelton on New Year’s Eve.

The Pukaki is doing duty as a weather ship on behalf of the United States Navy and

is at 60deg. south latitude. The nine men at Raoul Island enjoyed a turkey dinner this evening. Earlier in the day, in perfect weather, they visited the crater of the island’s volcano.

“It is just steaming as it was a fortnight ago,” they said. Cloud and mist were down almost to sea level at New Zealand’s other weather station at Campbell Island. There, the feature of Christmas dinner was a three-tier Christmas cake and a selection of six wines for the meal of the day.

In Antarctica 26 men shared in the celebrations at Scott Base, but a further 20 spent Christmas in a variety of places on the continent