COOLNESS AND COURAGE

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 82, 31 December 1940, Page 7

COOLNESS AND COURAGE

New Zealand Army Drivers (From the Official War Correspondent with tlie N.Z.E.F. in the Middle East.) WESTERN DESERT, December 27. Tributes paid within and outside the N.Z.E.F. to the magnificent work of the New Zealand Army Service Corps drivers, particularly the Reserve Motor Transport Company, in the British offensive, are given added value by stories told by the men themselves. Endurance, coolness and courage are reflected in their accounts of their experiences.

Reserve Company drivers hesitate to single out individual officers or men for special praise. It is clear that a fine spirit of comradeship helped to make operations in the thick of the battle so outstandingly successful. This spirit was expressed in the way several of them went beyond the theoretical limits of their responsibility when they joined fellow Britishers in the actual fighting. Troops speak highly of the example set by all their superior officers.

A number of trucks were reserved for the transportation of wounded, and their drivers have been congratulated by the commanding officer of the British ambulance unit for the way in which “they upheld the New Zealand traditions of wholehearted co-operation and devotion to duty.’’ The officer said also: “They did sterling work in the evacuation of wounded and were at all times willing and cheerful.”