SOLDIERS’ TRIBUTE

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 182, 30 April 1941, Page 8

SOLDIERS’ TRIBUTE

British People Can

“Take It”

FIRST-HAND EXPERIENCE

There could be none more confident of the ability of the people of -Britain to "take it” than those sick and wounded New Zealand soldiers who did their service there and who have returned to New Zealand in the hospital ship, Somersetshire.

They had a special word fur the women of Britain; as one man said: "We’ve got to take off our bats to them; they’re marvellous.”' Certainly there were bombing raids and much damage in the cities, but cleaning up began almost before the raiders were quit of the localities they visited. One n.c.0.. was impressed by the exact knowledge the enemy bombers had of the location of the newer troop concentration areas as distinct from such well-known places as Aldershot. These camps were right away from cities or large towns, but he said the Germans knew where to locate them.

One German pilot who was brought down had among his possessions, for instance, a map with these directions: “Turn north, five degrees east. 44 kilometres flying time, drop.” This direction in the way it was given on the map meant the releasing of the bomb cargo right over a vital part of London. Regarding the threatened invasion one soldier recalled that the position was so serious that convalescent soldiers who were able to get about were instructed to rejoin their units from hospital. The New Zealand troops’ arrival m England had been a real tonic for the people there; it gave them a heartening sense of. it being the whole Empire’s fight. The New Zealanders had been assigned a jno.-it important part in the defence plan: the Folkestone-Dover coastal area. There the big enemy guns from across the Channel would play round early in the morning just to warm things up and later scores of planes would come over, but they did Tittle damage to the troops. London’s bus services were the subject of special comment.. The London General Omnibus Company carried on whatever the conditions, said a sergeant, He recalled stopping a bus once and asking the driver if it was going past Marble Arch. The driver replied: “Well, that’s where we bound, guv’nor, but I don’t know if we’ll get there; hop in.” British Officers Good.

The British officers impressed the New Zealanders as knowing their job very well; they were most efficient and up to the minute. They expected discipline; one. soldier exhibited a pair of ordinary military leather boots with a toe shine like patent leather in support of this statement. He held them in the sunlight to get- the reflection and then impressed on the interviewer “these aren’t patent; just plain leather.” The R.A.F. did a marvellous job when ; the'early German planes paid their daily visits, said one soldier. As well as that, the men had been finely trained in the art of taking cover and making use of natural cover. Here the soldier had the great advantage oyer the civilian and the result was comparatively few troops casualties from bombing. In the concentrations the troops were well scattered; 1000 or so to every five or six acres. In the English and Scottish towns the people were carrying on in a "business as usual” way, said a sergeant. While he was in London on a visit a bomb exploded in Leicester Square where he was; the result was shock and loss of memory for a time. Now lie wished he could be with the rest of the boys in , the Middle East. Scottish Hospitality. All the men had a special word for the Scots people. The New Zealand troops had landed there and later, when they had leave, many returned to see the friends they made in their short stay previously. There was no such thing as paying for anything, and people would come out of their houses or call the men into the hotels to offer hospitality. “If you said yours was a whisky, then in a flash there would be three whiskys on the counter and a beer to wash them down,” said one soldier. It was impossible to describe adequately the hospitality of the Scots. As for their canniness, said a soldier, lie would never believe another story about it. It seemed that every soldier wanted to express his appreciation through the Press for what ( the R.A.M.C. officers and men and the nurses on the Somersetshire had done for then). “They did everything they possibly could for us, and no matter where we have been or wherever we go. we could never get a better crowd,’’ said a soldier. A meniber of the R.A.M.C. said that the bombing of transports and hospital ships alike in the Channel during the evacuation from Dunkirk had been indiscriminate and terrible. Some hospital ships were lost. Western Desert Experiences. Men froip the Middle East spoke of a hard time from the Italian bombers early in the piece when they were establishing themselves in the Western Desert. Eventually the men got so used to it that a quiet night became a disturbing one as far as rest was concerned. It was like getting used to sleeping alongside a railroad or main highway at home; shift to a quiet neighbourhood and it was hard to sleep. When the R.A.F. strength was increased in the Middle East the worries from Italian bombers soon decreased: the sight of an R.A.F. plane sent them scurrying. Poles Great Fighters. "The Poles have a great spirit, and are wonderful lighters; you can’t whack them,” said Father J. J. Bamher, Catholic chaplain of the Somersetshire, who was on another hospital ship for the withdrawal from Narvik. He said that this was a well-planned withdrawal, carried out in the Allied Forces' own time and with a minimum of loss. If the withdrawal from Greece was similarly planned he felt the losses incurred there in such an operation would also be slight. He had a great admiration for tlie New Zealanders, which was shared by the people at Home. Father Bitmber comes from Lancashire. There is also a Church of England chaplain on the ship, the Rev. V. Green. Men's Gratitude. “If anyone who had given to the patriotic funds could have seen how the men who had returned were cheer ed by the gifts of cigarettes, tobacco, and chocolates from the Sick and Wounded Fund, they would have felt entirely satisfied that their money was being spent in the right direction,” said Mr. J. Anuand-Smith, chairman of the Victory Carnival Committee. “The money we are now raising is being used to equally good effect, and every penny is being spent wisely and with discretion.” said Mr. AnnandSmitli. ‘-Those who have not yet given are asked to spare a thought for those who are doing their bit overseas and give now before our campaign closes"