VERSATILE NEW ZEALANDERS

Dominion, Volume 38, Issue 20, 18 October 1944, Page 6

VERSATILE NEW ZEALANDERS

Soldiers As Midwives MOTHER AND CHILD BOTH WELL . (Official War Correspondent, N.Z.E.F.) VISERBA, October 15. The resourcefulness and humanity of the New Zealand soldier weathered .another severe test recently, tvhen two of our men successfully acted as midwives and later became foster parents of a bouncing ibaby boy. During the rainy period when the division was pushing up past Viserba • two Kiwis, who have since made good their escape, were strolling across a sodden field. Suddenly they came upon a young woman in the throes of childbirth. She had been deserted by her family in the panic which followed the arrival of the war iu the neighbourhood, aud was overcome by labour in the open field, far from any shelter. The two Kiwis had not arrived any ■too soon. There was no time to send for help, so they immediately went into efficient action. One of them, known as “Cow Cockie” from his pre-war occupation on the land, cast his mind back to lambing and calving time and figured out just what to do. Prepared Baby’s Food.

The birth was a complete success. Then the woman and the baby were carried to the nearest house, the occupant of which was bullied into giving them shelter. The Kiwis then went on a series of foraging expeditions, and soon the mother and son were set up in a palatial villa. An old woman was obtained to carry out the duties of nurse, but the Kiwis reserved, for themselves ' the right to prepare the baby’s food. They considered the old woman was too dirty. From nowhere came a beautiful, streamlined perambulator, and other luxuries followed quickly. When another New Zealand unit moved into the villa the men accepted a full share of work. The new-coming foster parents found that the food supply was low. One rough diamond from Waiuku went through an Italian food distribution centre like a cyclone and came out with meat, milk aud bread. More food was obtained by .-devious means till the situation was well under control. Husband Brought Back. ‘ A general search was instituted for the husband, whose continued absence was interfering with the convalescence of the invalid. Following a slender chain of evidence a search party .unearthed him near Bellaria, several miles up the coast, and dragged him back to his worrying wife. It was found he was a tailor, and his sewing machine wag salvaged from the ruins of the couple’s home. The New Zealanders affixed a large sign, “Tailoring Done Here,” outside the house, and business commenced to roll in. A new isue of battledress had just been made, and soon the Italian was working harder than ever in his life before.

Since then things have gone well. The baby developed a cough, but the concern of the foster parents was allayed by a doctor. Alany visitors who called, usually with a gift for the baby or the mother, usually found the mother resting while a number of Kiwis busied themselves preparing the infant’s food. Alarried men achieved unwonted importance in the unit, and a committee of experts decreed that when fine weather came the mother should spend two hours daily in the sunshine. - Then the ex-farmer received his rudest shock of the war. The mother declared that the baby must be named after him. The Kiwi had concealed his first name from his closest friends for years of service. Diffidently he whispered it into the mother’s ear, and there were great scenes of joy when the baby was acclaimed “Oscar.”