MONTHS LATE

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 16, 18 July 1940, Page 12

MONTHS LATE

BUT THEY GOT THERE

SOLDIERS' ADVENTURES

(N.Z.E.F. Official News Service.)

June 22,

Two New Zealand soldiers and a oright-eyed little squirrel had their fh-t glimpse this week of the camp of the First Contingent in Egypt. The men were four mo iths late in arriving here—but the adventures which befell them during those four months are the envy of every other member of the force.

Tales of life on tea plantations in Ceylon, experiences in a raging typhoon, a two days' train journey across India, and Italian bombing raids on Aden were related by. the pair with the vividness of first-hand accounts. Entering hospital in Colombo when the convoy of the First Contingent called there, they had made their way to Egypt by a .roand-about route after waiting in vain for a direct passage. The men are Private G. J. W. Gorton, of Invercargill, and Private C. W. D. Tait, of Pio Pio, near Te Kuti, whose father's home is at Albany, Auckland. The squirrel is Tait's living memento of Ceylon, where he rescued it from a dog. He and the quaint creature have become the closest of friends.

Gorton and Tait spent more than three months in Ceylon, most of the time in an inland convalescent camp, where they had the company of British soldiers, sailors., and airmen. They were close, incidentally, to a camp containing German internees and prisoners of war, who seemed contented and well treated.

Three weeks were spent by the pair with a New Zealand couple, Mr. and Mrs. J. K. Olney, formerly of Timaru, on a tea plantation, of which Mr. Olney is manager. It was during this time that they experienced the typhoon, said to have been the worst the country had known. Plantations were flattened by the terrific wind and deluge of rain, rice fields were scoured out, bridges swept away, roads blocked, and many lives lost. "The gale hadn't blown itself out when we received word to report at Colombo to re-embark," Tait said. "It was a nightmare trip to the port. We travelled in a bus until it could go no further, • -humped' our packs for a few miles, and finally got through in a car after clearing storm wreckage and broken telegraph lines from the, road at various points." The journey proved to have been made in vain, however, for passages out of Colombo could not be secured. After a further wait, arrangements were made for the two men to cross to India and travel overland to Bombay. The train journey was a long and trying one with the heat so intense, according to Tait that it was impossible at times to sit on the leather seats of the carriage. Reaching Bombay, the New Zealanders boarded a ship bound for Egypt, and arrived at Aden just before Italy entered the war. There the biggest thrill of all was in store for them-the spectacle of. five raids by Italian bombers on the town and "At about midnight on the second night, the sound of air-raid alarms sent us hurrying up on deck," Gorton related. "The sky was alive with searchlights, and we spotted a lone bomber, high up. The raider was eiven a wonderfully warm reception, for the harbour held many warships, and these, together with the shore batteries, quickly opened fire. The noise was deafening, and our ship was rocked by the concussion of the gunfire Still, the raider must have been more uncomfortable than we were, beSuse he disappeared after harmlessly dropping three bombs. "The next few hours- brought us more excitement. Five planes came over together, and were given a stdl warmer welcome. I saw two.of them S down; a searchlight followed each for a while as it fluttered towards .the ground. Almost every ship in the harbour war vessels and merchantmen alike, seemed to have opened fire, and we could clearly see the barrage of bursting shells around the aircraft. "Several bombs were dropped, but we learned that no serious damage was done, although there were a few casualties among the natives. We saw a bomb explode on the water only a few hundred yards from us—believe me, we began to realise there -was a war on!" . . , , Thrice more during their stay at Aden the New Zealanders heard the warning sirens and saw Italian bombers driven from the night sky. Gorton also described how they passed in the harbour an Italian freighter whose crew had attempted to scuttle her. The ship had been seized just in time and the water pumped out of her hull. Their liner was given a strong naval guard in the final stage of the journey And so at last the two "stragglers" came to the camp in Egypt, bronzed of skin and filled with strange tales, Tait's curious mascot clinging to his uniform with tiny claws. "Say what you like about 'Eileen* being here." Tait declared. "It's no secret. She has already bitten the colonel on the nose."