TERM RESENTED

Evening Star, Issue 24007, 4 October 1941, Page 10

TERM RESENTED

TROOPS REFERRED TO AS " BOYS" “ JINGOISTIC AND SHALLOW " Strong exception to the practice of referring to New Zealand troops overseas as “ boys ” was voiced this morning by the area staff officer (Lieutenantcolonel J. G. Jeffery). _ He described the practice as “jingoistic and shallow,” and that it was resented by the men themselves, “ Right throughout the country you hear the men referred to as hoys,” he said, “and in my opinion it is more than time that the term was dropped. Actually, that is not just my opinion, it is the opinion of the troops overseas, and has been spoken of several times by the sick and wounded men coming “Those who have gone overseas are doing a man’s job,” Lieutenant-colonel Jeffery declared.. “It is jingoistic and shallow to refer to them as_ boys, and the men themselves do not like it. You never hear the people of England refer to their soldiers as boys. _ They look upon the men who are fighting for them as men, and give them full credit for doing a man’s job. It is high time that the use of the term was stopped in New Zealand.” '