LENGTHY SERVICE

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21550, 1 November 1944, Page 2

LENGTHY SERVICE

N.Z. PARTY BACK

“THE BEST NEWS” CIVILIAN LIFE OFFERED CP.A.) WELLINGTON, Nov. 1. The best news that a large party of recently-returned Second N.Z.E.F. personnel got when they reached New Zealand three months after being taken out oi' the division in Italy was given to them by the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. P. Fraser. When the men left for New Zealand they were furlough personnel, but Mr. Fraser told them tney need not regard themselves as such, but as a replacement draft who would be free to return to civil life after their due period of leave unless they chose otherwise. 'there were some ironical out goodtempered comments on the latter proposition. Those men have seen long service and 'amongst the party were many who had fought in Greece, Crete, Libya, Cyrenaica, Tunisia anc, rimy. Tney knew what is was to be outnumbered and overwhelmed with armour, to light without air support a..cl then to gradually get on an equal footing m men, materials and air support and finally to be on top in everything. The wonder of it all is that, . tier such experiences as they have had, they all looked so fit and well. As several men put it: “When it was bad it was hell and when it was good it was second only to the nearest thing to heaven, bar being at home.” Impressions of Italy Comparatively fresh from the Italian battlefields, their reactions to the country whose troops they always beat decisively were varied. Many iclt pity for the Italians and their country devastated by war. Others expressed the distrust they felt, especially having in mind the treatment meted out to New Zealand prisoners by Italian soldiers. Others thought the attitude of present-day Italy to be that of having had enougn of armies of any sort and only looking to the Allied nations to provide them . v ith food and the means of re-estab-lishing their country on a normal basis. ! There were many stories of early i distress among the Italian population, ! oi children scrambling at the garbage tins of camps after meals to get what scrape they could and of the value i which the Italians placed on such i items as salt, soap, sugar and other ! items of which the New Zealand j troops usually had a full supply. Visit to Vatican Catholic servicemen spoke of a : memorable occasion when they were . received by the Pope. Others marI veiled at the Allied bombing accuracy I which reduced the marshalling yards of Italian territory only a short distance from Vatican territory into a mass of ruins, while the Papal State was unscathed. There were stories of extremes of architectural and artistic grandeur and of squalor all within the city of Rome.

A former civil servant from Gisborne who had fought in all the New Zealanders’ battles formed the opinion that the peasant class in Italy were never keen about the war, but that all were enthusiastic while things were going -well for Mussolini.