INVALIDED HOME

Grey River Argus, 8 February 1941, Page 10

INVALIDED HOME

87 N.Z. SOLDIERS Also Four Nurses [Per Press Association! WELLINGTON February 7. A party of 87 New Zealand soldiers who have been invalided home, including five officers, have arrived in Wellington. They mostly have come from Egypt. , Several are wounded or shell-shock-’ ed. The majority are suffering from illnesses; usually associated with service in tropical countries. There are four nurses also, including Staff Nurse H. L. Faber, of Dunedin South, who is a patient. Hie others are: Sisters K. G. Hall (Auckland) V. M. Hodges (Dunedin), and Staff'Sister N. F. Stewart (Wellington). . z 1 , "N T , ■ The officers are: —Lieut-Col. N, rBoag (Blenheim), Major J. Stack (Christchurch), Captain D. H. Wilson (Auckland) Capt. N. Taylor (Blenheim), Capt. W. J. Foster (Ngaruawahia). The medical officer in charge was Capt. T. H. Neil (Auckland), and from Melbourne the party as a whole, was in charge of Capt. D. Cosgrove of the Army Headquarters, Wellington. All speak in terms of the highest praise for hospitality experienced in Australia, and Captain Cosgrove said that it would not be possible to excel the work of the Auxiliary in Sydney.

Work in North Africa

INVALIDS’ EXPERIENCES. WELLINGTON, February 7. Interesting experiences of patrol work in the Western Desert were told by one member of the party of New Zealand soldiers invalided home who have arrived in Wellington. This man was a gunner, who was transferred to a British command in Egypt “Our job was to go out into Libya,” he said, “to see what was doing in the way'of small garrisons and aerodromes, and what the enemy traffic was like. When we came to a garrison small enough—we were only a small party ourselves —we cleaned them up, but, mostly, we concentrated on going ’ for enemy patrols convoys, taking prisoners and capturing equipment and supplies. We also had the job of putting down land mines where we could.” The trucks they used, he said were fast and each carried a two-pounder gun, an anti-aircraft gun and other armament. Patrols extended down as far as French Equatorial Africa, and in about three months three patrols, each of eleven trucks, covered something like 300 thousand square miles, averaging up to a thousand miles’ a week. One amusing experience, he said, was when a British patrol approached an oasis dominated by a mud tower 120 feet nigh, from which an Italian flag was waving. One round from a two-pounder brought it down, and enemy troops scattered in all directions.

Other members of the party said that the Italian aircraft were responsible for most of the New Zealand casualties, but there had been little trouble from that direction for some time. They also mentioned that some New Zealanders ha'd taken an active part in front-line operations and conducted themselves very well. New Zealanders in general were very lit, and anxious to be given a chance of showing what they could do.