Correspondence

Hutt News, Volume 16, Issue 41, 7 April 1943, Page 2

Correspondence

SILENT NIGHT (?)

(To the Editor)

Sir, —My wife and I are residents of the north-eastern end of Cami bridge Terrace, hitherto a quiet, and, if I may say so, a respectable locality j Recently, a number of "deepots" have been erected all around us. We in New Zealand know these buildings by the name of "stores" They are being used by the men of a Nation [which has allied itself with us for Round Two of the Great War. The I I Censorship Regulations forbid me to mention, in a letter, the nationality of the men concerned, so that I have no option but to follow the example of official stupidity and refer to! them by that genteel phrase "visiting servicemen." Since their arrival, quietness has gone, and pandemonium has been let loose. Let me be specific. On the evening of Saturday, 13th March, the doors of one of these buildings were thrown open, and a stream of ! heavy motor vehicles began to arrive for the purpose of discharging stores. In the early hours of the following morning, I walked, over to see what on earth could be making so much clatter and din. I found a heavy truck being unloaded by means of chutes with rollers on them Cases were tossed on to the rollers, and they sped merrily and noisily to the floor. Another lorry was not the fortunate possessor of a chute, J and a man was aboard, heaving small cases, about the size of butter! boxes, on to the concrete floor. They were then wheeled away to various parts of the building on noisy hand barrows. No attempt was made to minimise the noise. On the con trary, the men (fifteen of them, I counted) were whistling, shouting, swearing and singing right heartily. This din went on until O seven O O hours, that is, seven a.m., when all was quiet. The same din has been repeated on various occasions since then, notably on the following Tuesday evening, and again on Monday 22nd March, starting at eleven p.m. It seems to me that the unloading of stores, principally foodstuffs, into stores, could quite easily be done during ordinary working hours On Saturday 13th March, I am told, there were hundreds of "visiting servicemen" at Trentham Races, and there was no noise whatever on Sunday, 14th March, at the stores concerned. Why then choose the houjrs of darkness to let Bedlam loose? I that complaints have already been made about bad language, but no action seems to have been taken. There are young babies, elderly people and war workers living all ai-ound us, and I think it is grossly j unfair that their rest and sleep should be disturbed in this way. Who are the officers responsible? If you know, would it be possible for you to send them a copy of this let ter, in the hope that there will be no further cause for complaint? For reasons which will be. obvious to you, I remain, ANONYMOUS.

The above letter was shown to 2nd Lieut. G. B. Calkins, U.S.M.C.R, who replies as follows: —

j "It is indeed difficult to attempt an answer to our neighbour 'Anonymous' letter in which he so verbose-l ly reprimands N the 'visiting servicemen' for th'e manner in which they operate their 'stores.' It is difficult mainly because the reasons for working at the seemingly odd hours of the day are not- altogether explainable for obvious military reasons. But it can be said in all sincerity that if it were not necessary to work during these ' Silent Nights', the men and officers of the Waterloo ware-| houses would certainly be as overjoyed of that fact as would our neighbours. As to the apparent excessiveness of noise produced by these working men, let me say that every attempt will be made to keep that to a minimum, but one can easily understand that when men are working 12 to 14 hours a day, seven days a week, it is slightly difficult to enforce the strictest of discipline. "Many complaints of the resicfentb of the Waterloo area adjacent to oui warehouses are absolutely justified, tuid at any time that an honest coin* plaint is made to us every attempt will be made to x-emedy same. As a matter of fact, it would be appreciated if these would be presented personally to myself at Builiding No. 1 at Oxford Terrace and Waterloo Road. "This apparent 'invasion' of your once very peaceful and beautiful area is neither of our making or oi yours, and we all will have to try to make the best of what would bt called a bad situation. The friendliness and hospitiality that we have received from our neighbours since being stationed at Waterloo has been more than abundant and is deeply appreciated by myself and every man in my command. My eagerness to abolish any abridgements of * this hospitality is sincere and only your friendly co-operation can alleviate the situation. "So to 'Anonymous' and any other friends in the same boat, please feel more than free to come and talk with me 'man-to-nian.' After all, this is not my war or your war— it's our war and let's fight it together and make the best of all the

difficulties. Your friendship and respect are what we desire more than any other factors, and we will go to whatever degree is necessary to gain and to maintain them."