IT'S A LONG LONG WAY TO--

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 4484, 10 September 1940, Page 1

IT'S A LONG LONG WAY TO--

(Prom the Official War Correspondent with the jST.Z. Forces in Gt. Britain

To jsail from Lyttelton for, as he thought, an Egyptian port and to arrive in Iceland under, the midnight sun, has been the experience of C,apt. C. N. Watson, of Christchurch, and a New Zealand Bide Batta’ion. Ciapt. Watson was quartermaster of his transport, responsible for all the military stores it carried. Stores for shore were still in the holds whom the last of his colleagues left to entrain for camp, so he stayed on board. The ship was lying in the stream, troops having gone off by tender. One afternoon she moved up harbor to a berth, and the lone New Zealander, who was in touch with his superiors and remaining aboard by their orders, yet getting a little restive, went to bed fully expecting to be able to begin unloading next morning. When he awoke troops were coming aboard —troops for Iceland. The orders of the military and naval authorities were that they must sail at once. There was no time for unloading. Military .stores for Iceland were (stowed on top of those fi(om New Zealand awaiting discharge in the United Kingdom. Captain Watson sought fresh orders. “Stay with your stores,” he was told. So he stayed, spent a pleasant fortnight on the Icelandic coast, and, his ship back in British waters and the precious stores unloaded at last, has just come with them to camp.

Imagine the West Coast sounds ■without bush, but just as steep as they are, with snow almost down to the water-line, and there, he says, you have Iceland; an island of magnificent harbours but little hinterland. Yet it grows and exports muttonsmall, sweet carcases said .to have been in happier times among the delicacies of Europe. And the brand on carcases taken aboard at Eeyk'javik for the provisioning of isolated stations round the coast was —odd conjunction this far a Cianiterbury man) —“Koa.”

The boys generally, although their adventuring has. been mostly of short radius, have accumulated a wide variety of experiences and impressions. On leave, wherever they went, they had the time of their lives. The further they went the better the time, because the fewer there ware in a place the greater the individual, attention and hospitality each received. The first private to visit Birmingham came back telling that lie simply could not spend there. Nobody would take Ms money. None who went to London returned with tliat complaint.

But there were few grouses. “Why can’t we get threepenny bits, instead of having to load our pockets with pennies?” “Don’t they have real newspapers in this country?” That one could have been predicted. The “popular”' London morning papers appeal to few New Zealanders'—and the evening papers are worse. Paper boys who sell in the camps do not carry “The Times” except on order, and very few copies of the "Daily Telegraph" and “Morning Post," which ordinarily visiting New Zealanders buy to get a balanced presentation of the news-. War-time restrictions on size heighten the contrast between the paper® at home and those here. All the penny papers tare now reduced

to six pages, and even the “Telegraph” is no longer satisfying. One result of their .reading the frothier papers has been to make the troops realise the high quality of the Now Zealand Press. One man put a. general opinion in his own words: “I’ve often see i where jokers from Home have said what fine papers we have in New Zealand; and I thought it was just kids takes. It’s not; it’s right. I’d give the whole bunch of these for twenty minutes of the old “ ”, naming one of our metropolitan daily papers. There would be something of nostalgia in the preference, but there was also sound judgment. The popular papers helped to cook their own goose by the silly things they wrote about our arrival and ap-pearance—“sun-bronzed giants jumping out of their ski is” and like nonsense. And it rubbed some of the men the wrong way to find themselves described as wearing “Boy Scout hats trimmed with red ribbon.” On the other hand we did get publicity, for what that may have been worth. For ten days on end, at least one paper each day, and usually two or three, published a photograph or photographs of New Zealand soldiers on leave.

The removal of all signposts, and the obliteration of railway station name-boards and all similar signs which might help an enemy to find his way in Britain makes travel, whether on duty or pleasure, a little difficult for friendly newcomers. Civilians are not supposed to answer questions about locality, and in the first weeks of our encampment here, many miles, and minutes were wasted in trying to find the 'shortest way from one camp to another. The New Zealand High Commissioner, with a brigadier, a colonel, a captain and assorted civilian personnel, was delayed in one village for a quarter of an hour, seeking directions: to the Kailway and Forestry Companies. Finally a civilian cyclist, after being at first unable to help, returned and asked if members of the party could show authority to support their questionings. Upon their doing so he directed them.

Other Local people, and English troops too, even when satisfied of the bona tides of inquirers, have often no more than a hazy notion of the roads beyond their immediate neighbourhood. Some New Zealand A.S.C. drivers', on a new route for the first time, check their map-reading by asking only Canadian troops, Avhom they declare to be the most reliable guides.