W.A.A.C.'S IN PACIFIC

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXIV, Issue 39, 14 January 1944, Page 3

W.A.A.C.'S IN PACIFIC

LIFE IN NEW CALEDONIA. (N.Z.E.F. Official News Service.) NEW CALEDONIA, Jan. 7.

From duty on the home front_ to active service with the Kiwis in New Caledonia is a test that proves the mettle of the Kiwi Company, N.Z.W.A.A.C, and demonstrates that the New Zealand girl is as competently adaptable a,s any girl in the world.

It is not merely adaptability to hew types of work that must be mastered, but also a willingness to fit into a monotonous routine that is as changeless as the hills that surround the camps. The novelty of the first week soon disappears nud adjustments are made to a new way of living that has only war to recommend and justify it. None of the W.A.A.C. duties are easy, and those who think in terms of glamour still have a lot to learn of island life. A visit to the Fourth (N.Z.) General Hospital, almost completed by works service engineers, gives some indication of the range and nature of the task undertaken by the W.A.A.C.'s. One may start at a hospital ward where bandages, pyjamas, linen, towels, etc., are gathered and taken to the washing machines. Here the gift-Is commence at 7 a.m. and work, with a break for morning tea, till midday and from 1.30 to 4.30. From the washing-room one goes to the ironing room, where a minimum of 2000 articles are ironed weekly. And all this is not just a Monday morning rush, but every day is washing ami ironing day. Ono could go on tabulating the work of the girls in the laboratory, mess huts, dictitian'6 department, clubs and recreation centres and other aspects of army organisation without exhausting_ what is being done. The girls arc conscious that they are doing an important job, and that tho monotonv and unchanging routine arc part of tho work. Leisure hours arc spent at the rivers, most of which arc close to the camps. Debating proves one of the more popular pastimes, and the W.A.A.C. team has yet to suffer a defeat. Pictures arc fairly regular and those patients who are capable of going find they have first preference of W.A.A.C. company. The disadvantages of the work are offset at the hospital by comfortable living quarters in wooden huts which arc shared by four girls. Facilities for swimming and picnic groups arc excellent. A recreational hut with cane chairs, piano, gramophone and bookshelves leaves little to be desired in the way of a recreational centre.