Oriental Medley For Soldiers On Leave

Northern Advocate, 24 July 1943, Page 2

Oriental Medley For Soldiers On Leave

"Every Egyptian leave town is Ihe same. The whole place is a bedlam. Immcc.iatciv you enter it you are surrounded b> a veiling mob of beggars, bootblacks, guili-gulli men and natives attempting to sell their wares.” said Corporal I. RSummers, 8.E.M., of the Railway Unit, who has returned from the Middle Las. on mice months’ furlough. Corporal Summers is well-known throughout the greater puH of New Zealand for his prowess as a footballer. He has one son, an. aged 10 years, and his wife is Sister L. summon., 'u the Whangarei District Hospital. Continuing, he stated: "Beggars ol all sorts gather round you —women canning babies whose eves and noses arc chocked up with flies, and men with no limbs. All are crying' out for ’baksheesh. The bootblacks' are the worst. They flock around vou and. even though they see that your shoes don’t need cleaning, they will still pester vou. If you refuse, they will spit on vour shoes or throw water over them and' make them dirty. Then you 11 have to have them cleaned. Workers cf Magic "The gulli-gulli men are the best ol the lot. Their conjuring tricks are really good,” said Corporal bummers, they would stand about a yard away and then tell vou to look inside your shirt. . you would, and there you would find a chicken. ’fliev were masters in tricks with coins, also' The worst part of the town was its smell No one had lurnished a good description of the. smell because it was impossible. The worst smell was in Cairo —“The City of Smells, as it was named by the Kiwis. To the natives a New Zealander was always a ’ Kiwi. “The wogs arc rough drivers. Its more by good luck than good driving that we ever get where we want to go. Their one stand-bv is their horn. They blow this cverv other second. They don’t slow down for an intersection. They just toot their horn and rely on luck.” Corporal Summers went overseas with the Third Echelon and served as an engine-driver. In an interview he commended the work of Ihe Rail Construction Unit, which in most places laid two-and-a-ha'if miles of track a day. As fast as it was laid engines would run over it. -The Rail Construction Unit did a good job Laying the line under the conditions they had to was an exceptionally fine piece of work,” he said. Driving Under Five On two occasions a train which Corporal Summers was driving was bombed. While in Syria he was driving a train which Vichy French planes bombed. The tram was carrying petrol and when the bomb exploded' so did the petrol. He eyaswounded in the abdomen in this action and spent three weeks in hospital. On the second occasion, Corporal Summers was driving a train between Mersa Matruh and Daba, in Egypt. His train was subjected to bombing and machine-gun five from enemy aircraft. Bomb splinters broke waggon couplings in two places, but lie effected repairs while still under fire and brought the train to its destination. For this action he was awarded the Eritish Empire Medal, and the citation accompanying the award states:- "Disruption of train services at a time when essential war material was needed in the forward area was averted by his prompt and resourceful action. This is the second time he has shown initiative when subject to bombing attacks on trains.”- The citation also states that he received the medal for his devotion to duty over a period of six weeks during which he set an example worthy of emulation. “WeMust had our job (o do and we did it ” said Corporal Summers. Every time a ’ bombing occurred on the line ahead thrv had to pull into the next station and S a patrol car on ahead to see the extent of the damage.