THE MEN IN EGYPT

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVIII, Issue XLVIII, 15 February 1915, Page 3

THE MEN IN EGYPT

' WORK OF ARTILLERY. TROOPS IN HARD TRAINING. NEWS FROM HOME WELCOME, Serial letters are being written by" many members of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force from Egypt,-.'relating their impressions of military life .4ir>d their excursions to the places of interest within reach of the camp. A gunner m the field artillery, writing on December 20,-stated.that the work had been mainly exercising the horses and getting them into working order after the trip. Lhey were led for a couple of days, then ndden bareback, and finally put into harness. At the time of writing the; guns had been taken out once. The force *as becoming more efficient.every day, v \Ve were out the other day practising for a night bivouac, and in all probability we shall be away for a couple of days week sleeping in the open," he ■".•rites. "You would . be-surprised <to see t°w we have become accustomed to »:ie s«.i.d and how comfortable a shelter we i;.ake with out ground-sheets laced together and stretched over the and anini'ir.ition waggons. In a quarter of an 1 our from the time we were trotting over the sand with all our blankets, overcoats, feed-bags, etc., on our horses, we had the horses unharnessed and picketed, covers over the guns and were all under the shelter ready" for sleep. Our, NewZealand batteries are becoming very efficient, but we shall have to train hard to reach the standard of the real Engr lish 'Tommies.' " Referring to the canteens, the letter says that everything is stocked that the men require, and the goods are very cheap. There is also a wet canteen, but as it "run on proper lines" there is no drunkenness. He adds that the men. do. not spend much money at the canteen, but save it for spending on seeing the sights. An event of Christmas Day was the arrival of the contingent of New Zealanders formed in England. In a note written on December 28, the writer remarks that Cairo and the surroundings had become less attractive, and the men seemed to exist from one day to the next on the expectation of news \f rom home.