WITH THE ANZACS

Nelson Evening Mail, 22 July 1916, Page 2

WITH THE ANZACS

BEHIND THE LINES. COLONIAL TROOPS IN FRANCE. HUMOUR AND ROMANCE. (From Malcolm Ross, Official War Correspondent with the New Zealand Forces.) Northern France, 20th May. "Well, this is better than Galiipoli," .said the General, smiling. "My blooming oath!" replied the Australian .soldier, and there was a world of meaning in his curt phrase. "How's your health here'' - ' ventured the General, still smiling. "Pretty crook," came the quick response. It had occurred to him that in his first reply he might have admitted too much.

Both answers were typical of the character of the colonial soldier. But to one who does not know "Tommy Cornstalk" this apparent casualness might seem to indicate familiarity, if not disrespect. Yet nothing was further from the Anzac soldier's mind. Just as the English Tommy used to refer affectionately to General Roberts as "Bobs," so the colonial soldier has his own particular appellations for the Generals and the officers he knows. When Lord Kitchener, General Maxwell, "General Birdwood, and General Godley climbed the heights of Anzac to view the. Turkish lines, one of the Anzacs asked who they were. "Oh, that's IBilly Birdwood and three other blokes," said his mate. A little later, when Lord Kitchener addressed the troops, this apparently indifferent soldier would be one of the first to join the cheering throng. Similarly, when the Prinze of Wales was in Egypt he was heartilv acclaimed by the Australians and the New 'Zealanders, thouah one of the most enthusiastic was afterwards heard to say. "I don't take much stock in Eoyalty. 'but I simply; had to ibeer "

The quick-witted Cockney soldier has t humour of his own. the Irishman has a ready wit that never fails him, and there is the delightful humour of the Scot* soldier with which Tan Hay has made "is all so familiar. Again, the crisp, dry humour of the Canadian is a novelty in France. And now there has been added auother Mend, for the men from the Antipodes have certainly a. humour and a slang of their own. 'Their definition of the various batches of volunteers that have come out to fight is worth quoting. The first contingent became known as the "Tourists." They were out to see a bit of the world. Incidentally, they would do any fighting that came along. And they did it. Then came the "T>inkums"—the true fighting men they called themselves, "dinkhm" signifying the very embodiment of all the virtues. There followed the "Super-dinkums." the "War 'Babies. - ' and the "'Hard Thinkers." the latter having thought a great deal before they came. But even the "Hard Thinkers'' .are quite up to the mark. Tt will tax the ingenuity of the colonial "Tommv" to find appropriate names for the batches yet to come; but one may he sure that he will do so.

In the meantime, '(range Australasian terms are being grs f fed on to the languages of these Fivnch and "Flemings. Even the "imshi" of the Egyptian Arab has been transplanted into the vocabulary of the boys and pit is of Northern France per medium of the soldiers from overseas.

Often the colonial "Tommy" affects an air of surprise or incredulity when his first reply is not exactly understood. "What do you belong to, my man?" asked a famous General who was visitinfr Anz'ac. "Me?" replied the "Tommy." "Oh, I

belong to the famous Third." x "Why famous?"' added the General,

"Why fa Why famous !" exclaimed the "Tommy." "We're the blokes wot took these blooming hills !" And i/'ow the colonial "Tommy" is beginning to adapt another language to the environment iu which he finds himself : but his incursion into the new vocabulary sometimes leads to rather amusing consequences. Itecently an. officer asked one of his meu if he was guilty of a certain dereliction of duty.

"Oui, Oui." replied the delinquent. "Very well, se'ven days' C.B. Comprendre?" said' the officer. In Egypt, and on the way to 'France, the necessityi for good discipline was instilled into our troops, and on the whole their discipline has been satisfactory. It has been the custom in the past to tell amusing stories about the discipline of our troops and that of the Canadians. The question of saluting was often the theme.

"[ saw a a extraordinary thing today." an "English officer is reported to have said' in, the mess one evening. "What was that?" asked a brother officer. "Well," replied he, "I saw a colonial soldier saluting his officer !" That story, however, can no longer be told with* any semblance of accuracy. Both the Australiau and New Zealand soldiers now salute as if to the manner born.

A great deal that is highly imaginary regarding the troops from'the Antipodes has already been appearing in the English press.' It has been stated that they have been put into a difficult and very important part of the line. Really it is the very opposite. Indeed, our section is known as "The Nursery." Apart from the usual shelling there is very

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little doing in it. -Whether theyi will remain there or not only the higher command knows, and, naturally, it won't tell. The men in the trenches have been also amused with a highly imaginary account of a fight between the Germans and the Australasians, said to have been altogether to the advantage of the latter. As a matter of fact, although no part of the trench was lost, the Germans actually had the best of that foray. There has also apeared an imaginary account of a wood-chopping contest between a Frenchman and an Australian, in which the .Frenchman was said to have won. The contest was really between a team of Frenchmen and a team of Maoris, and the Maoris won ! The Australian and the New Zealander do uot like undue praise or praise of any sort until they have earned it. The fighting here is going to be very different from anything that our men have already taken part in. Physique and dash and initiative will uo doubt still come in, but not to the same extent as at Gallipoli. 'Here our men have more done for them by others. A great deal more will depend upon the co-ordina-tion of our artillery) and the success with which it is handled iu a critical attack or advance. That much is already clear. The Australians and the New Zealanders have to prove themselves under new circumstances and in a new field. Already, on the borders of a ravished land, the "little mounds are beginning to be heaped over our dead. But that was only what our men expected. They have taken the chances, knowing full well what thev were to fight for, and alreadv some of them have given thenall, thev are sleeping their last sleep in alien 'but friendly soil. From some touchin.r verses iu "The Anzac Book" — which; bv the way, has made a fine impression 'out here'—one stanza befitting the occasion may be appropriatelyquoted : Yet where the brave men lies who tell in fight For his dear country, there his country is. And we will mourn them proudly as of right— . For meaner deaths be weeping and loud cries : Thevi died pro patria ! It is often stated that all the romance and picturesqueness has gone out of war, but that is an inaccurate estimate. T.he warrior of to-dav, it is true, does not ridcjoff with his "ladye fair" at his middle bow, and he is much more likely to use the curtailed modern equivalent of "By our Lady" than the original phrase. He recognises that poison gas, tear shells, flame" liquid, and high explosive are more deadly and more prosaic than the arquebuse and the javelin. He mav even be a little disappointed not to find the splendid wine and the foaming ta-kard of the romantic novelist. Ihe old lady in the bookshop at Marseilles who told us that there was good beer and good cider here was at least not a brewery expert. The beer of the country doesn't' foam. It is a weak, brown, wishv-washv liquid that even Marscel, our landlady's boy, aged 10 has with his breakfast. And as for the winewell, there is wine and wme; but the average colonial soldier has not the cultivated palate. But for all this, many of our men realise that theyi are in a land of history and romance. There are still maids that are fair—the Frank and the Flemish—and the bar of an alien language was ever one that could be readily overcome in the fieldte of romance. Already attachmeuts are being formed, and it will be strange if, when the war is over, some of our antiopdean soldiers do not settle -down in this fair land.