DESERT MOULDED

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 5 December 1940, Page 7

DESERT MOULDED

TO THE NEEDS OF WAR AREA WHICH NEW ZEALANDERS HOLD NETWORK OF POSITIONS (From the Official War Correspondent with the N.Z.E.F. in Egypt) | EGYPT, 15th November. “For all you know, a whole battalion may be watching you from that billside. . ..” The gently rising slope to which the brigade major was pointing could have been any one of the countless similar features of the vast Western Desert—patches of sand and outcrops of stony ground, and splashes of dark green where short scrub struggles to survive. To the eye it is “just desert.” something to be viewed dispassionately and passed by, something untouched bv man’s hand. Yet it is the stronghold of hundreds of men who to-day or any day may be lying there, unseen and unheard, watching and waiting for the first sign of an unwelcome intruder. This slope and the neighbouring hillsides, and the shallow gullies which separate them, are the battle stations of bronzed, fit men of the N.Z.E.F. If the enemy is willing and able to push deeply enough into Egypt, these defensive positions may well be the first testing ground of the expeditionary force. The importance of the sector they cover is a token of the confidence which the contingent has earned. Weeks of careful planning and strenuous labour have wrought an amazing transformation in the area which the New Zealanders have been assigned to hold. “Transformation” is peihaps a misnomer, since one of the most important phases of the work has be3n erasing so far as possible of all visible evidences of it. Burrowing into the desert was a tall enough order for the force, but covering up its tracks : as well called for extraordinary skill and ingenuity So accustomed are these men to digging that they measure their achievement only in terms of so many hours and days of picking and shovelling. To a visitor, however, the completed task is most impressive. When the fighting units carry out practice occupations of j their positions, the desert literally j swallows them up. A stranger might walk over communication trenches, oh- ! servation posts, machine-gun nests, and company offices without knowing they i were there. Even the front line infantry positions, necessarily the most exposed, are not easy to find. To follow, say, a crew of machine gunners through a zig-zagging trench into their miniature fortress is to understand best how these men have moulded the desert to the needs of war. Blindly for a while, after the brilliant sunshine outside, you grope past solid, sheltering walls—hard sand, limestone or perhaps reinforced concrete. The roc? above you, flush with the surface of the ground, is so firm that you feel that nothing could come through it. You pass into a tiny but snug living room, where bunks may be placed along the walls. Now your eyes are “in focus” again, and you see that there is really plenty ot light, led in indirectly through ingenious arrangements of empty petrol tins and stovepiping. Ahead, in the gun position proper, you realise how well this defensive post is placed. The concealed opening through which the gunner directs his fire commands a remarkable view of his front, but is so small and so perfectly camouflaged as to be invisible from any distance. Linked with the network of formed positions are earthbound company, regimental and brigade offices. A unit’s headquarters may be virtually a suite of underground rooms, connected by roofed-in passages. In a typical headquarters area I round artillerymen in temporary occupation of this part of their battle stations, and visited a first aid dugout that looked as scrupulously tidy and as well stocked as a city dispensary. These positions are defensive ones, from which the contingent is ready to repel an enemy attack. There is no i certainty, however, that a siege will be the first form of action which the New Zealanders will experience. Thev are continuing at every opportunity‘their advanced training in the science of! swiftly moving, open warfare. j