SOLDIERS FROM EGYPT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15825, 23 January 1915, Page 8

SOLDIERS FROM EGYPT.

ARRIVAL OF THE ATHENIC.

FIFTY-FOUR MEN RETURNED.

THIRTEEN INVALIDED HOME

AN UNEVENTFUL VOYAGE.

Viltv-four members of the New Zealand expeditionary force that left the Dominion in October last and disembarked in Egypt early in December, returned to Auckland yesterday on board the steamer Athenic, Troopship No. 11. Among the men on board were 13 men who had been invalided home, two of the number being from the Auckland military district, 32 men, including eight Auckland men, who refused to allow themselves to bo inoculated with aiiti-typlioid serum, and nine men, one of them from Auckland, who were to be discharged from the force for misconduct. No officer was sent back in charge of the men. The Athenio waa docked during the morning, and the men were brought to the city by Major .T. liBarton, of the Auckland district staff.

The following are the men invalided home:—Trooper C. P- Bowler, Wellington Mounted Rifles; Trooper 0. L. Knight, Wellington Mounted Rifles ; Trooper D. Pearson, New Zealand I ield Artillery; Trooper P. A. Minshall, New Zealand Field Artillery; Trooper W. J. Barman, New Zealand Field Artilleiy ; Private C. C. A. Bartlett, Otago Infantry Battalion; TrooperF. L. Baxter, Auckland Mounted Rifles; Private F. L. Parkes, Divisional Train; Private W. L. Reid, Wellington Infantry Battalion; Private S. Abbott, Wellington Infantry Battalion; Driver E. H. Shore, New Zealand Field Artillery; Private P. T. Woodcock, Auckland Infantry Battalion; Private C. I*o6ter, Otago Infantry Battalion. The men who refused inoculation are the following:—Private J. A. Nevill, Private W. H. Eddy, Private H. F. Choldcroft, Private G. E. K. Lippiatt, Private 11. J. Hulme. Private F. E. Manning, Private L. Forbes, Private M. H. Harrison, all of the Auckland Infantry Battalion; Private W. Howat, Private J. Brennan, Private F. Holford, Private C. Holland. Private L. .T. Wallace, Private D. Chidley, Private A. F. Ward, Private B. Smith, Private O. D. Cruickshank, Private A. K. Carter. Private F. E. Gill, of the Wellington Infantry Battalion; Private A. T. Towgood, Private J. J. Rooney, Private A. J. S. Stokes, Private \V. James, of the Canterbury Infantry Battalion : Private C. Carter,- Otago Infantry Battalion; Driver H. Mayer, Gunner W. Finney, Driver A. R. Cole, Driver R. M. Thomson. Driver N. V. Muller, of the New Zealand Field' Artillery; Driver A. R. Wykes, Army Service Corps; Driver F. ' Oldham, Divisional Tram; Private L. Scoullar, Divisional Headquarters.

The men invalided home are to be allowed to proceed to their homes, and at a later date will be medically examined Those who have recovered sufficiently will then be sent to Trentham to join a reinforcement draft, and those who are deemed to be permanently unfit for military work will be discharged. Those men who were brought back for misconduct and for refusing to be inoculated are to be pUid off at Auckland.

The Athenic, with the other transports, left Wellington on October 16, and on the trip to Alexandria called at Hobart., Albany, Colombo, Aden, and Port Said. She had 1250 men and 340 horses, belonging to the Canterbury section, on board, and the chief officer states that the weather throughout was splendid., They reached their destination on December 3. and the work of disembarkation only occupied a couple of days. The health of the troops was pood, and only four horses were lost on the voyage. The Athenic left Alexandria for Auckland direct on December 17, and had a good trip to New Zealand. The weather was fine all the way across. The Athenic, after coming out of dock, will load for Home.

CAMP OF THE NEW ZEALANDERS.

VISITS TO THE PYRAMIDS.

Interesting details concerning the camp of the New Zealanders at Zeitun, Egypt, were given to a Herald representative by one of the returned soldiers yesterday. Zeitun, he explained, was a settlement of a few houses, lying about 10 minutes' walk from the ruins of Heliopolis and about six miles to the north-east of Cairo. The camp was situated in a very dry area and the men had been ordered to be very careful with the water,'all of which was boiled before use.

Leave was given freely, and *'.ie men were allowed to visit Cairo, wb.le the Pyramids, which were visible fiom the camp, could be reached on Sundays after about a three hours' railway journey. Steady work was being carried out by the New Zealanders, mainly in the form of manoeuvres over the desert country surrounding the camp. The heat, of course, prevented the work from being carried on throughout the whole day as was the practice when in camp prior to leaving New Zealand, but the troops which were to go manoeuvring usually left the camp at about 7 a.m. and returned in the vicinity of 2 p.m. Just prior to the departure of the meD who arrived in Auckland yesterday, it had been reported that a small Arab force had been captured by some of the English " Tommies."

The New Zealand men were in good spirits and were very keenly interested in the novelty of their surroundings. Much disappointment, however, had been felt when it was learned that the. force was to disembark in Egypt instead of going straight on to England and thence to the scat of war.

ATTITUDE OF THE NATIVES

TRADERS ROUND THK CAMP. "The natives in the district where we were camned seemed to think that we went to Egypt for their special benefit," remarked one of the returned troopers last night. "Fruit and curiosin fact, everything—they wanted to sell at prices far bevond the proper value. When we wanted money changed they were only too anxious to do it, for they were able to benefit largely by our ignorance of the relative values of the different moneys. After a little while, though, "Hhe Lancashire boys, who are camped close '-o the New Zealanders, took us in charge, and the native who endeavoured to cheat us was quickly brought to book. Some of the natives are great tailors and bootmakers, and almost as soon as we pitched camp they set up their shops close handy, so that the camp quickly took the semblance of a busy town. And those natives don't allow anything to go to waste. If any of our men threw away a piece of food, it was quickly seized from the sand by a native, who took it away, washed it, and added it to his store.

CARE OF THE WOUNDED.

THE AMBULANCE TRAIN'S

In a letter, received by a relative, Dr. W. A. Chappie, M.P. for Stirling, and formerly of New Zealand, writes as follows:—"I am now a major in the King's Army in charge of 100 beds for wounded arriving daily from the front, and fitted up on an ambulance train. Ships arrive from across the channel and we get wounded—some Germans, many Belgians mixed with our own, and distribute them throughout the kingdom whereever there are hospitals. Some are taken an far north of Aberdeen and some to Dublin.'-