WAR-TIME MEMORIES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23034, 11 May 1938, Page 5

WAR-TIME MEMORIES

NEW ZEALANDERS IN EGYPT MATRON RECALLS EXPERIENCES Memories of the Egypt of 1915-16 are treasured by Mrs. J. E. Fletcher, matron of a girls' orphanage run by the Minister for the Interior at Cairo, whose home at Dcsertside, Matrieh. Egypt, was open to any soldier who oared to share her hospitality. Mrs. Fletcher is visiting Wellington in the hope of meeting any of the soldiers she entertained during the war and of renewing old friendships formed at that time.

When interviewed, Mrs. Fletcher outlined some of her experiences, recalling the early clays of the Gallipoli campaign, when hospitals were overcrowded and inadeqllatelv equipped. Speaking of the New Zealand troops in Egypt, Mrs. Fletcher said they had three main camps stationed at Zeitoun. Helmieh and Matrieh. They all had a standing invitation, together with the Australian and English troops, to go to her home whenever they were free. In fact, she had set Wednesdays aside for privates, Thursdays lor officers, and Sundays for all ranks. She well remembered Brigadier A. Greene, M.C., now a Salvation Army officer in Wellington, who had been at the head of most of the social activities of the troops. Then there were the concert parties—mostly organised by the men themselves — lor the entertainment of the "diggers." The "Roosters" and the "Vingt-septs" were two she remembered. After Gallipoli, Mrs. Fletcher said, her house was used as a convalescent home for many of the troopers.