CANTEEN DUTY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23818, 20 November 1940, Page 17

CANTEEN DUTY

NEW ZEALANDER'S WORK DRIVING DURING AIR RAIDS BOMBS OFTEN FALL NEAR BY [from our own correspondent] LONDON. Oct, ''2 l A New Zealander, two Australians, and an American are among the most popular people in Kensington in the early hours of the morning during these air-raid nights. The American drives a mobilo canteen, presented by an American. The New Zealander, Miss Joan Evans, of Hawke's Bay, who is attached to tho staff of New Zealand House, and two Australian girls, are canteen workers of tho Women's Voluntary Service. Every other night they go "on duty." They report to their post, a rather dilapidated room in a small flat, and thore they sleep until "the call" comes. The call is for hot tea and bread and cheese for demolition squads and A.R.P. workers. These men and women spend their nights under the shadow of London's guns and the wings of the roving German aeroplanes, rescuing people from bombed houses, and reporting the toll of the raids. 200 People to Feed The first job for,the canteeners when the summons comes is to boil the billy, a billy which takes on tho size and appearance of a small tank, for some 200 people have to be fed and warmed every night. The tea is poured in containers ami the quartette load up their van. Tin-hatted, they all sit in the front with the driver. Then the journey to their "call" begins. The demolition aquads are seldom to be found in tho i same place twice. Between them and 'the "post" innumerable hazards confront these voluntary workers and tho drive is invariably an adventure.) Somo roads may be blocked by shattered buildings, or they may be roped off, an indication that time bombs aro in the vicinity. Shrapnel clanks down on the roofs, roads and pavements. Searchlights stab into the sky, and the guns keep up a continual barrage. Occasionally the drone of a German aeroplane is heard. Bombs, high explosives and incendiaries, then sweep to the ground, and often fall too near by for mental and physical comfort. Hazardous Drives At times the drive is long if there are many detours to be made. At others it is short and reasonably convenient. Once the van was stopped only just in time by a policeman. It was heading straight for a giant crater in the middle of the road. One motor-car was already filling a corner of the hole. Eventually tho demolition gang is reached and the "call" begins to bo answered. Workmen of all sorts and sizes, many of them past the flush of youth, tired, dusty, but invariably cheery, appear at the "bar" of the canteen. They are surprised and doubly grateful when they find there is nothing to pay, for all the food is provided by the Kensington Borough Council. Sometimes they are quiet—men who have been working for 20 hours have little small talk, although such long stretches as this are infrequent. At others, if the "job" is going well and few people have been killed, they are cheerful and humorous. The workmen constantly express their admiration of tho "canteen ladies" for "working under "front line conditions, for London streets all lie under the overshadowing peril of the German airmen, who evidently regard them as military objectives. Every street is eerily deserted, save by the occasional air raid warden or the policeman on his nightly beat. So they remain until dawn and tho "all clear," when sleepy, drowsy people appear carrying an odd assortment of rugs and bundles, returning home from thenshelters.