SKILL OF TROOPS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23840, 16 December 1940, Page 10

SKILL OF TROOPS

EXAMINATION OF BOMBS DESERT EXPERIENCES NEW ZEALANDERS IN EGYPT (From she Official War Correspondent with tho N.Z.E.P. in Esiypt) EGYPT, Nov. 20 "Ask the New Zealanders" lias good prospects of becoming a catch phrase among British land forces in the Western Desert. Probably because of the diversity of callings which they followed before the war, members of the N.Z.E.F. have had many opportunities of proving their versatility and ingenuity. The most spectacular case known is that of a member of tho field park engineers who has what his friends call a hideous delight in taking bombs apart "to see what makes them tick." His chief fancy is a delayed action type which the enemy dropped in some desert areas. The Bomb Runs Away Like others in his unit, this man knows exactly where to place a riile bullet so that it will explode the bomb's main charge without destroying its value as a specimen tor his research. The result is that lie is now probably more conversant with the mechanism of this not-so-secret weapon than are the Italian pilots who use it. A cartoon drawn lor the unit s magazine shows him crawling over the desert with a riile in his linnd, and a bomb running fearfully away. His hobby has a point, however, for as a, result of his work and that of others with the same bent, higher authorities i were supplied with valuable data. In .1") minutes' walk through this same company's area, 1 saw the chassis of an unserviceable truck being converted into a useful trailer, a welding llanie solving a mechanical problem for the artillery, an electric lathe in action in a mobile workshop, road signs being painted, and a miniature joinery factory turning out a wide variety ol products. In the area of another company of engineers concrete mixers were chewing up tons of sand and cement, and pneumatic drills were biting into solid rock. A soldier-blacksmith worked at his anvil in a foundry open to tin* hot sky. Magnet Made far Doctor A medical officer in an Indian regiment has a New Zealand soldier to thank for a useful optical instrument which is now part of his equipment. The officer found that he frequently had to deal with cases of filings and similar small pieces of metal lodging in the eyes of his men. He mentioned this casually one day to the commanding officer of a New Zealand signals company. The result Mas that lie became the delighted owner of a device which uses magnetism to draw iron particles from the eye. A signals corporal skilled in instrument mechanics, had fashioned it from odds and ends in his workshop. Railway construction troops helping to prepare defensive positions in tho New Zealand sector provided their own camouflage expert. He was a commercial artist, who had made a study of the art of concealment more or less for his own satisfaction. He was able to put his knowledge to valuable use. In another way the troops have shown their adaptability. Almost every unit ! uses a "colonial oven" that stands in the open air and looks like an incinerator. The walls and top are built of petrol | tins cemented together with wet mud. and the chimney and interior lining are made from whatever materials the cook is able to lay hands on. An oven like this, which turns out perfect roasts and baked dishes for a company of infantrymen, even has a compartment in which plates arc heated.