RIVALS IN WAR

New Zealand Herald, Volume 80, Issue 24759, 6 December 1943, Page 2

RIVALS IN WAR

1 GERMAN LIGHT DIVISION NEW ZEALANDERS' AIM LONDON. Dec. 1 The appearance of units of the revived German 90th Light Infantry Division on tho Eighth Army irout has whetted the appetites of the New Zealanders who are operating there. The New Zealand Commander, Lieu-tenant-General Sir Bernard Freyberg, \'.C., at El Alamein, in North Africa, told his division: "You will make the going heavy for the 90th. ' 'J he 90th eventually surrendered to the New Zealanders in Tunisia. To-day the New Zealanders say: "Let's take a crack at this new 90th Light Division. We want to finish them O,iV " • . __ The 90th Light Infantry Division was the pride of "the Afrika Korps and its surrender to the New Zealanders in Tunisia in May this year marked the end of two years of very keen rivalry land hard fighting. The division was commanded by Major-General Count von Sponeck and when it finally was trapped, a demand for surrender was sent by Lieutenant-General L'Yeyberg. When von Sponeck replied that surrender was not contemplated and that he and his men would fight to the last round, the New Zealand response was an exhortation to "come out and fight properly if there is to be no surrender." rolling the story of these last days, General Freyberg said: "And to cut a long story short, we took 50,000 prisoners —a good show." Although the 90th Division thus passed out of existence, the Germans, in accordance with their practice of reviving divisions which have specially distinguished themselves, have formed a new one. They did this with the armies which were liquidated at Stalingrad. After the last war, they made i platoons and « companies "tradition { bearers" of the regiments which had j been removed from the army list under I the peace terms. NEW FORCES CLUB TROOPS IN ITALY FINE BUILDING IN BARI (N.Z.E.F. Official War Correspondent) SOMEWHERE IN ITALY, Nov. ;su One of the finest buildings in the main thoroughfare of Bari has been taken over by the New Zealand authorities and wijl shortly be in full operation as the New Zealand Forces Club. A squad of carpenters and decorators is now working under the personal supervision of Lieutenant-Colonel l'\ Waite, National Patriotic Fund Board commissioner in the Middle East, preparing the building, of six floors, for its new function. The building is a handsome modern structure of white concrete with large windows on the higher floors. It was formerly the office of Riunione Adriatica di Sicurta. a large insurance firm with headquarters in Trieste, which occupied the second floor. The upper floors wore originally flats. The situation is central, being on a corner section of Via Cavour, a splendid boulevard lined with trees and having a park 1i k e centres t rip. It is intended to use the lower flpor as clubrooms for other ranks. The ne.Nt storey will be for officers, nurses and V.A.D.'s. Two floors will be given over to sleeping accommodation for New Zealanders on leave, and a small charge will be made. The top floor will accommodate staff. The aim is to provide tea and sandwiches ffoe to troops, and there will be other facilities. For meals and more substantial refreshments a near by restaurant has been taken over, with the staff, and will operate under the supervision of Now Zealand personnel. Tho new club is now a scene of great activity as the floors are being remodelled and partitions changed. Difficulties met include the removal of light fittings on the upper floors by the previous tenants and the lack of suitable | furniture. However, these problems are I being solved and soon New Zealanders in Italy will have as fine a home as the well-remembered premises in Cairo. CROWDS AT BEACHES TRANSPORT HEAVILY TAXED Warm sunshine, a light wind, and a convenient early afternoon high tide attracted thousands of Aueklanders to the beaches yesterday. All forms of transport were heavily taxed with the crowds and beaches near tram and bus routes were particularly popular. The extra allowance of petrol this month, when coupons are worth their full value, brought many cars on to the road, especially on the waterfront road where the beaches were thronged. The tram service to Point Chevalier was well patronised. Peak loads on ferry steamers resulted in crowded buses for Narrow Nock, Cheltenham, Takapuna, Milford and more distant. East Coast beaches, Servicemen and their friends formed a large proportion of the passengers. Beaches were popular on Saturday afternoon also. A fairly strong northwesterly winrl during the morning changed to a light south-west and later southerly breeze in the afternoon. Throughout yesterday there was a light southerly wind. MIGRATION OF SHEEP (0.C.) - GISBORNE, Sunday Many thousands of sheep are now leaving the district in the annual migration to the Waikato and Hawke's Bay, and even to tho west coast of the North Island. Shorn wethers are mainly, moving at present, but breeding ewes are commencing in a steady trickle, although ewes do not usually start in large numbers until after tho New Year. The railway south is taking many thousands, while others are sent by road to tho northern railhead at Taneatua. One mob of 250 wethers, however, is being driven nearly 400 miles across the widest part of the island, from Tokomaru Bay to Patea, and will spend eight or nine weeks ou the road.