WITH THE MEN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24221, 13 February 1940, Page 5

WITH THE MEN

FIRST-CLASS TRAVEL CABINS AND SWIMMING POOLS ENJOYMENT OF MEALS By a Mhw Zealand Journalist on a Transport. Shades of old soldiers! How many would grin and perhaps snort with disdain if they could see the luxurious comfort in which the men of the. first echelon of the second New Zealand Division are travelling ovef-: seas!

This time, fast passenger liners, many of them the pride of big shipping companies and known to connoisseurs of travel on three oceans, form the transports. Little of the magnificent interior decorations has been taken out. In some there has been no alteration, and all ranks are travelling in wellventilated cabins, many with only two bunks., Most cabins have wash basins and hot and cold water. Some ships have their full complement of stewards, who wait at tables and attend to the sleeping quarters. As one young Digger said, “It’s great; even the batmen are waited on.'’

Perhaps more advantageous to the soldiers than the comfortable sleeping quarters is the spacious deck room which these liners provide. Even with many hundreds of men these big ships have plenty of room on deck for everyone. Training can be carried on in comfort, and with the extensive space better work can be done. . Smattering of 1914-18 Veterans The recreational decks, with their modern sports equipment, give ample scope for fun and frolic, and the men take full advantage of these facilities. 1 Among the n.c.o.’s and men are a smattering of old hands of the last war. How they got in is a mystery. They look border-line age, but are fit and strong. They, of course, are the leaders of the band, and their experience and knowledge of trooping are of decided advantage to the younger soldiers. These boys of to-day’s army are decidedly different from the lads of 1914-18. They are quieter and much more serious. In uniform they look smaller in physique, but that may be only a fancy, for one is always inclined to think that the youth of today do not measure up to the stand ards of one’s own younger days. Be that as it may, there is no doubt that these lads are of fine stature. They

strip well, have stout limbs, and cigar eyes. They will prove worthy soldiers to keep qp the. old N.Z.E.F. tradition;,'Vv :

Soldiiers Enjoy Their Experiences The decipline is remarkably good, arid these men ard” willing>to do any job. Naturally the: good ‘trooping conditions and the fine Weather, which favoured the convoy fop-many days after the departure from New Zealand,- gave the men an excellent opportunity to settle down- arid learn the intricacies of the seven-deck vessels. It also put them in good humour, for, they are undoubtedly pleased with; .their experience of trooping. ■ ' ■ ? '; .; One boy frorii alight with the enjoyment he was getting from the trip, remarked: “I can’t believe that we are. so: lucky; , and to think that they- are paying us for doing this! ” , ' / - ; Another notable feature, of the men’s bearing, and one frofri.- which an old soldier cannot help gaining much satisfaction, is the little bad language heard .around the ship. This also may be due to the happy conditions and the entire absence of anything trying to’the men’s tempers which would cause them to be irritable. It is a pleasing feature, and I think it is largely due itb the better education and more self-respect and self-control—factors which will go a long way to making' these lads good soldiers. Conditions Favour Good Health Never before in the history of New Zealand trooping has the inner man been so well catered for. Seated in the fine saloons where people of fashion have been wont to enjoy the expensive foods with which the companies running dhese ; floating palaces have built reputalddsSsor a service-fit for miliionaireVthesdboys from New Zealand enjqy j plain, wholesome. food, and plenty pf it. There is no lack of variety in the menu. : ' .

One day. the breakfast table carries porridge, grilled steak, boiled potatoes, bread, butter, jam, '£pffee, and tea. Another day the. main course is sfried sausages, grilled kidneys and bacon \wtb Jried tomatoes, yet another, fried. o£ boiled fish, and on Sundays the. inevitable bacon and eggs. Each mehu is backed with practically unlimited bread, butter; and jam. The midday meal is .a hot ?:one, and on the card is soup, corned beef, preserved meats, rabbit and bacon pie, and roast pork, with various vegetables and sweets, such as apple fritters and custard, fruit'. jellies, stewe'd fruit' and .blancmange,.; and * plum pudding.

Hot-ipbt ‘‘ Tea at 5 p.m. sees the ' tables loaded with such good food as cold lamb and mutton, grilled chops, Belgian sausage—which, of course, is only a camouflage for German 'sausage—cottage pie, hot-pot—a mystery concoction, but very tasty, and a favourite with the mess—cold corned beef, stewed rabbit—all accompanied by sauces and pickles and salads and vegetables. To top off are scones, rock cakes, sultana buns, plain cake, sweet scones, and bread and butter. These are things that have appeared in a week’s menus, and they show that good fare is the lot of the soldiers. Black-out Accepted Cheerfully

One of the trying parts of trooping is the darkened ship. There is no smoking on deck after dark, and the greatest care has to be taken to screen all lights. So well are the men carrying out this important regulation that only once has a ship been called up by the escorting warships for showing a light, and that happened' the first night out from Wellington when the company had not shaken down properly to ship routine.

Last of all, the luxury that will prove of immense benefit as the weather grows hotter is the large, deep swimming bath, beautifully tiled and continually filled with ’fresh salt water A second smaller bath is on the forward well deck. Soldiers of the old transports, ‘who travelled the tropical seas, cramped for deck space, sweating in the horse decks—the modern army is spared the horrors of horses at would they have given for a fine swimrhing bath, continually filled and refilled with, the cooling Abaters through which the ship ploughed, but in Which they could hot bathe their tired and overheated bodies? Stout Young New Zealanders

These' boys have the luxury, and they enjoy it to the full, but it should not be thought that they, are not ready for the stern duties before them. They are the salt of our country—keen, intelligent soldiers, as yet untrained in the canning' arts of war, but with the strength of body and determination of. soul, to become good soldiers that ensjure that when the fateful day comes to go "over the top*’ they will' do their bit. , ■ ■ , /

You can look for good things, from this young New Zealand army. Their only fear is. like that of the old soldier, that they will be kept on garrison duty, or that the war will end before they are fit' to take their place alongside the trained armies of the Allies. The old soldiers can pray that the war will end soon, for we need these boys in New Zealand. They will build a splendid race, but until the job before them is done they do not want to go home —and, believe me, they will do the job as well, and perhaps even better, than the boys of the old brigade.