GERMAN TRICKERY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24914, 13 May 1942, Page 4

GERMAN TRICKERY

EFFORT TO WIN SYMPATHY PROPAGANDA AFTER BATTLE “ The Germans fight as long as they can and when they have to surrender they continue the fight by means of propaganda. They say in effect: You are good fellows and we are good fellows so why should we be fighting one another? ’ The result is that spme of our men come back with the idea that the Huns are not bad fellows after all,” said Lieutenant-colonel J. R. Page, DS O in the course of an interview at Invercargill. During his career as a soldier in the Middle East Lieuten-ant-colonel Page had an opportunity of studying both the Italians and the Germans, not only as soldiers, but also at hosts (of a sort), for he was a prisoner of war first in the hands of the Germans and then of the Italians. Lieutenant-colonel Page was wounded during the Libyan campaign just before the relief of Tobruk. In one of those swift changes of fortune for which the campaign was noted, the dressing station, where he was, was captured by a r ;rman patrol which later handed its prisoners over to an Italian unit. Then after nine or ten days of captivity the prisoners were recaptured by a unit of the British Army. Mutual Distrust The Germans. Lieutenant-colonel Page said, were good fighters and at least one Italian unit put up a good show. It was made up of Northern Italians, who were a considerably different breed of men from the Southern Italians. When he was asked if the Germans despised the Italians, Lieu-tenant-colonel Page replied: “ Well, the feeling is mutual. The Italians despise the Germans just as much. both nations distrust each other.” • Lieutenant-colonel Page has no very high opinion of Egypt, either as a place for living in or for fighting in. “The weather begins to get very hot in May,” he said. “You cannot be sure that there will be no fighting in the desert during - the hot months, but if there is fighting it means driving the men to the limit. The hot weather continues until September. The most suitable time of the year for fighting is from October to March. But you are liable to get sandstorms at any time of the year. In the winter they are cold and horrible, and in the summer they are hot and horrible.” In spite of the trying climate the health of the New Zealanders in Egypt and Libya had been very good. This was largely dtie to the close co-opera-tion between the hygienic and medical services and the'officers and men. The result was that diseases like dysentry and typhoid had been reduced to a minimum. He was sure, however, that the New Zealanders would be very pleased with the change to Syria. High Standard of Hospital! Lieutenant-colonel Page spoke highly of the standard of the New Zealand hospitals in Egypt. Oqe could not get better -treatment anywhere. “ I would like to pay a tribute to the hospital orderlies, men of the New Zealand Medical Corps,” he said. “ You hear a lot of the work of the doctors and nurses and they are doing a fine job, but a word of praise is due to the orderlies, who do a great deal of the hard and dirty work about a hospital and are seldom mentioned.” Lieutenant-colonel Page is still on the convalescent list, and so his future activities are uncertain. At present he is staying with his parents, Mr and Mrs J. Page, Invercargill.