CHRISTMAS SPIRIT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25429, 10 January 1944, Page 2

CHRISTMAS SPIRIT

TROOPS IN THE PACIFIC FITTING CELEBRATIONS (N.Z.E.F. Official War Correspondent) SOUTH PACIFIC, Jan. 2. Wherever they were stationed in the Pacific Islands the New Zealand troops celebrated the Incoming New Year and the normal cheer of the Christmas-New Year week with all the festivity which could be expected in the circumstances. Achieving remarkable results through improvisation, the soldiers treated themselves to a fete of concerts, aquaplaning, boat races, swimming, diving, horse racing, singing, pictures, and eating, too. The concerts were provided by the Kiwi Concert Party, which has been touring the forward areas in recent months. Thrills of Aquaplaning Wherever suitable stretches of calm sea were available the thrilling sport of aquaplaning,- behind landing craft formerly used for the invasion, and now kept busy maintaining communications, attracted the attention of scores of enthusiasts. Native canoes and boats captured from the Japanese and anything that would float were' brought into racing trim for the occasion and though the times recorded scarcely compared with Henley regatta standards, yet the spirit of competition. and the dourness of the struggles left little to be desired. Horse racing, of course, was confined to the imitative operation of dummy horses, dependent for their speed-on the fateful casting of dicr, though in the base camp reinforcem . t and staff personnel turned on a full-scale meeting much like those held when the whole division was further soutn. Near the base, too, hospital units and clubhouse organisers went in for decorative effects, band music, 1 and dances that fittingly celebrated Christmas Eve and the greeting of the first moments of the New Year.

United States supply officers saw to it that the New Zealand and American troops lacked as little as possible in the way of festive fare, turkey, steamed puddings, nuts, and chocolates figuring on the menus. Supplemented with Christmas parcels the men had received from home and through the National Patriotic Fund Board the foodstuff supplies were adequate to cope with the emergencies of the season. New Year’s Day Races Sick and wounded men of the Third Division back from the front line enjoyed a New Year’s Day race meeting together with the personnel of base emits. “Rancid," by “Butter out of Tin,” was a popular winner; " Willie Win,” by “Horse out of Breath,” which followed “ Rancid ” home m the fifth and last race of the day, ran true to breeding,' as did most of the 32 horses gathered from various owners throughout the district. The staff of the convalescent depot, running “Relief,” by “Leg Out of Plaster,” produced a horse which covered four furlongs in a little over one minute. The most successful jockey was a former apprentice to H. and A. Cutts’s Riccarton stable, E. J. Pinn, with two wins. L. M. Pell, brother of the Auckland rider, S. Pell, took one race, as did C. L. Goulsbro, who has raced with success at many New Zealand meetings. The fifth event, for which the totalisator was open, was for local riders. The totalisator figures were a little more than 7000dol.