FURLOUGH MEN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25457, 11 February 1944, Page 2

FURLOUGH MEN

SCENES ON ARRIVAL STORIES OF FIGHTING IN ITALY (P.AJ WELLINGTON, Feb. 10. After a fast and uneventful trip from the Middle East the balance of the furlough draft of the first three echelons arrived back recently. The contingent was not as large as the previous one, and included chiefly single men who have had up to four years’ service in the Middle East. Among them were officers withdrawn from the Italian battlefront shortly before they sailed. The draft also included members of the New Zealand Army Nursing Service and New Zealand naval and air personnel who have come home on leave.

By the time the former luxury liner had berthed the crowd of relatives and friends had grown to very large dimensions, and as the soldiers found their little family groups there were scenes of enthusiastic and emotional

A full list of the names of the Otago, Southland, and South Canterbury men who returned will be found on page 4.

tttiimittumnntttitiittttinttitttttttutntn welcome. Soldiers belonging to Wellington were the first to come off, the others disembarking afterwards in geographical groups. The official reception was short and to the point. With the Prime Minister, Mr P. Fraser, were the Minister of Defence, Mr F. Jones, the Minister of Rehabilitation, Mr C. F. Skinner, and the Native Minister, Mr E. T. Tirikatene, the Mayor, the chairman of the JHarbour Board, and the vice-president of the New Zealand R.S.A. The officer in charge of the men was Colonel R. W. Harding, who comes from North Auckland. He said how glad the men were to be back after their long period of service. The Official Welcome “The Government was very pleased that it had been able to make arrangements for another draft of officers, men, and nurses who have seen lengthy service to come back on furlough,” said Mr Fraser. “ I hope the members of the draft, who have so well earned a respite from active campaigning, will enjoy their stay in New Zealand, and that when their leave period comes to an end they will be thoroughly refreshed and ready to play whatever part may be allotted to them in the future course of the war. “ Consistent with the announced conditions of their furlough leave, members of the draft are being granted full pay and allowances, together with a free pass on the railways during the furlough period. In the case of married men, including those who marry during their furlough, the railway pass will include their wives. “ Everything possible is being done to enable members of the draft to return to their families and friends as quickly as possible,” Mr Fraser concluded. “We realise that this is the wish of all members of the party, and in making arrangements the Government has had widespread co-operation. I can assure the returning nurses and servicemen, including the naval and air personnel, that they will receive a warm welcome throughout the Dominion. The Army Department has made an arrangement for an announcement to be made in the local newspapers of the approximate times of arrival of the men at their destination.” Hard Fighting in Italy Colonel Harding, who was among the senior officers who returned from the Italian front shortly before embarkation for New Zealand, spoke of the hard fighting that had taken place and was still taking place. The New Zealand Division, he said, had been doing some hard fighting in the rain, mud, and cold, but when he left the men were just as cheerful as ever. They had some of the best German divisions up against them, including paratroops and panzer grenadiers, and the fighting had not been easy. The Germans were very well equipped and contested every inch of the way. Another senior officer confirmed the fact that the going was heavy in Italy. One lieutenant-colonel said the conditions now reported to be prevailing in the battle for Cassino, which was being fiercely fought, could well be applied to Orsogna, where the New Zealanders had fought. This officer incidentally wore an Arabic figure of eight on the top of his African Star, signifying that he was a member of the famous Eighth Army. This particular decoration, he said, was awarded to those who took part in the push from El Alamein.

The men state that Orsogna was comparable with the closing stages of the battle in France in 1918. In his counter-attack the enemy threw in all he could, including tanks and flamethrowers, but the New Zealanders were ready and determined. The German assault got all it asked for, as the guns pumped shell after shell into the panzers and massed infantry. Pervasive Italian Mud The men talk much of the mud. “ I have seldom seen mud like it,” re- j marked an officer who fought in it, slept in it, and practically lived in it for a couple cf months. It,was a greyish mud that engulfed everything in the way of heavy material thpt went into it. The three-tonners simply lay down in it and -refused to move, and even light staff cars bogged down without any trouble. It w,as a major problem that had to be overcome, and they did it with mules. The mule came into its own. The teams were tended by volunteer Italian soldiers. “ Our chaps soon got over the indignity of being nursemaids to mules, and in time turned out first-class muleteers with a well-developed bullock driver’s accent,” said the officer. “This slow and difficult method of campaigning in the cold ar.d drizzle after years in the hot desert sun showed how hardy the New Zealanders are. They are doing a grand job.”