KIWIS AT WAR

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26176, 12 June 1946, Page 2

KIWIS AT WAR

TWO PLEASING NARRATIVES

Diamond Tiails of Italy, by Martin Uren. Illustrated (Collins). Away from Home, by Joyce Macdonald. Illustrated (Presbyterian Bookroom, Christchurch); 10s. Mr Uren was early in the running with his first book of personal experiences of a New Zearander at war. His “Kiwi Saga” was timely, but it was also a competent piece of work, and the sequel, “Diamond Trails of Italy ” will be welcomed by many. The story commences with the author's experiences in New Zealand during his furlough and his impressions at the time are frank and to the point. It is interesting to get a soldier’s reactions to an incident that provoked much comment and dissension at the time. Returning to Egypt, Mr Uren was soon on his way back to the Division, which was resting at the rear after its great struggle at Cassino. Then he follows his unit northwards to Faenza, the “diamond trails” of the title referring to the road signs which marked the passage of the 2nd N.Z.E.F through many battlefields. His narrative is very personal and is comprised chiefly of extracts from his diary. The impressions are always vivid. There is little attempt at * writing-up ” an event, but this has the merit of preserving the freshness and reality of the account. The temptation to embark on historical digressions _is succumbed to only once or twice, but for these interesting sources have been drawn upon. Most vivid is the sense of comradeship that was developed among the men of the unit. In its modest way, the book really does convey something of what the war was like and how the men reacted to its trials and humours. Almost too informal is “Away from Home,” the story of a nursing sister in the Middle East. The material for it is taken largely from diaries and letters and it has the vices as well as the virtues that go with such a method of compilation. Transiently popular phrases and esoteric unit slang appear rather too frequently in these pages and, while to some extent they help to create the atmosphere, they tend to become irritating to the general reader. However, it is - very interesting to receive this account of the activities of the 2nd N.Z.E.F. from this point of view. The brighter side of hospital life as well as its tragedies are dealt with, and the author is loud in her praises for the courage and cheerfulness with which her patients—-and they included members of most of the Allied forces, white and coloured —endured their misfortunes. The descriptions of life in Egypt and in Italy are all the more vivid for their informality.

“All night long the convoys went by to Cassino and we shuddered under the blankets as we heard the repeated efforts in endeavouring to coax the wheels as they skidded In the thick mud and slush of the narrow street. It is in such passages that the author will recall almost too vividly to those who were there the feelings of such times, and by those who were not something of the emotion must be felt also. D. G. B.