VETERANS IN EGYPT

Otago Witness, Issue 3413, 13 August 1919, Page 15

VETERANS IN EGYPT

A BITTER COMPLAINT. MEN IRRITATED BY ENFORCED STAY. Mir H. E. Holland, M.P., has received a letter dated Ismalia, Egypt, May 6, and written on behalf of sonio of the "veterans" of the 1914-15 drafts. The writer says: ""When we left New Zealand we contracted to faithfully serve for the duration of the European war. That contract we have carried 6ut to the letter, and have cheerfully borne the hardships of Gallipoli, the deserts of Sinai, and, worst of all, the reeking Jordan Valley, in the hope of a victorious termination of hostilities, when we expected to reap our little share of pleasure by return to those dearest to ua. The Minister of .Defence has ladled out ' soft soap' to no end for a considerable time past, and has assured our mothers and fatiicrs and other relatives and friends that wo were to bo the very first men to leave for homo after the cessation of hostilities. The armistice has now been signed for six months, and, despite Sir James Allen's assurances that the first men to leave iNew Zealand would) be the first sent home, the very opposite has occurred. May I trace the events hero since the armistice was signed? -NO CONSIDERATION," "An ' aSair ' happened at Richou (Palestine) wherein the nruridier ol one of our New Zealand boys fay the Bedoums was fully avenged. This was loiiowed by an address by General Auenby, in which he uttered some unccunplimeniary senumenie. Tins was in December. We were then een.t to Raza, where we stayed for three months, completing the handing in <A horses and equipment m preparation for demobilisation. While at Raza several ships left, tor New Zealand, carrying (and rightiy so, too) sick men andl men of low medical condition The last ship that iett nere with a full load was the Kuikoura, on or about March 7, carrying a sinali draft of 1914-15 men and) a largo number of boarded men. The former consisted of non-commissioaied ohicsre up to and including the rank of corporal and troopers up to the 7th Reinforcement. Sergeants were absolutely debarred from going. Though a sergeant was a Main Body man, he was not allowed to go, but was penalised beoaufts he had proved hnnseJ andl had risen up cue ladder. The boarded men included many late men, from the 30 ih Rer nuor-cement up, many of whom were as fit as possible,' thsy having been boarded simply because liiery were m the base and the authorities wanted to. make up a shipload. These so-called unfit men were a striking contrast to some of the "fit' men we have seen passed by the doctor at the base and) sent up to the firing line to undergo the hardships of campaigning; but, being boys of the old school, they battled on uncomplainingly. MEN LONG SUFFERING. "About the end of March, as you know, trouble broke out with the natives in Egypt, and at onoa the Now /.eaiandsra were rushed down from Raza to Egypt, «ud reiesusd with horses and equipment on a. war footing once more. Very good; we still didn't complain, as we were told that shipping was ecarce, and no boat would be tailing tor New Zealand for a week or two. Unlortunately, the vroubie developed, and demobilisation for ail troops was cancelled indefinitely. The War Office at once made it known to the British troops that they would, if in Egypt on May 1, be entitled to army of occupation pay dating back from February 1. This pay, I may tell you, has already been paid to ' Tommies.' No extra pay was offered to New Zealanders, although we are doing the army of occupation work. When this came abcut the 1914-15 men at the base heldl an indignation meeting, discussed' the situation, and decided to approach General Chaytor on various matters. The next day General Chaytor arrived at the base, ind addressed the men, after their grievances had been placed before him. Speaking on demobilisation, he said but few words, and did not enlighten us a scrap. To the request for army of occupation pay he said he had no authority to grant it, as it was purely a matter for the New Zealand Government to decide. Several other matters were brought before him, including a canteen scandal, of which I understand you have already been fully informed. GOVERNMENT "CRIMSON: RIBBON." "To a certain extent the general's presence soothed our anger, as we believe he is doing all he possibly can for us, but apparently his hands are securely tied with the crimson ribbon of our Government. Abcut this time it was made known officially that leave for England would be granted to 10 per cent, of the N.Z.E.F. in Egypt on certain conditions attached. We had heard weeks previously, from reliable sources, that the leave was an accomplished fact, but for some reason was not made known to the troops. One proviso was that we had to sign a certificate agreeing to forgo all pay for the time our leave extended over the day we would have been discharged if not on leave. General Chaytor told us that was not orders, and was quite wrong, but so far our certificates have not been returned to ua, so apparently they still hold goodl. Also about this time large numbers- of applications for discharge in the United Kingdom were being granted, many of the recipients being men who have not been in Egypt six months. The applications for leave on the 10 per cent, basis were made on March 27, and, although six weeks have elapsed, practically none have been granted. I know of four—three of them men of the 32nd Reinforcement and over. Last week a draft of 95 other ranks and five officers left for England; practically the whole of these were old .soldiers, and were going for discharge. Many of them had/ been to England during the war, which fact debarred them from applying for the 10 per cent, leave; but on the eve of their departure they were politely told that they oould take their leave in lieu of discharge (presumably to be part of the 10 per cent, quota), getting 28 days' leave on full pay with no proviso about loss of pay, etc. This was rather a knock to those who had waited for weeks for their leave to come through, seeing that these men could gel, theirs at short notice. However, they being mostly old hands who had done their bit, very little dissatisfaction was shown to them. A BOMBSHELL. "Yesterday a veritable bombshell was launched upon us when a further list of men for embarkation to England; for discharge was made known. Of the 11 names from the Wellington Regiment, which was the total going fromi this unit/ only one was an early reinforcement —a Samoan man. The other men's numbers ranged from 50,000 odd to 70,000 odd, the total of the 11 numbers aggregating 710,000 odd, including the 19,000 of the Samoan man. Some of these men had. not been in Egypt six months; some of them have not been out of the base camp, and certainly some of them have never done a 3 much as a dog watch with their reinforcements. It was bad enough to see these men going away for discharge while the 1914-15 men were still tolerating the desert life and patrolling villages, etc.; but to further aggravate our already ' strained) feelings these men. were invited to accept leave instead of

discharge, several availing themselves of the opportunity. Presumably those are the men who are counting in the 10 per cent, leave. Again, those men are not asked to sign the less-of-pay certificate. "The object of this letter is in the hope that you will give these grievances ventilation in Parliament and the press, so that we may have some redress of the most unscrupulous treatment wo have been subjected to." The writer then proceeds- to say: "I am a working man. I enlisted wiih the Main Body, in 1914, and have served continuously ever since with but one brief spell in hospital and another since the armistice. Others here have even a better record for continuous service. Anything I have written in this let* ter I am willing to repeat after I am discharged, before my officer, on oath, and carl get men to prove these statements. . . , I assure you that this is not written off wif own bat; the sentiments herein are alei> those of every other 1914-15 man in this oamp, most of whom have read 1 this lette* and fully endorse it."