CONDITIONS IN NEW ZEALAND

Southland Times, Issue 24593, 15 November 1941, Page 8

CONDITIONS IN NEW ZEALAND

IMPRESSIONS OF SOLDIER IN MIDDLE EAST i ] Three impressions gathered by a New Zealand soldier serving in the Middle East are contained in a letter receive:*, by Mr J. M. McDiarmid, Makarewa, from his son Corporal R. McDiarmid of the 6th Field Ambulance Division, Middle East. “In New Zealand there are still strikes and arguments over wages and working conditions. It seems deplorable at a time like this that such petty selfishness should still exist when it requires the maximum effort and sacrifice on the part of those at home as well as those here to ensure final victory in this war,” states Corporal McDiarmid. His second impression is on appeals against military service. He says: “The number of appeals against military service is scarcely calculated to leave us with much pride or confidence in those whom we expected to follow us over here.” “There are innumerable arguments concerning the expenditure of patriotic funds and the despatch of patriotic parcels,” he says. “We ourselves have given up worrying about the matter long ago, but it is still difficult to reconcile the benefits we receive with the large sums which have been collected in New Zealand for patriotic purposes. It seems as though there is something in a remark I recently heard: ‘There’s nothing like a few bombs to make people realize there’s a war on’.”