FROM MESOPOTAMIA.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume II, Issue 593, 4 January 1916, Page 8

FROM MESOPOTAMIA.

A UNIQUE CHRISTMAS CARD. Something unique in the .way of a Christmas card was received today by a Christchurch friend of Lieutenant J. W. 11. Scotland, the young New Zealand aviator, who is at present serving with the Royal Flying Corps, attached to the Indian Expeditionary Force in Mesopotamia. The production of the card —which is really a lillle booklethas obviously been the work chiefly of amateurs, but is nevertheless a very neat job. On the front page is depicted a trim British soldier in topee and shorts, while on the back is the coat of arms of the I.E.F. The escutcheon of the force is eloquent of the minor troubles met with by the soldiers in the Euphrates Valley. An alligator, a round dozen of fleas, a tortoise, and several insects of different kinds are the proud emblems of the force, while the "supporters" are two palm trees, from one of which depends a thermometer with the mercury at 130dcg. The card contains a verse, bul it is by no means the work of a professional poet, and halts badly in places. However, it expresses a healthy sentiment. Hut now it's getting somewhat cold; Now we think of friends of old, And hope that when this reaches you Huns and wars are finished too.