WELL FED

Wairarapa Times-Age, 18 November 1941, Page 6

WELL FED

OUR ARMY IN THE DESERT BRITISH ARMY RATION SCALE. EVERY EFFORT TO SUPPLY VITAMINS. (Official War Correspondent, N.Z.E.F.) A DESERT CAMP, October 11. If good food makes a contented man, the New Zealanders now in the desert have good reason to be well contented. They are on a good ration scale designed to conform with modern dietetic principles while at the same time appealing to the voracious appetite of the average soldier. It is no easy problem to feed so large an army in the Middle East, but a study of the men reveals that much careful thought and attention has been devoted to so important an item.

The British army ration scale now in force in the Western Desert is as goed a scale as I have seen anywhere, including the modern camps at home in New Zealand. Every effort is made to supply , the vitamins the men need, and where the fresh foods cannot be obtained tinned substitutes are made available. The wide variety of wholesome and palatable foods now bought in tins makes it possible to provide the soldiers with menus that do not appear with a monotonous regularity. COOKS WELL TAUGHT. It is not sufficient merely to provide the food to make the men fit through good nourishment. It has to be cooked, and the cooks can either destroy much that is good in the food or they can make the most of the rations. At the base cookery school through which all

r our army cooks must pass, army methods are taught, and graduates of j this school certainly excel in the art P of making a little go a long way. The a school is under the jurisdiction of the t N.Z. Army Service Corps, and it is in their interests that they make ample' 1 provision that the best use is made of the rations they supply. It is a long accepted fact that it is . the privilege of the soldier to grum--3 ble. Army food is perhaps one of the _ favourite topics chosen by soldiers when they do a grumble, but every 1 where one goes in the N.Z.E.F. in the □ desert one is informed that the food is . good and that the meals are enjoyable. _ While good food is being provided s much credit belongs to our cooks. They , work long hours and have to provide meals under all sorts of conditions. Off ten circumstances necessitate the use 3 of makeshift stoves or burners, fre--3 quently the meats have to be cooked 3 in dust storms lasting two or three . days. Nearly always the cooks are equal to the occasion and the meals ? appear as though there were no diffi--3 culties. j TEST IN GREECE & CRETE. > Many tales are tola of heroic devo- . tion to duty by cooks in Greece and . ‘ Crete, who worked persistently in spite ; I of dive-bombers and other forms of at- • tack. That is the real test of a cook —■ to feed his men whatever the circum- . stances, and in this regard our cooks have given a good account of them- 1 ■ selves. Many of them were not cooks • in peace time. A wise policy directing the estab- ■ lishment of unit and sub-unit canteens has made it possible for the men to purchase extras for their meals out of their own canteen profits. Nearly every unit or sub-unit has its own canteen where almost anything from boot polish to chocolate slabs may be purchased. The men run these canteens themselves for themselves and profits go to regimental funds. In most units, ( however, an amount is set aside each - week for the purchase of extras for the mess. It is from these canteens, too, that the men in the desert are able to continue their daily beer, to most a necessity in the dusty deseptf That the men are well nourished is reflected in the good health that distinguishes our troops. Of course they are living a healthy life and most have ample opportunity of sea-bathing. This high standard of health is reflected in the relatively small numbers requiring medical treatment. There are certain ailments it is impossible to avoid in the desert but the incidence of these diseases has been reduced to a minimum through the diligence of the medical corps personnel who have the men well educated in self reliance. The men strive their utmost to avoid illness lest they incur’ what they regard as the penalty of returning to base. Our thousands of men in the desert now are as healthy a body of men as could be found anywhere in the world. They are enjoying a standard of living rarely if ever before enjoyed by soldiers, and they have reached that stage as soldiers that they appreciate the necessity of keeping themselves fighting fit. Those who were in the western desert last year learried much from British regulars who have been here for some years, and they have passed on that knowledge to those who are in the desert for the first time. Their folks at home may rest assured that the boys of the N.Z.E.F. are literally fighting fit and well able to perform creditably whatever may be asked of them in physical endurance.