PATRIOTIC WORK BY CROQUET CLUBS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 84, Issue 244, 16 October 1940, Page 8

PATRIOTIC WORK BY CROQUET CLUBS

■ PARCELS SENT TO SOLDIERS APPRECIATIVE LETTERS RECEIVED Ever since the outbreak of war , members of the combined croquet . clubs in Wanganui have been wora- . mg energetically lor patriotic purposes. Even though the season lor croquet is here again ana although members are playing, they are still - keeping their war reiici wura well m ■ mind. Outdoor sport is the one solace for heavy hearts and a relaxation from indoor work. Members are en- ■ gaged in patriotic work and one of their activities is that of providing and sending parcels to soldiers overseas. That their efforts are greatly ' appreciated is evident by letters received from both privates and officers on active service m Egypt. Lettei’j were read at croquet club openings ’ last week by the association president, Mrs. Len Bassett. The following are extracts from two letters addressed to Mrs. A. Crawford, immediate past president, and combined clubs, and contain some m- ' teresting details of the conditions under which the troops are living, their daily food, and a little advice to L friends and relatives of what not to send in parcels:— EGYPT, Sept. 22. “The parcels arrived this (Sunday) . morning, and I am taking the oppor- . tunity to thank you and your friends very, very much indeed for their contents and for your trouble in sending them. You will probably think it strange that a mere Aucklander ! should receive a. Wanganui parcel, but, . as a matter of fact, my company (the Auckland city boys) have all originated in Wanganui, North-Otago and Dargaville. ’ “Apparently they have been issued pro rata, as each officer, men, and private has received one—it's the best Sunday we’ve had for week’s particularly as we had a somewhat disturbed night last night, and prior to the arrival of the parcels were feeling ' somewhat terse through loss of sleep. I don't know how to repay you, but will endeavour to do so by describing ' briefly our conditions out here in the Western Desert and a little (all the censorship will permit) of what we ’ are doing. As you may know, wc left Maadi at the beginning of the month for this benighted desert —Maadi is now the base camp, and we will not see it again for many a day, unless we pass through as casualties, or, better still, return to good old New Zealand. “The Western Desert itself is a dusty, stony, scrubby hole, with nothing to break the monotony but the ' very blue (and very salty) Mediter- . ranean in the distance. If any of . your members ever wish to reduce their weight (I used to do it myself in the rowing seasons), I’d advise them to come and live here for a ; while! We are all very brown, thin and wiry, but, at the same time, very fit and aching to have a “crack” at the oncoming “Eyeties.” They’ve bombed, and are bombing, us at night just enough to disturb us, and to make us long for the day when we do meet them on the ground. “Bombing itself, to a disciplined force (as we are by now), has a moral, more than a physical, effect, yet we realise how terrible it must be to the women and children in England. We’d like to meet the Germans one day, too! “As far as food goes, we are well treated, and officers and men eat the same ration. With reference to this, if any of your friends intend sending parcels to their relations, I can’t advise them what to send, but I can advise them what not to send—marmalade, bully beef, beans, herrings in tomato sauce and meat loaf—this latter tastes like corned horseflesh! “I never knew there was so much marmalade in the world before, and I tiever want to spe the stuff ever again! We used to like herrings in tomato sauce in New Zealand, also baked beans (with or without pork), but not now. As for margarine—it tastes like one of the more refined , types of cart grease! We never see ' butter, although in Maadi we used to ' be issued with Australian butter ; (never New Zealand) and an alleged “butter” from India that almost put , the margarine to shame. “Beef is the main (almost the sole) r meat issue—l’ll stick to lamb and , pork after the war! Joking apart, the meals are quite good, although ' most army cooks murder good food. ' The one thing we lack is fresh fruit I and green vegetables. Of the former, . we get limes only, and I make our quartermaster-sergeant turn theminto a beverage, which is much appreci- ; ated. As for green vegetables—all we’ve had in the vegetable line for the last three weeks has been pota- . toes and vegetable marrow. That re- ’ minds me, there is one thing your friends might send, and that is mar- , mite, if the recipient has acquired the taste for it. A medical friend of mine ' informs me that it supplies the necessary vitamins, or proteins (or whatever the deuce they are) contained in green vegetables. “I seem to have been ranting for . some time on the subject of food, but the old adage, ‘Feed the brute,’ still holds good! We now appreciate the ’ meals we used to have at home, when we took them for granted and only ' moaned when they were unpunctual! Must hurry along—work to do—no 1 forty-hour week here! The boys of 1 this First Echelon have behaved them- ’ selves particularly well, whether in Cairo or Alexandria on leave or en- ’ gaged in hard physical work any- ' where in this hot, fly-infested, disease- - riddled country. ■ “They have enhanced the reputa- ’ tion of their predecessors of 1915 and I can assure you that the womenfolk of New Zealand have no need to worry about the morals of their sons, brothers and husbands here, as was the case during the last war—that taught everybody a lesson on Egypt that has ‘stuck.’ “Once more, many thanks on behalf of my company for your kindness and

for your wishes—we’ll win this war all right.” EGYPT, Sept. 23. “Kindly convey my sincerest and grateful thanks to the presidents and members of the Wanganui combined croquet clubs for the parcel which I received to-day. It arrived in good order and as I write this I am indulging once more in a good old Enzed cigarette. There is an atmosphere of Christmas around the lines to-day.,As

r each man receives his parcel, his face is -wreathed in smiles of anticipation and then breaks into an exclamation 1 it would do your heart good to see. 1 Some have received parcels from 1 people they know, others from people t unknown to them personally, but all 1 are so grateful. As one lad said to • me: ‘Well, I have received my parcel, j le*t the Italians come again to-night and for the duration, wez will beat 5 1 them. Our womenfolk haven't for- 1

gotten us in the desert here, and that’s who we are fighting for.’ You good people in Wanganui can rest assured that the lads are doing their stuff out here, and will one day in the near future come marching victorious across the bridge in Wanganui and up the Avenue, and then into the homes of their good people. Until that day I will bid you ‘saeeda’ and once again thank jou.— 1 Trooper