CHRISTMAS DAY IN THE DESERT

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 84, Issue 296, 17 December 1940, Page 9

CHRISTMAS DAY IN THE DESERT

N.Z. TROOPS WILL FARE WELL TWO USEFUL SUBSIDIES (From the Official War Correspondent with the N.Z.E.F. in the Middle East.) CAIRO, Dec. 12. In 50 mess halls and tents from the Nile Valley to the Western Desert, soldiers of the N.Z.E.F. will sit down on December 25 to Christmas dinners which in richness and abundance will hardly be surpassed in their own homes. Quartermasters and cooks have already planned dishes and placed orders for the good things Christmas calls for among Britishers everywhere. They have been given wide scope as the result of two useful cash subsidies—one of Is 6d a head from the National Patriotic Fund and the other of Is, which was increased to Is 6'd, for troops in the field from the rebate fund derived from canteen profits. These sums will go a long way in the purchase of foodstuffs produced locally.

An illustration of what can be done with subsidised rations is given by the following specimen menus for dinner and tea, compiled at headquarters as a guide to units:

Dinner.—Creamed tomato soup, roast turkey and pork with apple sauce and stuffing, green peas, cauliflower with white sauce. roast potatoes. Christmas pudding with brandy sauce, nuts, cigarettes, fruit and beer. Tea.—Cold meats and salad, cake, mince pies and fruit salad. Units have been left to plan their own menus, and enthusiastic cooks have many surprises in store. One battalion has kept true to New Zealand tradition by obtaining New Zealand lamb. Most of the units intend to decorate the messrooms for the occasion. Officers will dine with the men in many cases, while in at least one unit officers and n.c.o.’s will wait

on the men. Everything possible is being done towards the celebration of Christmas in the manner in which the troops have been accustomed. Even in the desert the dinner will be no less sumptuous than in the more comfortable surroundings of the base camp and hospitals. Gift parcels of puddings, cakes and sweets from New Zealand will probably be distributed on Boxing Day.