DASH TO SAFETY

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 86, Issue 65, 18 March 1942, Page 3

DASH TO SAFETY

NEW ZEALAND PARTY GRIM DESERT STORY (NZ.E.F. Official News Service.) ; Cairo. March 14. Surrender —or take tne chance, tile 1 chance of a dash of 300 miles on foot I actoss the wastes oi the Libyan! •esert. Four Nev. Zealanders iook : .iiat chance and won through to, safety after 11 days an I 12 nights crowded with danger and excitement. I . hasc:i by German tanks ana spotted I ay aeropianes, the New Zealander.-, hil by day in caves. For hours they | .ay pressed close to the sand. Mostly I they moved by night. Once they took J i?iuge in a cemetery. Theirs is a story oi sustained course, endurance, and resource the j aqua! ol which has seldom been told. ■ iney ate Sergeant i. Vv. Gill, oi | Lower Hutt; corp . it S. Koa, ot Wai-j Kato; Drivers A. Biacxourn and j. McKinnon, oi the Aucxianu district. Ad, with the exception ol McKinnon, i are veterans ot Greece and the first I labyan campaign. Giii won the* U. in the lust Lioyan campaign.! c.ul oil oy a large enemy torce outside 1 Benghazi, eig.’.t -sew witn } a lieutenant anti a coi . ora. ol .> V. January 2b math L open desert, i It was either that or capture. Lari ? i next morning came the nisi of many adventures. Daylight snowed that' German artillery was cause al ham.. I in a matter oi minutes iour ol the party, including me two vvelsnmen. | were captureo. Luck savoured inc I otners, wno wcie hiding oehm.J. snruos, w hen la Germans walked past. I aarely tnree leei away, mere Inci Aew Zealanders stayed until tne eariy I afternoon, wnen an Arao woman i chanced tneir way. From her Gin.’ wno, iiavdig been almost lb months ! in tne deseii, speaks fluent Arabic,! learned tnat Britisn troops were not • far away. ‘‘May every tooth in my I head fad out it i lie,' she said in the! flowery Arao tongue. ‘‘out tney 1 British.” ■Enemy Sighted. Careful scrutiny proved her lo be mistaken —German troops on Britisn] trucks. Hastily me m>- Zealanders; withdrew ana uegan again men long . truoge lor freedom, mat afternoon, having sighted otner enemy iorcc> i some miles away, tne resourceful ser-j geant ana hi* three companions; rounaed up a numoer of canieis. vvn..! the ungainly oeasts as cover, tne, party made all .>peed irom aangei ■ .xext day they came upon a nuuvv, cemetery, wnere laey hid until nigmlall, w nen it was sure to continue. | German transport trucks passed close, | otherwise the night was unevenlitu.j At aayoreak the parly pressed on into tne mils and luuiid reiuge in caves,! where tney slept sounmy tor the iirst ) lime. mat mg nt tney pressed on* again, groping aaa ;wuw. ...u o ior nouiv acros* me utcert until nailed oy iuui armed senussi trioesmen, nomads o. j me desert. Oi tne Aev. Z-eaiandeisj the sergeant was me only man arnica. I His revolver would nave oecn o. iittiel use. it was a tense until ] me sergeant explained mat the party : faxed " j V iMon** of I ood. At tins stage uic Aew Zealandcisi did not iacr\ w uiei. r hey uraiix I deeply irom roc., noilows into wnicni rain nad lalien some time beiore. ’ Three days ia ter—three days oJ brougnt lae no/, gravely t.reu and' footsore puny to a once miiiJieu recognisea oy me sergeant. Not once througnout ihe v. noic woo nines wa> the compass roup reading oi the sergl was exhausted a.« i only naa a boim oi waler remained. in tne wuius oi one oi them, “oui sloinacns groai.c.l lur oyMeis, beer, and juicy witn hau an men o. ■ lovely aul arounu it. n was that sori! of tmng we yim ; ioi. ihe man., taint'd aoout .‘.nut we womu eat if v»u g i . menu, ror mi ce uays we naa nai. only nah a sties oi cnocoiaic en. a imagine our leeiings wnen at this* post we found a le.. liius oi ouuy beei] ana some . t A e ■ ■ : bully anu army biscuits. ’ As 111* womU na.e it, even this scanty meal . . .. .. - iiym o dermaa aciopiaiK> spoiler them and iney dived ior cover, isoon German soldiers arrived in irucas am. began a w id< Zealanders. Bui /r luck iield, an..with oncoming n * . i.ie parly move;, back tile way in . i come to make plans afresh* Nothing Eit»e I or It. Tins time n .s , i > foi a point nere > A said th at ■ for it, ma mic.a :.s the jittn band trudged soi an< weary man ever oeiore. they naa no' blankets —miy way it was 100 cold to! sleep al n. 6 ,it. biLveis went down' their spincx when soon enemy tanu. ' were seen heamng m their direction.! - - heels—as quic—.v as then tired limos would allow, 'me danger past, they held on their course acuin. 'fna'l night they noticed troops camped ; two hours' truuge away. Were tney frienas or io- .- t •watched. At dawn, after a carelui examination, it was agreed that the troops were British, anil with ail speeu the party pressed on, to be welcomed warmly oy an advanced unit of the South Aii ican forces. Theirs was a right royal welcome. Everything possioie was done lor them, ana soon the Nev. Zealandeis were al headquarters, where they gave very valuable information o\ enemy dispositions and strength. Later, the party returned lo its own unit and was given a week’s special leave in Cairo.