POOR, IGNORANT COUNTRY LADS

Waikato Times, Volume 126, Issue 21039, 15 February 1940, Page 6

POOR, IGNORANT COUNTRY LADS

It is fortunate that the “poor, ignorant country lads” who comprise the New Zealand and Australian Expeditionary Forces, and indeed all the Allied forces, have a sense of humour, otherwise they would have missed the point of a gem of Nazi propaganda published by the German newspaper Localanzeiger. Referring to the arrival of the troops in Egypt the paper says : “It is as well that the New Zealand soldiers are, as it were, just poor country lads who do not know what it is all about; otherwise the whole Continent would be rocked with laughter. . . . Their bones will bleach in the desert and moulder in the steppes and bogs.” In spite of the reservation, perhaps the Continent will rock with laughter after all. Again fortunately, New Zealand and Australia do not imagine that they can play anything like a decisive part in the defeat of the Nazis. Despite their ignorance they are content to form a modest part of the armies of the Allies. Perhaps they will prove capable in this co-operative effort of causing the Continent to laugh, and will thank Goebbels for the inspiration. However, Mr Eden is apparently “not bothering himself about where these New Zealanders are going. Certainly it would not be easy to invent a grislier joke than Mr Eden’s speech to the New Zealanders. That is what England’s fight for the freedom of oppressed peoples looks like—a grimace of arrogance and conceit.” Really, the New Zealand Expeditionary Force owes a debt of gratitude to the Localanzeiger, which has supplied the men with material for hilarity for months to come. The article should be reprinted and distributed to every man in the force. It will be read by every potential recruit in New Zealand, and may become almost a classic. It will help to give New Zealand a properly adjusted perspective. The grimace of arrogance and conceit will lose its serious characteristics and broaden into a howl of irrepressible joy when the news reaches Egypt. It will be a powerful stimulant to the men as they toil in the desert, the steppes and the bog.