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Private J. D. Caves: The Long Journey Home

Excerpt from official history of New Zealand in the second World War

Excerpt from official history of New Zealand in the second World War

Mid-April 6 Brigade arrived at Zabboud camp in the Bekaa valley. From Zabboud, B Company of 24 Battalion moved out to camp at Hotham, twelve miles to the north-west, to dig and occupy defensive positions.

While B Company of 24 Battalion dug defensive positions under camouflage nets on the summit of a 6000-foot mountain at Hotham, the new Brigade Commander Brigadier Clifton made a practice of inspecting the works through powerful field glasses from the summit of a neighbouring hill. On those occasions when he could see nothing going on, he would complain of the lack of activity; to which reply was made that his inability to see any work in progress, far from being cause for complaint, merely proved that the camouflage was effective. While searching for some variety of diet, the company commander's cook had succeeded in tapping a supply of oysters. From these he made excellent fritters. One day the Brigadier arrived at lunchtime and, having partaken, made a practice thereafter of timing his visits for the same hour and requesting that oyster fritters be supplied for the meal.

Meanwhile, whichever company happened to be at Zabboud carried out training of the most enterprising kind. Long treks into the mountains with pack mules were the order of the day. Made either by companies or platoons, always fully self-contained, these long marches usually lasted two or three days. Towards the end of May a brigade marching competition was held, one company from each of the three battalions being competitors. The route lay from Zabboud up a long steep climb to Hotham, thence to Wadi Fara, down into the valley again, and so back to Zabboud-a total distance of about 35 miles. Full-scale equipment was carried on mules, two to a section, supplied by the Royal Indian Army Service Corps.

The competing companies set out at half-hour intervals, B Company, representing the 24th, being the last to start. The 25th Battalion put up the fastest time, but had lost many men and mules en route and was considered to have arrived back in a state unfit for action. The 26th arrived almost without loss, but its time was very much slower. Striking a happy medium between these two performances, with the loss of only two mules, 24 Battalion was adjudged the winner, with 117 points as against 115 for the runner-up.