Dated 13th November 1941 67511 Bell R N Campsite Training Depot Maori Unit Middle East Forces 2nd N.Z.E.F Mrs W Searancke Hill Street Te Kuiti North Island New Zealand Dear Gug, How are you sis, I hope you & the family are in the best of health. Hows Bill doing still on the Railway. Well tell him to stick to it, dont be a fool to come over to this God forsaken place. Its a beggar of a place & I'd sooner be back in good old N.Z. Give my love to Billy, Diddy & Sonny. I suppose they are quite grown up now for it seems years since I've last seen them. I was very pleased to hear from you & you have to excuse me for not answering sooner. We do not have much time to ourselves. We are up at daybreak and by the time we knock off its dark. We have no lights just now so you can understand the position. I am Unit runner this week & every other night I'm going till ten. There is not much to do tonight in the Orderly Room so I decided to drop you a few lines. We had a busy day today as we had to shift to a new area. Bunty & I had a bit of a circus pitching our tent. Mac & the rest of the boys in our tent were on fatigue so Bunt & I had to do our stuff. We got it half up when a gust of wind came along & blew our good work down again. There was some choice language flying around before we finally set it up. Us poor Maori boys are now camped way back in the desert but we can take it. I celebrated Richards birthday out on the range trying to cut the balls but I only kicked up alot of dust. We get leave here pretty often here & we often go into the city. It's a very big place & we have seen only parts of it. One dark night Mac & I just about got lost & believe me we had the wind up wandering about in them dark streets. There are lots of sights to see and one of these days we will do the rounds & look them over. The weather is getting very cold at night & now we have to wear our battle - dress on leave The other night one of the officers came in & started asking us where we came from. When I told him I was from Te Kuiti he said I must know his wife Nancy Spraggs. (Sprangs) I told him I did & we had a long chat together. His name is Barrett & a very decent chap. He is a hard shot & he has the boys in fits when he's talking. They are all decent chaps and give us a fair spin. The other night I met Heck Forbes, remember the break-water hotel keeper at the Naafi & we had a few bottles for the occasion. I have not met Achi yet, but one of these days I may run into him. We have had a few air raid alarms but so far they have not come our way. Well Gug I have been at this for about an hour & I doubt if I can fill the page but I will do my best. There is not much to tell you yet. I will write later on when I've been about more. We are all well and waiting for the day when this business is over & we can come back & see you all again. I miss my potatoe here as they dont seem to have any yet. The foods not bad but could be better. I must close now with Arohanui to you & the family. The best of luck to you all Nicky.