Title: Medical Units of 2 NZEF in Middle East and Italy

Author: McKinney, J. B.

Publication details: Historical Publications Branch, 1952, Wellington

Part of: The Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–1945

This text is the subject of: ‘Something of Them Is Here Recorded’: Official History in New Zealand

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Field Hygiene Section

In Tripoli the Field Hygiene Section had a great deal of work to do. Restaurants, barbers' shops, and billets all had to be inspected. Water and sewerage services had been damaged by bombing, and this added to the difficulties as water had to be brought into the town from outlying wells and tested before use. The language barrier was troublesome at first, the Italian municipal authorities being unco-operative, and blocked drains had to be traced without their assistance. But soon sanitation was under control. The unit continued to run its Italian mobile shower acquired at Tobruk, and hundreds of troops each day enjoyed the luxury of a hot shower.