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Girls In North Africa
One young lady, whose home is in Mount
Airy, gives an interesting account of some
of her experiences anil what she has seen
since she left this country.
WE ARE grateful to Mr. W. B.
Partridge, Sr., of Mount Airy,
for passing on to us two letters
which he has received recently from
his daughter, Miss Mary Elizabeth
Partridge, who is stationed somewhere
in North Africa. She is with the Red
Cross Hospital Units as physical edu¬
cational director for disabled soldiers,
and she left the United States three or
four months ago.
Miss Partridge is a graduate of
W.C.U.N.C., majoring in physical
education. She also taught this sub¬
ject in the Durham City Schools for
four years and is well known in other
sections of the state. Perhaps some of
her friends would like to write her,
so here's her address:
Mary Elizabeth Partridge, 31406
American Red Cross,
2nd Convalescent Hospital,
APO 3-Y-l, Postmaster,
New York City.
And now for Miss Partridge’s let¬
ters:
Somewhere in North Africa,
Decemlter 4, 1043.
My dear Family,
This is indeed a strange country,
fascinating in many respects, de¬
prived of modern conveniences; yet
typical of Biblical pictures you have
seen many times. There are sections
which are filthy, then spots unsur¬
passed in scenic beauty. So much is
country-side, fertile lands, orange
trees bearing fruit, thousands of bur¬
ros, small beasts -of burden, carrying
heavy packs with a picturesque figure
astride.
We are living in an army camp at
the present time, comfortable to a
certain extent in that we have running
water, good food, and a comfortable
place to sleep — that is, if you can call
chicken-coop wire stretched across
boards with a grass mattress the es¬
sence of comfort. The nights arc ex¬
tremely .cold, with all the clothes you
can manage on the body, two blankets
above and two underneath. Sometimes
we don’t bother to undress. ... We eat
out of mess kits, always dipped in
boiling water before using; then,
scrubbed in outdoor pails three medi¬
ums — one soap, two rinses of clear wa¬
ter afterwards.
Plenty of Rain
When it rains, it pours and every¬
one gets wringing wet. Some of the
kids have dreadful colds, but so far I
have been healthy and even managed
to keep myself and clothes dry. We
really have a swell group and few
complaints.
We get to go to town, sometimes
sight-seeing, load into trucks like sar¬
dines and at a designated time return
to camp. There is something new to
bo seen each visit. Quite an amazing
variety of people, all nationalities,
many languages spoken. I have mas¬
tered quite a few expressions, enough
to be understood.
So far I haven’t worked — you will
probably be confused with the many
addresses you have received. Please
use the APO-534 and disregard the
others. \
If the people in Mt. Airy could
only see the long underwear! Long
Johns they are called in the army.
Believe me, we couldn't get along
without them, even though they are
made for men, and none too flattering
to women. They arc indispensable in
this part of the world.
Nice Trip Aboard Ship
We had a wonderful time cn route.
Each day we had boat drills. At no
time were we permitted to go without
our life preservers and canteens.
Twice a day we had running, fresh
water — turned on for two hours in
the early morning and one hour in
the afternoon. You can imagine many
using the same faucet and appreciate
the Army helmets issued. We wash our
faces, clothes and hair in them. And
then, we stay dirty to a great extent —
trying to save our uniforms, we wear
slacks.
And yet, here it is typical of home
in many respects. We have electric
lights and are not too conscious of
world conditions. It has been so long
since we have had any news of the
outside world. I can understand the
thrill we will experience when we do
receive mail.
J forgot to say that I proved a good
sailor — some did get sick.
We celebrated my birthday and
Thanksgiving on the High Seas. Tur¬
key and all the trimmings, served on
china plates, in the most elegant
fashion.
Please tell everyone hello, remem¬
ber that my letters are censored.
Write whenever you can.
Thinking of you,
Mary E. Partridge.
Somewhere in North Africa,
December 12, 1943.
Dearest Family,
After many miles of travel, T know
that you will be happy to learn that
I am well, comfortable, working, plan¬
ning a gay celebration whenever the
day comes that I receive a letter from
the States and wishing that I had
bought myself some Christmas pack¬
ages to open on the 25th.
Recently I have experienced days
when there wasn’t a spot to rest the
head, ate Army “C” rations, drank
water from my canteen, wasn’t out of
my clothes, sometimes wet to the skin,
without any heat available but man¬
aged to survive without even a sniffle,
much impressed with the beautifulcoun-
try we were seeing for the first time —
It is a strange combination, difficult
to describe, surely like nothing T have
ever seen. There were mountains not
quite as high as we have in North
Carolina which could be seen in the
background, quite green in color,
sometimes we passed fertile, cultivat¬
ed grounds, sometimes barren low
spots of sand and gravel. Many small
villas located on hills, strange grass
huts . . . from the windows we threw
candy and chewing gum to the small
children who ran out to greet us.
Sometimes when we stopped we bar¬
gained with the natives and they
offered us any amount of money for
cigarettes. Most of the time, we gave
them away or exchanged them for
other things. Each day I am learning
a few French, Italian, and Arabian
hrases — once or twice my Spanish
ackground came in very handy.
But if only you could gaze from my
window! You would be reminded of
