Soldiers in the Octopus house

Invincible Strangers 26 Chapter 12.2

Soldier’s life in Sāmoa was an improvement on the Western Front. They complained anyway.

‘The weather had broken in September and for days the rain fell in torrential downpour,’ wrote one soldier. ‘The rivers rose and the low-lying flats on which the racecourse camp was situated became a sea of mud, which added to the discomfort of the already harassed guards and picquets and swamped the tents and surroundings. With no bunks to keep the men off the soaking ground, the poor quality of the food, the pests and ever-present mosquito, which here abounded, the detachments for return to New Zealand daily grew in numbers.’