Cover franked with 9d New Zealand stamp (1940), tied with RANGATAUA 24.FE.41, blue AIR MAIL / PAR AVION label, censored, with violet circular PASSED BY CENSOR 32, addressed to 25th Rifle Bataillon / Middle East Forces / 3rd Echelon, located inHelwan Camp, Egypt, R & Sup

It concerns the New Zealand 25th (Wellington) Infantry Battalion of the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force. The battalion formed part of the 6th New Zealand Infantry Brigade and had departed with the Third Echelon in August 1940. The designation “25th Rifle Battalion” appears to have been an unofficial or postal rendering of its formal title, “25 Battalion.”
During February 1941, the battalion was based at Helwan Camp in Egypt, south of Cairo. The 6th Brigade had moved there from Maadi Camp on 12 December 1940. The official history places Helwan Camp approximately ten miles south of Maadi, near the town of Helwan and the RAF airfield.
The battalion remained there throughout February, carrying out training and exercises in the surrounding area:
On 6 February, it attended an exercise in mine-laying and the use of Bangalore torpedoes.
On 12 February, it conducted a night landing exercise using pontoon rafts.
On 21 and 22 February, it took part in a 6th Brigade command and staff exercise.
The battalion left Helwan at 10:30 a.m. on 6 March 1941, bound for Amiriya, near Alexandria, as the first stage of its deployment to Greece.