RECREATION FOR TROOPS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 05, Issue 78, 15 July 1942, Page 6

RECREATION FOR TROOPS

ALL INTERESTS COVERED GAMP WELFARE WORK Gone arc the days when the soU dicr was left to find his own amusements when off duty, the days when surreptitious drinking and gambling were the chief relaxations of the rank and file, particularly in isolated camps and stations. Such games as crown and anchor and two-up find little or no support to-day. Provision of recreational and sporting facilities has now a definite place in Army organisation, and in one of New Zealand's largest camps, which, by its distance from organised communities, is a town in itself, the full time position of Camp Welfare Officer, carrying commissioned rank, has been created. This pioneer appointment has proved so successful that the system which is a considerable extension of the parttime position of Unit Sports Officer, is likely to be extended to all our large camps. The soldier of 1912 has a large variety of sports interests, and in the camp whose activities arc reviewed in this article, he is given a better range than would be easily available in civilian life, for apart from team sports such as football and hockey provision is made for individual interests like golf and bowls, and indoor pastimes ranging from billiards, badminton, table tennis and quoits to gymnasium sports such as boxing, wrestling and fenc',*«(g. The large modern gymnasium is also fitted with up-to-date training equipment. Twenty-five Rugby, twelve soccer and sixteen hocke\ r teams are playing in inter-unit contents; in the camp every week-end, and from the national and provincial headliners available in these arc chosen representative teams to play outside the Camp. Parties of bowlers and golfare are always welcomed at greens and links in the adjacent area, where towns also provide periodical sports meetings for the Camp's, field athletes. * Holidays to some of the Dominion's finest scenic resorts, just once in a lifetime dreams to most civilians, are-readily available at a reasonable cost to the troops in this camp, and eveiy week-end parties go to the Chateau, Lake Taupo, Wairakei and Rbtorua. With free travelling for furlough, and quarter rate rail fares for other leave, a soldier can go to any place in New {Zealand from this Camp at a small cost when he gets his regular long leave breaks. The Camp Welfare Officer is continally in touch with outside sports and social organisations, so that a varied programme of amusement, is provided both inside and outside the camp. Regular dances, with partners provided from the nearest townships, are organised by units in the camp, and at week-ends the troops are catered for with a lumber of dances in outside centres, where, also, the Camp Concert Par I j- reciprocates every now and then with a show lor patriotic purposes or a local charity. Camp welfare activities also include liaison with the National Patriotic Fund for the provision of a wide range of .sports and recreatioual gear. Tlu: latter i> hou.-ed in the Institutes conducted in the Camp by the Church Army. Y.M.C.A.Catholic Hut. n;n] Salvation Army, Everyman's Organisation conducts two huts from its own resources, without recourse to patriotic funds. Billiards, snooker and table tennis all have large followings, and tables are never vacant during the evening hours. Games which are not nearly as popular among civilians' as they once were are experiencing a revival in Camp, and draught boards j and chess boards are in demand. Different armies have different tastes, for whereas darts are a prime favourite with the English troops, who carry their outfits everywhere with them, here the game appears to have few devotees. The New Zealand soldier finds room in his kit for a pack of cards or a draught board instead. Taslvs in cards np-

pear to have changed also, and tlic touglier games of 11)14-18 are largely out of favour. Soldier tastes in entertainment have changed in other Avays, and in the camp under reA'ieAV this is marked by the support giA-en to the two picture shows and the librai-3*. With three changes a week, and shows seven days a Avcek, the cinemas are ahvays packed, and the House Full sign is not uncommon. Why soldiers in camp dcA r elop the picture habit— hitherto regarded as a feminine one • —is difficult to say. Perhaps the price, sixpence, has something to do with it. Several thousand books in the lilx rary controlled by the Y.M.G.A. are ahvays in circulation, and the range provided covers every interest. Volumes not on the shelves can lie obn tained through the Country Library Service on lean, and through this channel any volume available to a subscriber to any Public Library can be had by a soldier in camp. The provision of such a wide variety *of recreation for troops pays a dividend in military efficiency by making the men more contented and cutting doAvn the numbers ab~ sent Avithout leaA 7 e. The administration of discipline is also made easier, for when Satan finds AA r ork for idle ! hands among troops left to fill in their own leisure hours, he generally puts them on an overtime basis. A wide selection of off-duty interests, specially catered for by the Army itself, has removed many of the problems which were o.')Cc the bane of commanding officers.