GIFT PARCELS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 6, Issue 57, 19 March 1943, Page 5

GIFT PARCELS

SOME USEFUL HINTS DETAILS OF DELIVERY From a bulletin received recently from the National Patriotic Fund Board, the secretary of the Zone 'K' Committee, Mr C. G. Lucas, has handed us the following for publication:— A report received from Colonel Waite indicates that he and his staff managed to arrange for the distribution of a quarterly gift parcel issue shortly before the New Zealand troops moved up as part of the Eighth Army to attack the Axis Forces at El Alamein and remove the threat ot Egypt. This issue comprised nearly 4000 cases of gift parcels. 11 cases of gifts for naval personnel and 64 cases of cigarettcs. Colonel Waite reports that 16 cases of the gift parcels arrived in a broken and pillaged condition and that also three casos of cigarettes AA f ere> pillaged. It AA r as a race against time to get the parcels from the port to the NeAV Zealand Division, which was about to move, and because of this mtich of the loading and re-loading had to be done at night. It took 55 fifteen hundred-weight trucks to get the parcels to the eight different areas the Division Avas holding just behind, the Alamein front. "The parcels are very greatly appreciated," says Colonel Waite referring to the gift issues generally. "Greater care should be exercised in putting the correct number on the case. Obviously most units in the line will not complain if. they get too many parcels, neither will they return any if they get too many; but Ave ahvays hear about it if there are parcels short. The packing and Aviring of Uie cases is now A 7 efry good. The parcels packed in cartons are easily the best. As Ave send many parcels through the Army Post Office and the R.A.F. Post Office, these are generally used. The strongly wrapped brown r paper parcels are also quite satisfactory. But the parcels Avrapped in newspaper are very often broken before they are taken out of the cases. Several cases of parcels returned to us from one unit were falling to pieces. "I realise," Colonel Waite adds, "that conditions in NeAV Zealand, are not uniform ' and that difficulties are encountered in getting the parcels packed, assembled, ancL dispatched, but. it is better that you should know the reason Avliy there arc. com-i plaints."