SUMPTIOUS REPAST

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 7, Issue 99, 15 August 1944, Page 5

SUMPTIOUS REPAST

WELCOME HOME TO BOYS

WAIMANA DOES THE HONOURS

"We hope to give just such an

evening as this to all our boys

returning from; service l overseas" v said) Mr R. F. Wardlaw, the chairman at the combined 1 Waimana Patriotic Committee welcome home dinner and 1 social held last Thursday evening. "We extend our warmest congratulations to our guests tonight and also to their families on having them home again," acMed l Mr Wardlaw, "and we hope ft will not be long before • all of our boys are back again permanently." The gathering which was attended ■by well over one hundred local residents, was once again remarkable for that warm spirit, of sociability and friendliness for which the Waimana community is so. well known. From beginning to end there was a joviality and fellowship which must ■ have made the gathering memorable from every point of view. Visitors - and entertainers from Whakatane -and Opotiki were loud in their praise of the lavisliness of Waimana hospitality, and paid a glowing tribute to the magnificent work of the ladies, who had catered for the repast which Avas second to none. Mr J. L. Burnett fulfilled in excellent style the duties of toastmaster, and kept the large cojnpany in high good humour throughout. Responding to the toast to the 'Guests • of the. Evening' Pte S. McConnell was in happy vein when he said that he tried not to think of the starving Russians, as he / looked at the wonderful spread before him.' It was obvious that Waimana still knows how to do these things in style. The toast, to the 'Fighting Services' was in the able hands of R. Fleming, who said that he thought New Zealand could claim that individually her fighting men were second to none. I'n. the Navy too sons of the Dominion were making a name for thenpelves as seamen of "the highest order, while wherever the flag flew there were members of ' the Royal Air Force who claimed the Dominion as the:ir birthplace.. New Zealand he understood had provided more airmen pro rata to her . population than any other part of the Empire. The speaker included In his remarks the, 'unsung heroes' •of the Mercantile Marine and also the Women's Auxiliary, Services. Flying Officer C. R. White, D.F.C. who-responded said that as • a member of the most junior of the fighting services, he felt diffident • about the honour allotted to him. He could say that New Zealanders in all the services Avere playing a part. in the war which would long be remembered. EveryAvhere they were very Avell known and very well "liked and in most cases Avere enjoying themselves. New Zealand had a large percentage of her young men overseas, but he thought the largo majority of them would not avisll it -otherwise, though he could assure -the gathering that they Avere all looking fonvard to coming home - agaiyn. Mr Woolfield gave eloquent praise to the 'Maori Battalion' in the toast yto that famous unit. To them, he considered NeAV Zealand oAved a special debt of gratitude. They Avere • acknowledged among the finest fighters in, the British army, and had Avon fame and glory on many battlefields.. "We certainly had some, tough times, but. also some good times" said Pte Ross Pakira in response. All the Avork of the Maori Battalion » however was done Avith the support of other units, and he thought these should be remembered also. He paid a tribute to the Patriotic Committees throughout the country for forwarding so regularly their celebrated parcels and comforts. The toast to the 'Nursing Sisters' was handle.d by Mr Heather, who •sa'id that these Avere a class of NeAV Zealanders of Avhom Ave could all afford to be very proud. Their wonderful work in the interests of the sick and Avoundecl Avas acknoAVledged by every man Avho returned. From personal experience he could say that nothing Avas too much for the Nursing Sisters to do for a wounded man. Mr John Black, though responding added still further praise: to the remarks of the proposer. The nurses he had known had ahvays carried -out their work with a smile. He added that the toughest patients ol all were the Maoris, who had simply refused to stay in bed. He instanced several cases which broke the gathering up and concluded by thanking the proposer for his remarks. "From the men of tbe Ist N.Z.E.F. came the splendid fighting qualities -of the neAV generation which composed the 2nd N.Z.E.F:" declared Mr H. A. WardlaAV in the toast to the 'Ist N.Z.E.F.' He Avent on to say that though the deeds of the "•Diggers' in the last Avar were apt to be forgotten in the face of. the (Continued in next column)

new fame, won by the 'Kiwis' of the present one, it was undoubtedly the first N.Z.E.F. which had given the Dominion her first fighting fame. Mr C. N. White made a splendid reply, tracing the progress of the Empire from the beginning of the present century when she appeared to be unassailable either on sea or on land, to the first, world war when she was challenged by Imperial Germany. Perhaps we were a little arrogant and self-complacent in those years, he said but when Russia went down and the French army began to waver, 'it was the. levening of the British might which bolstered up the Allied morale and made it possible to attain final victory. He mentioned the years following immediately on the great war, when England was full of starry-eyed and idealists. Pacifism spread with startling rapddity, and it was such an England which had to face up to the bullying Hitler youth of Germany—trained to kill and to oppose. The toast to 'Fallen Comrades' was honoured in silence on the call of Mr C. Curham. Other toasts were 'The Ladies' Mrs J. L. Burnett and Mrs C. Wylde; 'The Artists' Mr A. McDonald and Messrs E. Armstrong and Mr H. S. Holmes; 'The Press Mr J. Leather and Messrs W. R. Payne and C. Kingsley-Smith; 'The Chairman' Pte S. McConnell and R. F. Wardlaw. Much appreciated items given during the, evening were: Solos, Mr H. S. Holmes There's a Land' and 'For England'; Elocutionary, Mrs E. Armstrong 'Cockney version of Red Riding Hood' and 'Billie'; Solos, Miss B. Kelly 'My Prayer for You' and 'Keep on Hopin': Solos, Mr Geo. Cattan 'Albert and the Lion' and 'Per Tuppence Per Person. Per Trip' and 'Noah's Ark'; Solo, Miss Jean Armstrong 'Purty Girl Milking Her Cow.'