BLINDED SERVICEMEN

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Issue 8, 31 July 1945, Page 2

BLINDED SERVICEMEN

ARRANGEMENTS FOR CARE NEAV HOME AT AUCKLAND Among the most desirable and worth-while tasks of rehabilitation, although one which is fortunately confined to a limited is that of caring for the men of this war who have been blinded as a result of their service says a statement issued by the Rehabilitation Department. This humane work was in the aftermath of the lust war carried out by the New Zealand Institute for the Blind. However, to deal with this war's blinded men, a special Blinded Servicemen's Trust has been set up, composed of representatives, of the. New Zealand Red Cross Society the Order of St. John of Jerusalem the Institute for the Plind, St. Dun.stan's Home for War Blinded Sailors, Soldiers and Airmen (England), the New Zealand Commercial Travellers'' and Warehousemen's Association and. three representatives nominated by the Government. The last named are Messrs F. Hackett MP. Walter Newall Wellington, and M. Simmonds, Assistant District Rehabilitation OU'icer at Auckland. * It is planned to house blinded exservicemen from all parts of New Zealand at the home which will soon be ready to receive them at Maungakiekie One Tree Hill ? Auckland. S'itfuated as. it is on a promentory in an Auckland Park this home will •J be ideal from the point of view of health and convenience. Before the war it was the pavilion of the Maungakiekie Golf Club } and was later extensively altered and converted 'into a convalescent home for United States troops in the Auckland district. It was however '» 5 never used as such owing to the sudden move forward in the Pacific, and once again the carpenters have been at work. This time the workers were exv-servicemen trainees from the Auckland Carpentry Training Centre, and their job was to prepare. ft home for their le&s fort inate comrades in arms who had lost their sight in the battles, of World War 11. Braille reading rooms, study rooms and rooms for recreation are among the planned facilities. It is also planned at Maungakiekie to continue the teaching of braille and touch-typing which has until now been carried out at Fairview Home and latterly at the Evelyn Firth Reel Cross also at Auckland, to which the men have recently been temporarily transferred. Lieutenant James May, himself a blinded soldier of the North African compaigns; 5 has been appointed director of the new home ? and he is at present on a tour of the Dominion exploring the probable needs and contacting blinded men in different parts of the country.

There are at the moment just over 30 blinded servicemen of this war recorded by the Rehabilitation Department but this figure is expected to increase. There are also whose sight has been partially impaired. These may find the handicap too great in their normal occupations. and decide that a period of training and recuperation in the home might prove very beneficial. The teaching of braille and typing enables blinded men both to read and to carry on their correspondence. In th'is respect similarly handicapped men of the last Avar had often the advantage of being sent direct from France to St. Duns tan's in England, where their braille training was commenced. However, a few of this Avar's bonded men learnt braille Avliile prisoners of war in Germany, though most of them have had to start from scratch. Certain occupations have been proved suitable for blinded men if they have the aptitude for them. There are for instance piano tunf ' ing and. massage work. In the former case, however, a very small percentage of men Avith all their faculties can combine a pre-service musical education Avith an aptitude! for piano tuning, and their lies the ■difficulty. In the case of massage Avork the main stumbling block is lack of training facilities. Nevertheless the Trust is going into the whole question of A'ocations for the blind realising that an indivisual interest is the most important phase] of any training* 1