CONVIVIAL REUNION

Chronicle (Levin), 23 June 1947, Page 4

CONVIVIAL REUNION

Levin R.S A. Holds Annual Function If attendance is any criterion of the popula-rity of .a function, afid it undoubtedly is, then the Levin R.S.A.'s ^nnual reunion is certainly 'th'e event 'o'f if 's year^s activIties.. It was held on Saturday night- in the Regent Hall and upwardS1 of 300. retutned servi.cemen Mten'ded, among tliem.m^mbers .bf . the Shannon- and Otaki RS-A.'s. ,r Repres'entatives of the South African Veterans' Associa-ti-oh, and' L/evin branch of the Homeseryicemen'^s ASSdciatiqn were also present by Mvitation. . The cMef guest. bf thfe ewening' was Majpr-Gener-al Kippen^erger, whose outstandin'g rqcot'd of Ser1yice and -Ihsplri'ng leadership With the '2nd s N.Z.HF. ; Wofi hitti . high admira'tion throilghout the British CommCnw'eafth. He was fast week el'ected 'Dominion viee-president, and was attendinig his first fupction in that capa-city. TaMes had been attractiveiy set out in the hall and were laden with those -saVour^es which are an essential part of a smoko. The new. president, Mr. N. M. Thomson, was in the -chak and with him af the head table were Maijor-General ■Kappenberger, Messr-s. R, B. Burdekln ' (d-istrict vice-president of the •N.Z.RS.A.') , L. W. Alien !{yice-presi-dent O'f Letdfi . RS.A.i) , E. Hogg (president of Levin Sbuth African Veterans' Association) , .R. Fowler (vice-president of Levin branch o'f the Homeseryicemen's Assdciation), H. J. Lancaster, E. R. Winkter and Drs. S. J. Thompson and L. J. Hunter. * . The time passe'd pleasantly with the hono'uring of a toast list afid pfesentatio'n of items, while stand -'easies gave those present an opportunity for reftiiniscin'g.e Th'e.evening opened with the loyal toast, honoured with the singing of the Nati'onal An'them. The chairman t-hen extended a welcome to all present, particularly 'General Hippenberger. He specialiy welcomed those Kiwis who wefe attendin'g their first reunion since returning from overseas, and expr'essed the hope that their association with the R.S.A. would be a happy one and that they and their wives would help in the vast field of wdrk which lay open for ■the association. Mr. Thomson also voiced pleasure at the attendance of the dis'trict vice-president of the N.Z.RiS.A., Mr. Burdekin, and the South African War veterans and homeservicemen. "The N.^.R.S.A." The toast -of "The N.Z.R.S.A,'" Was abiy proposed by the 'chairman. Mr. Thomson said that, in ccmpany with Mr. Allen, he had jus-t returned from attending the Dominion ■ eonference of the R.S.A., and it had giveh him • a full realisation of the very fine wcrk which the r'S.A; did. He would quote jus-t one example of this. A case had ccme to the n'otice of the eonference where a New Zealander serving under the Britdsh command had been deprived of an honourable discharge, and who f elt he hadbeen unj'ustly treated. His own -efforts to ob'tain an honoumble discharge had failed. The eonference had decided, although the soldier •was not a member -of the association, to take his case to the highest court in the British Empire, the King, who was patron of the association. "We are in a most privileged position tonight in having with us General Kippenberger, who was this week elected to the high ofi!ce fo Dominion vice-president," continued Mr, Thomson. "He -is the first man from World War II to occu.py one of the senior offices in the association. We are the first branch he has visited sinc^ his election, and we heartily congi'a'tulate him on it. General Kippenberger has risen very high indeed, not only in the Army, which was his hobhy, and the R.S.A., which is his hobby, bu't rn the minds and estima'tion of us all." Greeted wi'th sustai-ned applause and cheering when he rose to reply, 'General Kippenherger thanked "the gathering for the warmth of its welcome and acknowle'dged the honour and responsibility which was his in 'being elected Dominion vice-presi-d'en't. He went on to say that it was a matter of pride and satisfactfon to him that in W'orld War: I he had served as a private, rising to the tank cf sergeant. He had a yery high admiration for the Sergeant. In the last war he 'had served 'throughou't as a -sen'icr officer, -and he Was gla'd that he had, been in the ranks beoaUSe it had gi'ven hhfi an appreciation of what the men there felt. He had just spen't four - Strenu- ' ous d:ays at the Dominion confer- . ence, continued -General Kipp'en-: berger, and he had been trerrien-5 dously impressed by the high ■standard bf debatiug and discUssion. The mofst important thing had been the decisions in tegard to the Catnteen and paftrio'tic f unds of £4,000,00Q, Which had been ! id'le for the past two years. It was| -now likely that these tfunds would j be properly administered and usedj for the benefit Qf servicemen.| There ha-d also ' been valnable! decisfpns -on hou'sing, reh'aMlitation! and land settlenient. 1 Then the quCstion of the associa-1 tio'nu j'oumal, the Review, hadi been discuSsed, said General SSp-1 penberger. It was not yet perfect, but the association was doing its best to make at lively and anterestdng, and i-n that way keep thei members together. The association! now had a memfoership of 136,000.j If it could keep its «trengthit would then be able to -obtain a fair de'all for .servicemen. -It was -up .to everyl returned serviceman to take a ireal®'

and lively interest in the association. Other Toasts The toast of "Fallen Comrades". was in the capable hands df Mr. Lancaster. He referred to th'e contribution to the causb of peace made by those who had paid the supreme sacrifice, gnd to the torch, which had been handed to their Surviving comrades to see that war did not occur again. Then, at the. eall of the chairman, the largegathering stood in reveren't silence for several minutes in memory of fallen comrades. . The other toasts honoured were: '"The . South African Veterans' Association, Homeservicemen 's As-; sociation and members cf neigh-, bouring R.S.A.'s.; proposed by Mr., Winkler and responded to -by. Messrs. Hogg (S.A.V.A.), Fowler (H.S.A.), V. J. Bafeman (Bhanhon R.S.A.) and J. McLeod /Otaki R.S.A.) ; "The Maori Battalion," proposed, by .Mr. C. E. Wiseley; and "The Pfess and -Entertainers," proposed by Mr. L. W. Allen and responded to by Mr. Bert. Pizzey. "At the conclusion of the toast list '^upper was served. Diiring the evening entertaining, items were rendered by iMessrs.' Bert. and Jack Pizzey, of Palmerston North. Mr. G. R. Lestfet con-' tributed cornet solos, accompanied at the piano by Mr. H. L. Jenkins. An orchestra comprising Messrs. H. Plimmer (piano), W. Glarkj (drums) and R. Holman csaxa^-' phone) rendered several numbers which were appreciated.