A READY RESPONSE

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2951, 11 December 1916, Page 6

A READY RESPONSE

TRENCH COMFORTS FOR SOLDIERS DRAFT FOR £3000 CABLED BY Y.M.C.A. HORRORS OF WINTER DESCRIBED A practical reply was made by iih'a National Committee of the Y.M.CjA.. on Saturday- forenoon to the caljloci summary of.Mr. Philip Gibhs's description .of • the- natural • hardships ■' and desperate adventures now being- experienced by the winter-stricken so'/di/jrs on the Western front. The reply ijras in the form of a cabled draft for £3'ooo to the' Commissioners of the YJAI.O.A. National Committee in London, the money being remitted out of the Tjreu'ch Comforts Fluid which is now the, subject of a public appeal; On receipt of such drafts tho Commissioners a'ct very promptly in purchasing comfo/Hs anil dispatching them to the W'Cste/.-n front. A graphic description of /the/ handing out of comforts to our New Zealand soldiers as they came brick from the trenches after participating f.n the "big push" has just been received by tho National Secretarv of trie Y.MCA (Mr. E. C. Brownell) fi/ofn one of the field secretaries with th/o.New Zealand Forces. Tho writer is jM?r. 'A'. W. Stuart, formerly of Auckland, and he arrived in France whep tho battle of the Somme was at its height..

Help for R/efatives.'"At the port of luWding," lie writes, "we were able to kds a ■ little of the great work that io>ar association is carrying on. .-One.very useful service is that rendered .ty> relatives visiting soldiers in ErencU 'hospitals. Visitors from England arc> imet at the boats by Y.M.O.A. officers,, entertained at the port of arrival,,' conveyed to their destination, by brought back to the.port, ai id placed on board their steamers free ,'c/f charge. This, however, is only a small branch of the great work." The -writer proceeds to describe the ?/lr )w iourney which he and a brother Y.7f..C.A. officer made to the' front, and -re.marks that he does not know what Hie troops would do at tho entraining ,'s/fcations if there wero no hutments tfa provide men with refreshments at riity hour of the day or nighU He adds •f.b'at many a story of broken' sleep and.long hours of service for the men could/he told, but the spirit of the workers ,<n s expressed by one Y.M.C.A.. secretary i s that they would, not change places wth any workers in all France.

"7/h(!se Days of Uncertainty.," Corfliu\g to the point .at .which they reached; tho Y.M.O.A. marquee at the rear ofytlio firing line, the writer says: "Chn -"you imagine our joy when wo arrive';! at railhead, and after a walk/ of three miles got to the marquee, wilier e Jim Hay (tho first Y.M.O.A. fi.elct' secretary to go from New Zea}kntt) -was. at. work among the boys. He.' was delighted to see us as he had liec:n working single-handed in France ;fo.v several months. We were just in [time, to attend a service conducted by Ciptain M'Lean. Jt was a very solemn meeting and the men entered into tho fj'pirit of it very honrtily. They isoem to be very impressionable in those days of reality when life is so' uncertain. There was k- fine spirit through tho ;servico that night; ! From the Jaws of Death. "The next day we learned that the, lads wero coming out of'the ■trenches in the afternoon, so wo determined to give them each a cup of tea as they passed our tent. Rain was falling steadily and the ground was a, sea of mud, but determination overcamo tho difficulties of wet wood, and soon wo i iS° c °PP er steaming in great style. Andthen came the men! I shall never forget the sight as they trudged in through the heavy slush. Some had lost their puttees and had actually' tied sacking round their logs; some were unrecognisable in their growth of heard; all were covered in mud from head to foot, hut ■there was not a growler among thorn. As they slowlv hied past in one long line we : handed each a packet of biscuits and a cup of steaming tea.. It would,havo done your heart good to., have hoard, their expressions of appreciation. 'Thank vou, Y.M. ' said one, 'that's the first hot drink i' ve had f or nT6 , , This , said another, 'more liko Kbme> .Better .than all the .'pubs,'" chimed

iit Limping and Laughing. „„} nM .frequent opportunity," proceeds the witer, %f speakin* to the men about their e ip l»° £ * e trenches, but they said very litt \l about the hardships. Some Umped on o lea feet, but they lathed and safd m P hi ! easi| y have been v! f'j T T?' r . doD » n ™t note was, 'But we made.Fritz run." I tell vou I flu proud to be with such oud • onr lT e^ eW Zealan d; proud that Ztt„ P s P- e ° Ma g«ously upheld, the honour of our Dominion. The next mornmg the Medical Corps oame in from the front line and we had tea rf d ,V .£«; thein. As they slopped up the hillthrough the slush we got the tea flowing, and for several hours nave them of our best. I think my ™ atest joy was to meet chums whom I had not seen for years. Some I had not spoken to since, our school days and most joyful was the reunion. I ■ blank I experienced something of the leeling 0 f the great Servant of All, WJio came not to be ministered to. but to minister to tho wants of men

Thanks from 'Headquarters. ~ " ,1 ! lla 1 fc rfternoon General Braithwaite thanked the Y.M.C.A. for the services rendered to his men as they camo from the trenches. Jim Hay is a perfect marvel, and is loved by' all the boys. lio nas niado a great name by his tboughtfulness in looking after their wants. Wo are looking forward to a big winter's work, and feel sure that wo will «have our hands full. J. must tell you that we havu each been attached to a brigade—Hay to the First, Hannah to the Third, and myself to tho Second. Wo are w move' with tho troops and carry on tho work among the men \ wherever they go. It was rather ah experience to shoulder one's pack and march off with the boys when we left tho Somme a few days ago. 1 felt proud to. be one of them. At present we are resting in a small French village, but in a day or two wo shall move on and settle down sevnewbere." Comforts in the Trenches. In a letter dated a few days earlier. Mr. James Hay wrote about the actual distribution of comforts .(without charge) .to men on duty in the trenches. "In my letter to you a day or, two ago," he says, "I mentioned that I was going up to the front to supervise tho distribution of some comforts to tho meii' in the trenches. With the assistance I invariably receive from Divisional Headquarters, a load of comforts, consisting of chocolate, cigarettes, cakes, and biscuits, was safely landed at a point just behind tho firing line, and by this time tho whole of this lot has been distributed. It so happened that yesterday was one of the most miserable days we have had for' months, raining hard all day and bitterly cold. With the never-ending stream of traffic, the roads soon became a quagmire, and. it is not difficult to imagine the conditions of the trenches. At times like this war can only be de-

scribec/ as Hell—pure and -unadulterated. ,1-iie tragedy of tho tiling is that littlo can bo done to mako tho lot of tho m/on a littlo brighter, and they musi simply grin and bear it—just what they aro doing, At a time like this a fevf comforts aro specially welcome, and 1 iind sufficient to cover five infantry battalions and other units. I also left agood supply of cakes, chocolate, and cigarettes at tho advanced dressing 'stations, and at these points luff gifts .'Were most welcome.

~ . „.„. Comforts for the Wounded, I "Immediately a man is wounded he / goes or is carried to a dressing station, witero his wounds are dressed before being sent to a clearing station ionic miles further back. He is given a cup of bovril, and tho little extras we were able to supply were a welcome addition. It is here at the front that the men want something to supplement their ordinary ration, and I feel confident that the people of New Zealand will back us up in this department of our work, for as far as my observation lias gone we arc about the only people who avo attempting to deal with the distribution of gifts in this syste-matic-way. On arrival back at my marquee, after a sixteen-mile walk in mud up; to my eyes, I found a party of reinforcements had arrived, and as they had nowhere to sleep wo have again turned., tho- marquee into a billeting establishment. I can assure you it is no 'bon' sleeping citsi.de in this weather. Goodness knows how the poor fellows in the trenches are standing it."