WOMAN'S WORLD.

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 127, 15 February 1918, Page 2

WOMAN'S WORLD.

MATTERS OF INTEREST FROM FAR AND NEAR

LETTER FROM GENERAL GODLEY A MESSAGE TO THE CHILDREN. A letter lias been received by the Mayoress (Mrs. J. P. Luke) from Genoral Godley, in which, after thanking the Mayor and Mayoress for their congratulations and good wishes, he proceeds to say:—"l am very proud to have had the New Zealand Division under my command for tho battles of Messinos and Passchendaele. No troops could havo done more than they did, and to them, as you know, belongs the credit of having captured iUe°sines itself, and'of having taken the Gravenstafei and Abraham Hoights, from which the Canadians were enabled to go on and get Passchendaele itself. There is no division in the armies in_France which bears a higher reputation. I think that your "idea ol associating the schoolchildren with your Christmas gifts to tho troops at. tho front is one which will appeal very much to all of us, and I should be very grateful if you will give a message from me to the schoolchildren, on behalf of all the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, to thank them, to tell them they will be in our thoughts, and how much we shall love to sec their names in our Christmas parcels. Tell them to grow up to be worthy descendants of the gallant men who are laying down their lives for them out here, and tell their'teachers to make them understand that their fathers are fighting for right against might; and not only making history for their fair country of New Zealand, but are establishing for them such a heritage of heroism and fame as has seldom fallen to tho lot of any children in the history of the world. "To you I can only say that ws all know all that you have done, and are doing, and I think you know how much wo appreciato it. AVc have not much time for letter-writing, and if we do not express our thanks more often you must believe that they are there none the less. And now at this end of a year, and with all the memories that Christmas brings, I would bo very glad if you would thank Mrs. Crawford and Mrs. Findlay, and all the ladies who work for you, for all that they have done for us, and let tliem know that it is genuinely appreciated. They will reap their reward when the men get liome, and can tell them what it meant to them out here to realise that the gifts they recived were tho work of their countrywomen from so far away."