GIFT AMBULANCE

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 103, 26 January 1943, Page 4

GIFT AMBULANCE

Presentation To Royal New Zealand Air Force AMERICAN GENEROSITY “This gift ambulance was made, in the United States and sent to New Zealand for the Royal New Zealand Air It'orce as a memorial of the most practical kind to a New Zealand officer who lost his life on active service with the R.A.F.,” said the Prime Minister, Mr. leaser, St the : presentation yesterday of a gift ambulance to the R.N.Z.A.F. by Mrs. Marcia Short in me.mory of Flying tiffleer Michael E. B. Macassey, sou of Mrs. G. H; M. T. Macassey, St. Clair, Dunedin. Flying Officer Macassey made the supreme sacrifice in August/ 1940, and his aunt, Mrs. Marcia Short, of New York, N.Y., desiring to perpetuate his memory, decided to present, a memorial ambulance to the R.N.Z.A.F., and set about raising the sum reqilired for the construction of a suitable vehicle. To do this, she sold meals at her apartment in New York, and after considerable effort had set aside 800 dollars. A short account of what she had been doing was published in the British War Relief Society Bulletin, anffias a result, Miss F. K. Hascall, a'New York resident , keenly interested in the society’s affairs, realizing her sacrifice and earnestness, sept a cheque for 900 dollars to the society 'to enable Mrs. Short to fulfil her aim. Generous Interest. "This remarkable story is but one example of the generous interest and - aid which the people of the United States, and particularly of those associated with the Anzac Division of the British War Relief Society have shown toward NewZealand,” said Mr. Fraser. ■ “Mrs. Short has been a member of the New Zealand Society since its inception. I should like to take this opportunity of expressing gratitude on behalf of the people of this for the gifts of this kind and others which have been made in the past by the Anzac Division of the British War Relief Society. Their generosity has indeed provided still further evidence of the close bonds existing between the people of the United States and New Zealand. “This ambulance is to be allotted to an Air Force station where New Zealanders are training for overseas service,” said the Prime Minister. “As it stands in readiness to aid the injured it will serve to commemorate not only the sacrifice of Flying Officer Macassey, but also the very commendable spirit of practical patriotism which inspired its donor.” Mr. Fraser said the story of how the vehicle was bought provided .an example of what people could do by way of patriotic effort when their resolve was strong. The Minister of Defence, Mr. Jones, also spoke.t