IN LONDON LAST MONTH

Evening Post, Volume CXXXI, Issue 118, 21 May 1941, Page 12

IN LONDON LAST MONTH

MRS, VAN KLEFFENS'S TRIP

NETHERLANDERS' WAR WORK

DESCRIBED

Travelling three-quarters of the way round the world in just on five and a half weeks, and taking with her only two large suitcases and one small, is the experience of Mrs. E. W. Van Kleffens, wife of the . Minister of Foreign Affairs , of, the , Netherlands. With her husband and suite she left Wellington today for Rotorua and the north, after two days' visit to the city. Dr. and Mrs. Van Kleffens ,left London on March 5. Since then they have called at Portugal, New York, Washington, Honolulu, and Manila. From Manila they left by special.plane for the Dutch East Indies, and after a visit of just over a month left again for Australia and New Zealand, en route to the United States and England.

When interviewed yesterday by the Press Mrs. Van' Kleffens laughingly that her wardrobe for the journey by air, sea, and land to countries whose climates varied from winter to the heat of the tropics had proved a problem. She had solved part of the difficulty by carrying two coats, one, of tweed lined with fur, serving a dual purpose. When the clipper landed at New York her only hatbox had been swamped by an inrush of water into the luggage compartment so that she had to buy a new issue of hats in the States. The hat she wore yesterday was of tulip red felt, the round flat crown tilted forward from a swathed draped cap. It exactly matched her smart tweed suit comprising hip-length double-breasted j jacket, and pleated skirt which she wore with a toning silk blouse, and I black lizard-skin accessories. ESCAPE FROM HOLLAND. Dr. and Mrs. Van bKleffens, who were at The Hague when Holland was invaded, escaped by naval plane. They have had no direct word of any members of their family since, though indirect news is sometimes available through neutral agents. Since living in England Mrs. Van Kleffens has been closely associated with a group of Netherlanders whose main work is outfitting and providing for those of their fellow-countrymen who arrived as refugees from Europe. Now they are packing and storing great quantities of clothes sent from all parts of the world so that at the end of the war there will be provision for some of those left destitute in Holland by the Nazi invaders.

Women's war work in the Dutch East Indies was described by Mrs. Van Kleffens, who tola how they had organised themselves into a group known as the Kovin, which, broadly translated, means'a central organisation of women in times of mobilisation. Though some of their time was occupied with knitting, and, sewing, the Kovin were concentrating on practical training. They learned first-aid with the object of placing a first-aid post in every ! street; they learned to cook the products of their own country so that they could be, if the need arose, entirely self-supporting; they were fully instructed in canteen work and army transport driving. These volunteer women were very keen and most efficient, Mrs. Van Kleffens said. Their uniforms were white with touches of navy blue.

Lovely flowers were arranged in' Dr. and Mrs. Van Kleffens's suite in the Hotel Waterloo and some of these, a bouquet of violets, had been presented by the small daughter of Mr. M.' F. Vigeveno, Netherlands Consul in Wellington, and Mrs. Vigeveno.