NUHAKA DIGGERS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20093, 13 November 1939, Page 12

NUHAKA DIGGERS

ANNUAL REUNION HELD

GISBORNE DELEGATION

PATRIOTISM OF MAORIS

About 50 ex-servicemen of the Nuhaka district, including a number from the railway camps, foregathered on Friday evening for the annual reunion of the Nuhaka Returned Soldiers’ Association, a delegation from the Gisborne district executive being guests at the function. Mr. W. Mitchell, president of the area association, was in the chair.

After the loyal toast, and that of "Absent Comrades, - ’ the chairman proposed the health of the guests, expressing pleasure at seeing Gisborne so well represented again, and extending a hearty welcome to all who had come from a distance to attend the gathering. Mr. G. Bradley Smith, replying to the toast, apologised for the nonattendance of the district president, Colonel R. F. G.ambrill. He added that he had most pleasant recollections of a previous reunion visit to Nuhaka, and had welcomed the opportunity to return this year.

The speaker referred to the fact that the country was once more at war. despite all that had been accomplished between 1914-18, and the determination of Britain and France to avoid a further conflict if it was humanly possible. Staunchness of Spirit It was deeply regrettable, he added, that the young men of this generation should be exposed to the hardships and dangers of active service, but he expressed his conviction that what had to be faced would be faced with the same staunchness as had been shown in previous struggles in which the Empire had taken part. One significant feature of New Zealand's war effort, Mr. Smith concluded, was the strength of the recruiting for the special Maori force, the natives having made an excellent response throughout this district in particular. The Maoris were showing the right spirit, and he had noted the names of several Nnhaka men among the volunteers, thus indicating that the new generation of Maoris was intent upon upholding the reputation which the elders in Nuhaka had maintained as members of the Maori Battalion in the last war.

The toast of “Kindred Associations” was proposed by Mr. G. D. Tod, and replied to by Mr. A. H. Miller, who was introduced to the gathering as the successor to Mr. W. Oakden in the secretarial post with the Gisborne association. Mr. Miller was greeted with applause, and in his reply stated that he hoped to bring to the work of the association the same enthusiasm, if not the same particular qualities, which had marked the service of his predecessor. Tragedy of the War Proposing the “Army, Navy, and Air Force” toast, Mr. J. K. O'Hara referred to the tragedy of the new war, which those present at the reunion had thought to be impossible after the struggle in which they had taken part. He expressed confidence that what the oid New Zealand Division had done, in the theatres of war. would be repeated by the young men who were now taking up arms at the call of their country.

Replying to the toast, Mr. G. Cratvshaw agreed that it was a tragedy that this generation should have to .ight. and he instanced the necessity for the association to maintain its strength so that those who served in this war might have an organisation ready to take up their cause when the war was over.

It was up to al! old Diggers to put their weight behind the nation's wav effort, he added, and to do everything possible to enable the new generation af fighting men to face their task; without concern for what was happening to their other interests. Among the further toasts honoured during the evening was that of the “Nursing Services,” proposed by Mr Rae Gilmore, who paid a grateful tribute to the work of the nursing sis.ers in live war hospitals.