SOLDIERS' NEEDS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20115, 8 December 1939, Page 11

SOLDIERS' NEEDS

SELECTION OF GIFTS DIET LUXURIES POPULAR ITEMS NOT ON ISSUE | MONEY-BELTS ESSENTIAL Friend's of soldiers now in training need not cudgel their brains to devise suitable gifts to send to the men in camps. Luxury items of food, such as cakes, chocolate, raisins, and all types of nut's are certain of a warm welcome, for even those hardened soldiers who can resist such delicacies on their own account have friends who cannot. Half the fun of receiving a parcel while in camp is the knowledge that one can share its contents with tent-mates. I Many people have their own ideas as to what i.s beat for the men in training for active service. Others are hard put to it to think of suitable gilts, apart from the obvious choices mentioned above. Unless appetites have changed drastically in the past 25 years, foodstuffs may figure first in the selection for immediate use or consumption. One does not send a loaf of bread to a military camp, of course, nor a side of bacon, in the ordinary course, though such a gift might ensure the popularity of the recipient with the cook-house staff. But there is a wide range of articles Which the men do not receive as “issue,” and which are bound to be appreciated. Better Than Canteen Purchases Soaps and toothpaste, safety-razor blade.s, socks, preferably without heavy ribbing, packets of pins and buttons, and such things are to be bought in the canteens. Nevertheless gifts of these types relieve the pockets of the soldier, whose earnings in camp are modest enough, and whose reserve of money for leave-days can be whittled away quickly by frequent use of the canteens. Send him little gifts of the value of a few pence, and the soldier wilL appreciate them out of proportion to their actual cost. One essential item in the soldier’s personal equipment is a money-belt, lor there is good ground in the experience of the past to suggest that the axiom of the boxing ring .“Protect yourself at all times,” applies to soldiers as much as to boxers. A man who is careless in disposing of his money receives little sympathy from his mates, though there might be only one dishonest man in a hut. Waterproof Hold-all

Hardly less useful is a water-proof hold-all, which can be quickly run up by the average home seamstress out of good quality waterproof canvas. This should have divisions for the separate housing of hair-brushes, tooth-brush, razor and blades, shaving brush, ancl soap and toothpaste. It is handy to know where to look for tilings, and a hold-all such as is described is a 'decided convenience; for in it a soldier can place everything lie needs for the inevitable morning clean-up—“men shall be shaved daily before 9 a.m.”—and when moving about in light kit can carry it in the top of his valise. Individual small items invariably find their way to tiie bottom of the valise, and moments are precious between reveille and “cookhouse.”

Men in the ranks do not need such things as compasses and map-cases, in the general run of active service; but these make good gifts for officers, who have the opportunity to purchase them cheaply, but nevertheless might appreciate goodwill gestures taking the same shape. Before making such gifts, however, be sure that the selection conforms to military requirements.

The same observation applies to such personal gifts as ties. There are correct shades and designs.

Above all, especially in regard to gifts for men in the ranks or non-com-missioned officers, who have to carry their own belongings about, consider the matter of weight. A steel mirror weights about the same as a glass mirror, and is much more serviceable in a military camp; therefore choose the steel mirror, but one of the lighter type. Add nothing to the weight which must be carried on the shoulders of the soldier.