WAR BRIDES ARRIVE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 1975, 10 May 1919, Page 1

WAR BRIDES ARRIVE.

TOTAL OF 168 WOMEN. GREAT VARIETY OF TYPES. A cordial welcome was given in Auckland last week by Aucklanders to the war-brides who accompanied their soldier-husbands home on the troopship lonic (says (lie Herald). There were 168 soldiers’ wives, the largest number that lias as yet auv rived in Auckland by any one steamer. With them they brought 63 children —bonnie, healthy, little' ones of from a few months to a. year or two in age, of whom New Zealand may well be proud as future citizens. The wives presente j

an unique and interesting variety of types. Some of them looked surprisingly young, and many young girls, seemingly between 17 and 2(1 years old, were to he seen coming asliore with chubby babies in their arms, or handing them over to the stalwart young men in khaki standing proudly beside them. As the first of the new arrivals came down the gang-plank, there were cheers from (he waiting crowd below, and the young couples were soon surrounded by crowds of friends and escorted into the adjoining sheds, there to forget their temporary embarrassment in the kindly welcome given, and in liberal supplies of hot tea and other refreshments hospitably pressed upon them.

The warmth of! Auckland's avclfomc was thoroughly appreciated by all. Some of the little brides approached the gangway with tho pathetic, bewildered look of those who find themselves in an unknown land, with only strangers to give them greeting, and in their minds u great deal of uncertainty as to Avhat; that greeting will be. However, (hey Avere not long left in doubt ; one girl-bride spoke afterAvards, with depth of feeling, of her anxiety and Avondermont as to lioav her coming might be viewed by the people of her husband's laud, and of her relief and gratitude that her welcome had been so kindly.

THIS HOJMiOKS OF INVASION.

Many of those who arc making' Xew Zealand their future home have known in full measure the horror of war, and have Jived not only through days of suspense and privation in England, hut through tho horrors of German invasion and Bolshevik lyrrany. Among those who spoke yesterday of: their experience wore a young Russian lady, whose home in Bel nigrad had keen destroyed by the Bolsheviks; another, a French girl, from a village twice captured by the Germans, and twice wrested from them by tho British troops, and yet another from Poland, whose village had been caught in the tide of German invasion. Among the British girls were some who had worked in the great arsenals, others in hospitals, yet others whojiad taken up office work. . . . And to each of them

in tho midst of war, and death, and sorrow and labor, had come romance, the opening up of new horizons in a brighter, happier land, and a chance of forgetfulness of all the dark and tragic experiences of the war years.

NURSING BELGIAN WOMEX. A vivid recital of her work in hospital among the women refugees from Belgium was given by one of the soldiers wives, formerly a nurse in a London hospital. “When the first great rush of Belgian refugees started in England, many of the women were sent to our hospital,” she said. “Some of them were horribly mutilated. I wish those people who even yet do not quite believe stories of German cruelly could have seen them, some of them just young girls, who had been subjected to unspeakable outrage. , .

A number of them were almost insane from the horror of it. A Vo did all we eould for them, and in spite of the awful injuries of some they recovered, and were then sent

to a convalescent home. They all spoke of going ‘homo’ when the war was over, and never doubted for a moment that the Germans would finally be driven out of their country.” Several of the English girls had worked in the great British arsenals at Woolwich and elsewhere prior to their marriage. One was engaged in testing fuses, another in filling the shells. It was hard work, and sometimes dangerous,' they said, and only the great need of England would have induced them to undertake it. Exciting limes frequently occurred during the German air raids, and several bombs were dropped very close to the arsenals, al- ' though, fortunately, no direct hits were registered. I EXPERIENCES DURING AIR RAIDS. Other women also spoke of the terror of the air raids, “We got quite used to rushing into the basements and dug-outs for shelter,” said one, “only in the end it got badly on my nerves. When I used to hear the droning of the engines and the explosions of (he shrapnel I fell as though I simply must rush out, not into the dugouts, but right outside, where I could see what was going on. A bomb fell on a house not far away from where I was once, and killed many people. Even those in the basements were not safe, for one bomb crashed through the four floor'; of a house in Holloway and exploded right in the basement where all the people were crowded.” Another speaker (old of the precautions taken by many of the timid. Night after night, she said, she had watched procession.-, of women on their way to the tunnels under the Thames, wheeling perambulators, carrying with them blankets and provision for spending the night with, their children underground.

.Among other women Avorkers was one who had been employed as a letter-sorter in the London West

post office. “There Averc about 50(1 women there altogether.’* she said, “and they undertook eA’ery branch of work. The sorting was not difficult when one became used to it, but you needed a good memory. We Avei'o giA’en one month’s training, on salary, and then, with Avar bonus, earned about £2 2s a Aveek. I liked the Avork, and having lived in London all my life, Avas accustomed to the names of places. 1 don’t think 1 Avould like to take on the same work in New Zealand, though,” she added, laughingly, “for my husband Ims been felling me a fcAV of your local Maori names.” CONDITIONS ON LINE IN LONDON.

Conditions of life in London were also interestingly described by this speaker. The high wages of the war period had brought about a remarkable period of prosperity for many who had never had money in their lives, and the cancellation of the war bonus six months after the signing of peace was, she said, being awaited with great apprehension by the workers. Many of them, both men and women, were eagerly waiting any chance to 'better their condition by coming out to the Dominions, where there seemed to lie so much better chance of making a good Jiving. One of the points mentioned in connection with living in London was the great demand for housing accommodation. Rents had advanced, and even with tho war bonus, many workers had found it difficult to live. The speaker herself, a widow, who had subsequently married a Xew Zealander, had occupied a three-room flat in Brixlon, the rent for which, unfurnished, had been Os fid a week. When given some idea of Xew Zealand rents, to say nothing of (he shortage of houses, her ideas on tho housing question received an obvious jolt. GOOD FOOD AGATX f

“Any how, there is one thing I know we can look forward to,” remarked another bride, “and that is plenty of good food.” AVhat the new arrivals were Chiefly looking forward to in this line was sugar, butter, and meat. It was explained that rationing was still in force in England up to the lime of leaving. Only loz of bmler, 4oz of margarine, and i'lb. of sugar was allowed oaeh person a week. White bread was restored immediately upon the signing of the .armistice, but in other respects conditions were much the same as during the war period.