VETERANS OF GRAND ARMY

Taihape Daily Times, Issue 220, 4 October 1917, Page 7

VETERANS OF GRAND ARMY

SUGGESTED ASSOCIATION. MOVEMENT IN BRITAIN. The celebrated engineer, Sir John Norton Griffiths, who served in the Boer War and now holds the rank of lieut. colonel in the British Army, has launched a suggestion for the formation of an association of men who are now serving at the front. He says: —"There is a wish felt bymany of all ranks who have served or are serving together in our great army in this war that we shall continue to keep in touch with one another after it has been fought to a finish. Between those of us who have spent long months, and even years, in the trenches there have grown up steady ties of affection and comradeship. Silently a general determination' has developed that those who have endured much together to the end, always remembering those who have fallen by the way, ana* a resolve has been made that we should cement that spirit of comradeship for our mutual advantage and protection in the futre."

The Old Comrades' Association, which was "one of the many bright spots of that little valiant army of th* past,'' is suggested as a model, and Colonel Griffiths puts forward as a motto, "United We Stand." As for the name of the association, he proposes to adopt an idea suggested to him by a non-commissioned officer before the battle of Loos. It is "Veterans of the Grand Armjy''. Membership would be free to all who have served, and women would be admitted to represent their husbands during absence. The objects of the association, which seems to be very much on. the lines of the New Zealand Eeturned Soldiers' Association, are stated as follows: 1. To watch and safeguard the interest of all members of the forces and to take such steps as are necessary to protect them during and after demobilisation. 2. To promote undertakings for the combined efforts to find employment for all discharged soldiers and sailors 3.(T0 help discharged soldiers and sailors to prepare their necessary papers and to see that their pensions and allowances are in order. 4. To secure the welfare of the women and children left by those who have fallen.