GENEROSITY IN CAIRO

Taranaki Daily News, 12 September 1940, Page 12

GENEROSITY IN CAIRO

(N.Z.E.F. Special Service.)

SOLDIERS MADE AT HOME OPEN-HANDED RESIDENTS

Egypt, Aug. 15. A tribute to the generosity and kindness with which the Pirst Contingent of the 2nd N.Z.E.F. has been met on all sides by British residents and organisations of Cairo, as well as by British regirnents serving in Egypt, was expressed by Brigadier E. Puttick at the opening of the Kiwi Club, the new social centre established at Helwan by the British Red Cross Society in Egypt primarily for the benefit of convalescent New Zealand soldiers. The club is within easy reach of the New Zealand General Military Hospital. Practical assistance and courtesy, Brigadier Puttick said, had been experienced by the New Zealanders from the moment they had arrived in Egypt. Their camp had been built, their first meals cooked and even their beds made ready by members of famous British regiments. When the New Zealand soldier visited Cairo 011 leave he found at every turn clubs and centres at which he could read, write, obtain meals and be entertained. A debt was owed, too, to the private families which had offered so much hospitality and had helped immensely in their quiet way. "It is the spirit underlying those acts which we perhaps appreciate most, especially in a country strange to us," Brigadier Puttick concluded. Several Distinguished Visitors. Distinguished visitors who attended the opening ceremony included the British Ambassador to Egypt, Sir Miles Lampson, Lady Lampson, Lady Wavell, wife of the G.O.C.-in-C. Middle EaSt Command, and a number of Army and Royal Air Force' officers and British residents. Lady Lampson, as president of the Red Cross Society and originator of the Kiwi Cluo scheme, declared the centre open in a brief and happy speech. She was simply deputising, she said, for thousands of women in New Zealand when she welcomed members of the contingent to the club. Immensely popular among men of the fighting forces in Egypt because of her friend'iness and sincere interest in their welfare, Lady Lampson moved from table to table after the opening ceremony, greeting each soldier personally and helping to distribute the refreshments provided for the occasion. She enlisted the aid of Sir Miles in serving out a special cake, and spent some time in teaching soldiers to play one of the lndoor games provided at the club. Later she visited the new hospital to greet men confined to their beds. The Kiwi Club, temporarily housed in a part of a large educational building, comprises reading and writing rooms, well stocked with literature and stationery, a lounge, gardens, an outdoor refreshment terrace and cafeteria, and facilities for games. With the opening of the hospital, it admirably meets the needs of convalescent soldiers.