TROOP COMFORTS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 22 March 1941, Page 6

TROOP COMFORTS

PROVISION FOR AUSTRALIANS , OVERSEAS ENVY OF OTHER SOLDIERS. . NEW ZEALANDERS IMPRESSED. According to Major Eugene Gorman.' K.C., honorary commissioner of the Australian Comforts Fund, New Zealand soldiers in the Middle East have been “very impressed” with the high standard of the Australian fund activi--1 ties. ' , [ In a report, issued by the pommonI wealth Department of Information and released in New Zealand by the Australian Trade Commissioner (Mr C. E. Critchley), Major Gorman says: “No , one would be so foolish as to say the ' fund is 100 per cent efficient, and no . sane man could ever hope to make it so. The uncertainty and swiftly changing pace of modern war make it im- . possible to get comforts to the troops with clock-work regularity; But the ’ Australian Comforts Fund activities in ' the Middle East are as near to maxi-' mum efficiency as the resourcefulness' and enterprise of the men administer-, ing it can make them, bearing in mind that our men are operating by land, | sea, and air over a vast area under I active warfare conditions, which are ( always changing. “With the abundant goodwill of all ranks, of all arms, and the genuine appreciation of men who welcome, these tokens from their fellows in ’ Australia, the Fund is 'delivering the i goods,’ and is whole-heartedly recog-1 nised as 'a good show.’ “The fighting forces of other parts of the Empire envy the Australian men the high standard of their Comforts Fund activities. The New Zealanders I are very impressed. In fact the Chief Commissioner of the Fund in the Middle East, Lt. Colonel Raymond Coward, although he has received sheaves of grateful letters from Australians, has been inundated with letters from men of the New Zealand Forces who are granted the facilities of the different Australian 'leave clubs.’ “Sometimes the men are inclined to take the activities of the Fund as a' matter of course. In actual fact I have heard of men writing home to say that they were staying at a marvellous hotel with hot and cold baths, comfortable bedrooms, and a fine dining room and plenty of recreation facilities, but the men forget to add that they were staying at the ‘Fast Hotel’ i conducted by the Australian Comforts i Fund in Jerusalem. “The Hon. Commissioners —there are six of them—have not asked for a single thing of the executive which has not been made available,to them. The Commissioners have spent many thousands of pounds establishing the clubs so as to provide suitable leave facilities for men who would otherwise have to pay dearly for accommodation while on leave, and who might encounter all ' sorts nf dubious acquaintances in the more mercenary parts of the towns. Great difficulty was experienced in getting a suitable centre in Alexandria, < but one is now functioning to the ob- i vious advantage of the Australians. s "There are some cynics who say that s the provision of comforts tc fighting c forces is so much effeminate sentimen- i tality. I am by n;_ means a sentimen- 1 talist myself, but I cannot endorse that >' view. Australians as a whole want to I feel that their men are happy, and getting the best they can. The Australian Comforts Fund provides the Aus-1 tralian public with an opportunity tolj express their appreciation of the fine r deeds of our men, and donations to the | ( fund arc expressions of appreciation, c and not charity. It is the common duty i f of every loyal Australian to give freely Il] to the fund.” (