GIFTS FOR TROOPS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 30 November 1942, Page 3

GIFTS FOR TROOPS

PATRIOTIC PARCELS FROM NEW ZEALAND. LARGE CONSIGNMENTS ON WAY. Thousands of gift parcels for New Zealanders in the Navy, the Army, and the Air Force and also for New Zealand nurses and V.A.D’s. have been sent overseas by the National Patriotic Fund Board for Christmas. This large volume of parcels represents the collective efforts of the patriotic zones all over the Dominion. It is a truly national gesture and is made more so because, the parcels being unaddressed, a man coming from a North Island town may receive a parcel packed in the far south of the South Island. The gift parcel scheme is only , a small part of the work of the patriotic organisation. Patriotic activities in the main are directed more towards the promotion of the welfare of the men of the forces as one whole than to giving attention to the individual aspect, which, where large numbers of men are concerned, is a difficult matter. There is, however, something more personal about the patriotic gift parcels and for that reason they are much appreciated by lhe men overseas. There are difficulties in getting them safely to the Middle East and of ensuring an equitable distribution, but these have to be faced and though it is realised that the perfect scheme under war time conditions is impossible of attainment, everything possible is done by the Patriotic Fund Board and its representatives overseas to do a good job. Men who have returned from overseas and know something of the difficulties appreciate this fact. A BIG “FAMILY.” As was the case last year, members of New Zealand units in Great Britain detached from, the main forces will receive special parcels of tobacco and cigarettes. The contents of these parcels comprise 180 cigarettes, six twoounce packets of cigarette tobacco, eight packets of cigarette papers, and also a Christmas card. Over 1,000 gift parcels are being provided fox* New Zealanders serving in the Royal Navy; a considerable consignment has gone forward for New Zealanders in the Middle East, and parcels will also be received by New Zealand forces stationed in the Pacific. The total for all theatres runs into many thousands. New Zealand air trainees in Canada will receive cigarettes and tobacco. In addition to the parcels, _ the patriotic funds will meet an expenditure of Is 6d a head for men in the Middle East and the Pacific area for the purpose of supplementing their Christmas dinners. In the aggregate this represents a tidy sum. PARCELS FOR NURSES. The items included in the parcels sent for the New Zealand nurses and V.A.D’s were specially selected. The Macri Battalion in the Middle East has also been specially catered for by the despatch of preserved kumcras, mussels, preserved pork, toheroas, and delicacies of that kind dear to the Maori palate. These gifts came from Maoris in various parts of the Dominion. The staff of lhe No. 1 New Zealand hospital ship has also not been overlooked. When the ship was last in New Zealand waters, parcels were placed on board for each member of the nursing staff and the voluntary aid detachment. These gifts are from the people of New Zealand, and with them go the thanks and best wishes of the Dominion to the men and women who will receive them.