THE Y.M.C.A.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIX, Issue 147, 21 June 1918, Page 6

THE V.M.C.A.

INTO THE FRONT LINE. . Mr. Malcolm Ross, war correspondent Trith the New Zealand Forces, -writing on April 13, says:— _^, "No apology is needed for reverting at the preeent time to the splendid work done by the New Zealand V.M.C.A. Since we have come into the great battle the representatives of this excellent organisation have excelled all previous efforts, and that is saying a great deal. '""When the German General Staff decided to smash the British armies in the -field, and to separate the French and the English in one great western thrust, the New Zealanders were a long way from the scene of operations, and the. men of the Red Triangle were peacefully carrying on their work with a good flow of supplies coming to hand at well-estab-lished canteens. Then of a sudden came a message to be ready for a big move at short notke. Immediately there was a great packing-up at the various centres, •which had to be dismantled at short notice. Everything came so suddenly, and the difficulties of transport ■were so great, that it seemed almost an impossibility to' get things going again, in the new area to which we were bound, for some considerable time. The dilferent canteens were left going as long as possible, so that the men might have the benefit of them to the last. At the same time arrangements were promptly made to supply the men -with refreshments at two of the entraining j points. At these thousands of the New Zealanders received a cup of tea and a packet of biscuits before setting out on their long train journey. "By a lucky chance two thousand oranges had just come to hand, and these -were distributed free of charge ■while the men were entraining. The Association had also just received its new motor lorry, and, as soon as our destination was known the young manager, with one of his helpers, a. corporal, and , his typist, set out with office gear, boilers, urns, etc., on board, with a view to supplying the men with refreshments as they detrained. The journey into the battle area wae full of incident, and the interest increased as the battle zone was approached. The bulk of the V.M.C.A. 6tores were already in the hands of the enemy. Nevertheless the New Zealanders determined to make a bold bid to carry on, and next morning they set off and arrived at the detraining station, only to find that it had in the meantime become necessary to alter the destination of our troops and that there were no New Zealanders within miles of them. However, they got news of our new location, and arrived thert in due course. ■'At the present time our V.M.C.A. has nine places giving out comforts to the men in the divisional area, and these are thronged with soldiers. Great work is being done in one village, from which in a little over twenty minutes you can walk to the firing-line. The village itself is often shelled, and so are the road 6 leading to and from it. But the good -work does not stop there. Large quantities of biscuits, . cigarettes, matches, and other things are sent on to the men in the line. Two of the V.M.C.A. men, Messrs.. Kenner and Homer— their names may be mentioned, as they are not soldiers—have themselves visited the front line and distributed gifte to our troops. The joy and surprise of the men may 'be imagined when, the other day, they found the V.M.C.A. handing round in muddy trench and damp bivouac in the middle of the great battle, some very excellent New Zealand cakes sent out here by "the patriotic •women of Timaru."