WORK FOR TROOPS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 239, 8 October 1943, Page 2

WORK FOR TROOPS

ENGLISH RESIDENTS EFFORTS IN EGYPT PRAISED (0.C.) CHRISTCHURCH, this day. High praise for the activities of English residents in Egypt in entertaining' men of the New Zealand forces, and other units, is expressed by Staff-Sergeant Cecil Reese of Christchurch, son of Mr. T. W. Reese, in a letter to his sister. "I saw Noel Coward's play, 'Hay Fever,' last night, presented at the camp open-air theatre by English residents of Maadi, and thoroughly enjoyed it," wrote Staff-Sergeant Reese. "The people who presented the play were residents who have done so much for our chaps right from the early days. Some of them were among the original group of English people who founded the Maadi Recreation Tent in February or March, 1940. "Actually the word 'tent' is a misnomer. It is a huge affair of canvas and timber, and is no more a tent, as we know it, than the big enclosure in which a circus is held. To-day the tent is visited by Kiwis, Tommies, South Africans, and members of the A.T.S. Originally the tent was organised by English people for the benefit of New Zealanders only, but to-day the helpers are of a dozen different nationalities, and the troops include all who may be stationed in the vicinity. It is a strenuous job for these civilian helpers serving food and drinks to hundreds daily. Activities Enlarged "From its small beginning the tent has enlarged its premises and activities. One or two attractive brick buildings have been built in the grounds, also others in light timber and rushes, so that to-day there is a recreation room, library, writing room, card room and lounge, and a small open-air theatre. No words of praise to these residents can adequately describe or do justice to the service they have rendered us, nor is it easy to put into words just what it has meant to the troops away from their own homes and lacking those social amenities that were part of our normal daily life. "In short the local residents have done everything in their power to provide something to occupy our leisure hours. Though the "people themselves would not expect it, it is the wish of every chap here, and particularly those who have been here since the start, that some official recognition be given to those who have given their full time to this work."