N.Z. Ex-Serviceman Remembers Plight Of Greek Mothers

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 15, Issue 78, 4 August 1950, Page 5

N.Z. Ex-Serviceman Remembers Plight Of Greek Mothers

Wellington, yesterday. . Prominent among the many New Zealanders who are giving willing support to the United Nations Appeal for Children are returned servicemen, who saw for themselves the plight of children in needy countries overseas.

Typical of the reasons actuating many ex-soldiers in giving to UNAC is a letter from a Third Echelon man received at Appeal Headquarters this week. He wrote: “In Greece, not far from Athens, I saw children eating the scraps from our mess tins. In the mountain villages the mothers used to' leave us what eggs they had, in exchange for our food, and we in our small section gave what we could. The women would point to their babies, asking us for sugar for them. We left all our spare clothing for them when we were on the run out.

“If some people who find fault with this country saw how mothers have to bring up their children in the mountain villages of Greece, they might realise that New Zealand is the best place in the world. Te be away more than three years and then come home through Wellington Heads—that’s something one never forgets. “This is only a small gift, a 10s note from my son, aged four, for a little boy somewhere.”