R.S.A. elects woman

Press, 18 June 1979, Page 10

R.S.A. elects woman

PA Wellington “We made it at last,” said Mrs Iris Latham who last evening became the first woman to be elected to the R.S.A. Dominion executive. Mrs Latham, of the Hutt Valley R.S.A., is the first woman in the council’s 63year history to breach its male domination. She does not plan, however, to be anything more than an ordinary committee

member. She will take a close interest in pensions for servicemen. “I am especially interested in telling the Ipss wellinformed about their rights on pensions,” Mrs Latham said. Being on an all-male committee holds no terrors for her. Mrs Latham has been a member of the R.S.A. since 1943 and has served on the executive of the Wellington and Hutt Valley associations.

Many other R.S.A. committees in New Zealand had one woman member, she said. Mrs Latham served in World War IT with the “Tuis,” the servicewomen who staffed the New Zealand Forces Club in Cairo. The “Tuis” were the first army of girls to go overseas, Mrs Latham said.