N.Z. SERVICEMEN IN ENGLAND

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 171, 16 April 1942, Page 6

N.Z. SERVICEMEN IN ENGLAND

Rotary Entertainment At the Wellington Rotary Club luncheon this week a letter was received from Mr. Douglas Martin, vicepresident of the Hendon Rotary Club, near London, in which he reported that the club had enjoyed entertaining four Wellington men on active service in England. These were A.B. Fred. Speed, 110 Moxham Avenue; Sergt. P. Townsend, of the staff of the Colonial Mutual Life Co.; Sergt. A. Abbott (Bank of New Zealand staff), 61 Chelmsford Street. Ngaio; and L/Ac. Glading, 71 Herald Street, Wellington South.

“I have greatly appreciated meeting the boys from 'Wellington,” Mr. Martin wrote. “Fred. Speed, particularly, is a grand boy. He always calls to see me when on leave in London, and I regularly correspond with him and his widowed mother. Fred, has now volunteered for submarine service in Singapore area. I don't think one can ask for greater bravery than that "When I asked him why he had so enlisted lie said lie felt that in that area he would be more directly contributing to the defence of New Zealand than he would be were he retained on the coast of Britain.

“I hope New Zealand will never need defending. . . . War is a terrible thing, but. it. has slight compensation. It gives these young men of the Empire an opportunity to travel and broaden their outlook by seeing how tlie rest of the world lives. There is no doubt that if they are spared tlie worst horrors, as many will be, they will return to New Zealand wiser and clearerthinking men.”