V.A.D.’S PARADE

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 116, 11 February 1944, Page 7

V.A.D.’S PARADE

Addressed By Minister Of

Defence

“Thank you for the great work you are doing,” said the Minister of Defence, Mr. Jones, addressing! a( parade of ail sections of the voluntary aid detachments of the New Zealand Red Cross Society, Wellington Centre, last night. He expressed the Governments appreciation and that of the people of the Dominion for what the voluntary aid organizations were doing and would, he knew, continue to do in the future. New Zealand had reason to be proud og what its women were doing in the war effort, as V.AD.’s in factories, fields and wherever they were needed. With the aid of a map of the world, Mr. Jones described his recent overseas tour to see how the New Zealand units in the Middle East, Great Britain and Canada were getting on. It didn t matter that I was Fred Jones, he said, 1 was someone from their own country and could tell them that they could be proud Of what their mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers were doing in the war eSort, just as we in New Zealand were proud of what they themselves were doing in the war.” He described the long air journeys, often under service conditions, when a total of 00,000 miles was covered, as well as the thousands of miles by car and train; his visit to Maadi Camp, to the New Zealand hospitals, where the V.AD. s, nurses and doctors were doing a fine job for the patients, and of the New Zealand W.A.A.C.’s and how they were doing their share also. Mr. Jones spoke ot Lady Freyberg’s efforts on the men s behalf, and how they appreciated- haying girls from their, own country working for them in their own forces’ club. The Director-General- of Voluntary Aids in New Zealand, Miss I. Crooke, voiced her pride in the work of the V.A.’s in the Dominion and overseas, both of the Red Cross and St. John, the sister organization. She had reason to be proud, she said, because she saw the work on a Dominion-wide basis, and realized the amount of self-sacrifice, of precious spare time and of money, which were needed. The voluntary aids supplied their own uniforms and. the transport members paid for the upkeep of their own cars. She could only promise those in the organization unceasing work and the opportunity for service, and said she faced the future with complete confidence in them. Civil Nursing Reserve. Miss Crooke had a special word to say of the importance of the Civil Nursing Reserve. When the hospitals at Auckland and Lower Hutt were ready to receive sick and wounded from overseas, the job of staffing part of them would largely be through this reserve. Though joining this might mean further sacrifice. she appealed to each voluntary aid to ask herself, was she making full use of her training. It would be a matter of everlasting disgrace if the challenge of caring adequately for our .sick and wounded was not met, she said. Helping to care for these men was one way in which our thankfulness could be expressed to them for what they had done. All must see that returned men suffered from no selfishness -or did without. ■Besides its wide war-time activities, the (Red Cross Society had; an extensive peacetime programme which Was_still being maintained, said Mr. 0. H. Chapman, chairman of the Wellington centre. This included the' work of the junior branch, -looking after .the blind m the community, - and comforts for hospital patients. Its work preparing parcels for prisoners of war and in transporting sick and wounded on arriving from overseas was well known. Mr. AnnandSmith, treasurer of the centre, said of the 12300 members in Wellington, 200 from the men’s detachment were on service overseas. The men were sacrificing time and money in performing their duties; just as the women were. - / Lieutenant Cole, a New Zealand Army officer of the Sick and Wounded section, paid a tribute to the work of the women’s Red Cross transport section, who were always ready at short notice to go on duty. . , , . « Special guests included Mrs i. Fraser, Miss Willis, Matron-in-Chief at Army Headquarters, and Miss Bridges, representing the Health Department.