"DIGGERS'" FAREWELL

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 82, 7 April 1938, Page 7

"DIGGERS'" FAREWELL

WELL

AUSTRALIAN VISIT

COMRADES FORGATHER

Real "Digger" spirit prevailed in the Masonic Hall last night when the hall vras filled to overflowing by members of the Tin Hat Club and returned soldiers who are to sail for Australia on April 19 to take part in the Anzac Day parade as part of the New South Wales sesquicentennial celebrations. The members of the contingent for Australia were the guests of the Tin Hat Club for the' evening, and while those not of the contingent probably felt envious they gave their comrades a real "Digger's," as distinct from a "Soldier's," farewell.

Proceedings commenced with the initiation of Mr. Hugh Biss to the chair and the playing of the "Tin Hat Club Ode," by the .Tin Hat Club Orchestra under the direction of Mr. Pat Cole. Another Hem by the orchestra was followed by a spell of enthusiastic community singing. The chairman proved equal to the occasion and filled in the intervals between items with stories, of which he appeared to have an inexhaustible fund.'

Before the supper interval was reached a game that has always been popular with the troops occupied several tense minutes, the terse remarks from different players as fortunes waxed and waned recalling, vivid scenes on the decks of troopships, in base camps, and even the front-line trenches. , •

A foretaste of what the smokerooms of the Monowai and Maunganui will look like during evenings on the Tasman Sea was secured in the supperroom, where everyone was cheerful over the glasses, cups of coffee, sandwiches, and other eatables. Supper over, the remainder of the programme was received with even greater enthusiasm than ever, and old comrades parted for the night declaring their thorough satisfaction with the enter-'1 tainment provided. The items presented during the evening were:—Songs, Messrs. A. Barr, J. Osborne, W. Marshall, H. Tahiwi, and :K. Rigby; sketches, Messrs. Morgan Davies, Ross Williams, Ken Rigby, and L. K. Morris in "Rhymes Without Reason," and Messrs. L. Morris, M. Davies,, R. Williams, F. Dick, K. Rigby. and the radio announcer in "Listening In"; instrumental trio, Messrs. Rogers, Gilby, and Haigh; humorous stories, Messrs. W. McKeon and R. Williams; the R.S.A. Male Voice Choir; pianoaccordion, ■ Mr. Darcy Wheatley; and ventriloquial items, Mr. C. 'Bur-ridge. During the evening the president of the New Zealand Returned Soldiers' Association. (the Hon. W. Perry, M.L.C.) visited the hall and received a 1 tumultuous welcome as the leader of the contingent in Sydney on Anzac Day He referred to the wonderful gesture of the ex-soldiers of Australia in inviting' their New Zealand comrades to Australia. He assured those •who were not going to Australia that those who made the visit would tell the story of their adventures at the first Tin Hat Club tattoo after their return.