BEHIND THE TROOPS

Evening Post, Volume CXXXV, Issue 149, 25 June 1943, Page 4

BEHIND THE TROOPS

WELFARE SERVICES

GEN. FREYBERG'S PRAISE Services which look after the New Zealand Forces in battle, in sickness, and when they come home were highly praised by Lieutenant-General Sir Bernard Freyberg, V.C, at the State luncheon in his honour at Parliament House yesterday. "Thanks to the generosity of the people of New Zealand, and thanks also to that farsighted organisation, the National Patriotic Fund Board," he said, "our troops have not suffered in comparison with any others. In my opinion they are the best looked after of all the Allied troops." (Applause.) General Freyberg referred also to the value of the presence in the Middle East of a man of such ripe experience as Colonel Waite, Commissioner for the National Patriotic Fund Board. (Applause.) There was also a Red Cross Commissioner, Major Tweedy, who was responsible for the welfare of the sick and wounded. The sick and wounded were most carefully looked after, and they were also fortunate in having two New Zealand women, Mrs. Chapman and Mrs. Blackford, as hospital visitors. Valuable work was also being done by two other spending agents of the Patriotic Fund Board, the V.M.C.A. and the Church Army. General Freyberg expressed the appreciation felt by himself and the troops for the unaddressed parcels sent by the patriotic organisation. In common with the troops, he received his parcels, and they always seemed to arrive at a most opportune time. "I do not think you realise," he added, "what good parcels they are, and what skill and imagination are put into the assembly of their contents." The general said he also desired to congratulate the women of New Zealand on their cake baking. He thought they were a great nation of cake-makers. (Applause.) EXAMPLES OF ASSISTANCE. General Freyberg referred to the assistance given by the National Patriotic Fund Board in the establishment of a newspaper for the New Zealand troops in the Middle East, which he described as a remarkable production and the best in Egypt; in the establishment of a concert party, which was an outstanding combination; in the starting of the New Zealand Forces Club in Cairo, and in other ways. He gave figures showing the great, help given by the patriotic funds in the outfitting of football and other sports teams in the Division, the grants made to provide extras for Christmas dinner for the men, and substantial expenditure from the patriotic funds in other directions for the benefit of the Division. The letters sent home were all written on paper purchased by the Patriotic Board, and that cost £2000 a month alone. "There is no doubt that from the point of view of welfare," added General Freyberg, "your ' troops in Egypt are as well off as any troops in any part of the world." SICK AND WOUNDED. Making special reference to the care given to the sick and wounded, General Freyberg said that when it came to making one of those great turning movements against the enemy in which the New Zealand Division had taken part, one of the greatest anxieties was the welfare of the casualties. These movements meant going out "into the blue" for anything from 300 to 500 miles round behind the enemy, and also breaking away from their own lines of communication with no' possibility of evacuating wounded back to their base organisations and hospitals. It might be necessary for the commanding officer to tell the medical director to prepare for 3000 casualties. Serious cases could not be moved 30 miles in the rough country. Each field ambulance had to be made into a general hospital, and there had to be surgical specialists with each hospital. Arrangements also had to be made for blood transfusion units to fiy up at the last moment, and medical orderlies had to be taught to--nurse. The men were operated on with exactly the same skill as if they had been in hospital in Cairo, and as soon as their condition would stand it they were flown back to Cairo. General Freyberg said he thought that when the medical history of these turning movements was written it would be an epic. The New Zealand medical service had done great work in saving lives. General Freyberg expressed regret at the loss suffered by the death of Colonel Montgomery Spencer. He also referred to the help that had been given him personally and to the troops by the 50 padres with the Division, ahd paid a glowing tribute to the Maori Battalion and its officers. He had a high opinion of the Maoris as fighters and men.