CLUB IN ROME

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 68, 18 September 1944, Page 6

CLUB IN ROME

FACILITIES FOR TROOPS

NIGHT LEAVE RESTRICTION

A report from Auckland regarding the New Zealand Forces Club in Rome was open to the suggestion that the management of the club was refusing permission to other than officers to stay in the chib overnight, said the Hon. W. Perry, M.L.C., deputy chairman of the National Patriotic Fund Board, today. "The fact is," said Mr. Perry, "that the Higii Command forbade other than officers and members of the women's services to remain in Rome overnight."

The Auckland report quoted a letter from an infantry sergeant in which he praised the amenities of the club and the_meals that are available, but asked whether it was generally known that "other ranks" were not permitted to stay overnight.

Mr, Perry said that the overnight leave restriction imposed by the High Command was mentioned in a report received recently by Brigadier A. S. Falconer, who was appointed to act as Patriotic Commissioner during the absence on leafe of Colonel F. Waite. That report stated: "Unfortunately the High Command has forbidden other than officers and members of the women's services to stay in Rome overnight. To overcome this restriction, troops were conveyed from the divisional area in Army vehicles to arrive at the club for breakfast, and to take part in conducted tours during the mornings. Parties returned for lunch

to the cJub and to rest in the agreeable surroundings before setting out for the aftei-noon's, sight seeing. The evening meal was also partaken of at the club and troops returned to their units late at night. . . ."

Mr. Perry added that extracts from Brigadier Falconer's report had already been published in the New Zealand Press. It was clear from the report that the club management, was not responsible for the overnight leave restriction and that everything possible had been done with the limit imposed by the High Command to provide facilities for the men in the ranks to see Rome and to enjoy facilities for meals and rest at the club before they returned to their units.