TOC H MISSIONER

Evening Star, Issue 26029, 18 February 1947, Page 5

TOC H MISSIONER

MEMORIES OF THE BLITZ

REV. GILBERT WILLIAMS MEETS OLD FRIENOS AGAIN

The programme of Rev. Gilbert Williams, Administrative Padre of Toe H, Great Britain, who is'now in Dunedin for encouragement of the New Zealand movement in its work of rebuilding after the war, marks a reversal of general practice that South Islanders should welcome. He arrived in this country on January 17, and since then lias spent one day in Auckland, two in Wellington, and will have spent five weeks in this island before going north on March 1 to tour the North Island units. _ A. meeting of the Dominion Council of the women’s section, held in Christchurch, which made his first appointment, caused this order to be given to his itinerary. Padre 'Williams had already made tours of Africa, from north to south, and Canada, for 10 months, before his latest one, of seven months, in Australia. , which brought him well on his

way to New Zealand. It is probable, however, that the impressions that will remain most vivid in his memory till the end of his life will be those of the London blitz, which he had special reasons to know. The Toe H Club for servicemen from all over the world—previously St. Stephen’s Club, for Members of Parliament—with which he was associated during the war was under Big Beil, in the very centre of London, next to Scotland Yard, which was hit, and St. Margaret’s Church, which was damaged, and'close to Westminster Abbey, which was also damaged. The club never had a direct hit. but the building and windows suffered from the effects of bombing close at hand, and for three days it was without gas, electric light, or'water. It was served by a very faithful band of voluntary workers, some fiOO in all, and it carried on, open day and night, without once closing its_ doors, providing beds for 200 men a night. Already, at Ashburton and ' Oamaru, duriug his

South Island tour, Padre Williams has met three men who stayed at the club while he was there. Padre Williams lost his wife, who had given him strong support on his earlier tours, as a result of the blitz.

A reporter who had a talk with the padre at the week-end asked him how Toe H at Home was getting on. It was a wonder, he replied, that units

had survived at all. everybody had so much else to do. But good work had been done on all the war fronts, there were units in prisoner-of-war camps, and lie was glad to learn, from ins latest letters from headquarters, that the membership in Great Britain had increased substantially in the last year. The twenty-first birthday festival, held in Melbourne in October last, drew members from all parts of Australia, from Perth to Rockhampton, in Queensland. In Australia Padre Williams earned the name of “ the Flying Welshman ” from the long journeys lie made by air, though his acquaintance with Wales actually was small; he left it for England when lie was a year old.

The padre was. convinced that Toe H can make its contribution to national welfare in these crucial days, when the challenge to “ think fairly ” and see the other man’s point of view had its particular appositeness. He had spoken to the students in some New Zealand schools, and he felt that youth would respond to the challenge to idealism expressed in a life of service if only they could get the message across. Correcting a widespread misconception, Padre Williams

pointed out that Toe H is not an exservicemen’s association. Membership is open to all lads over the age of 16, and though it valued the help and advice of senior members, it was the movement’s aim and hope to attract more and more younger men to its cause.

Padre Williams expects to be in New Zealand till the eud of March.