FIRST ON PENINSULA

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 52, Issue 32510, 29 November 1944, Page 8

FIRST ON PENINSULA

PATRIOTIC QUOTA RAISED GOOD EFFORT IN THE BAY Satisfaction has been expressed by members of the WhitiangaMercury Bay Patriotic Committee at being the first on the Coromandel Peninsula to raise their quota •of £251 8s Od for the 1944 All Purposes Patriotic Appeal. Although the quota set has been collected the committee do not intend to slacken in their efforts as the war is not yet won, nor have all the soldiers returned. A short extract from a soldier’s letter in Italy told of a few hardships. Writing on September 9, he state:—

“ The seasons are changing rapidly in these paints how and it is gloomy for us to think winter won’t be long. We have high hopes of being in billets before the really bad weather sets it—it’s a good thing to be optimistic. “We are back doing our own cooking and miss the fruity and vegetables—only a few tomatoes are left now.

“ It’s a wonderful country for

crops and the land gets no manure.

“ It’s a real problem getting enough wood for cooking. Everything about is either stone or concrete.”

Since receiving the above, the company has' been billeted in houses and enjoying a well-earned rest.