KIWI CLUB.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 239, 6 September 1940, Page 4

KIWI CLUB.

LADY I.AMPSON'S INTEREST

IN DOMINION SOLDIERS

(N.Z.E.E. Special Service.) EGYPT, Aug. 15. A tribute to the generosity and kindness with which the First Contingent of the 2nd N.Z.E.F. has been met on all sides by British residents and organisations of Cairo, as well us by British regiments serving in Egypt, was expressed by Brigadier IC. Puttick at the opening of the Kiwi Club, the new social centre established at Helwan by the British lied Cross Society in Egypt primarily for the benefit of convalescent New Zealand soldiers. The club is within easy reach of the New Zealand General Military Hospital. Practical assistance and courtesy, Brigadier Puttick said, had been experienced by the Now Zealanders from the moment they hud arrived in Egypt. Their camp had been built, their first ineald cooked, and even their beds made ready by members of famous British regiments. When the Now Zealand soldier visited Cairo on leave he found at every turn dubs and centres at which he could read, write, obtain meals, and be entertained. A debt was owed, too, to the private families which had offered so much hospitality and had helped immensely in their quiet way. “It is the spirit underlying those

acts which wo perhaps appreciate most, especially in a country strange to us,” Brigadier Puttick concluded. Distinguished visitors who attended the opening ceremony included the British Ambassador tp Egypt, Sir Miles Larnpson, Ludv Lainpson, Lady Wavell, wife of the G.0.C.-in-C. Middle East Command, and a number of Army and Royal Air Force officers and British residents. Lady Lainpson, as president of the Red Cross Society and originator of the Iviwi Club scheme, declared the centre open in a brief and happy speech. She was simply deputising. she said, for thousands of women in New Zealand when she welcomed members of the contingent to the club. Immensely popular among men of the fighting forces in Egypt because of her friendliness . and sincere interest in their welfare, Lady Lanijxson moved from table to table alter the opening ceremony, greeting each soldier personally a.ncl helping to distribute the. refreshments provided for the occasion. She enlisted the aid of Sir Miles in serving out a special cake, and spent some time in teaching soldiers to play one of the indoor games provided at the club. Later she visited the new hospital to greet men confined to their beds. The Kiwi Club, temporarily housed in a part of a large educational buildcomprises reading and writing rooms, well stocked with literature and stationary, a lounge, gardens, an outdoor refreshment terrace and. cafeteria, and facilities for games. With the opening of the hospital, it admirably meets the needs of convalescent soldiers.