Welfare Work in Military Camps

Manawatu Times, Volume 68, Issue 206, 31 August 1943, Page 6

Welfare Work in Military Camps

An address dealing with the fine welfare work being done for soldiers in military camps, particularly'- on. the recreation and educational side, was given yesterday at the Palmerston North Rotary Club by Captain H. F. Dodson, of Palmerston North, of the Church Army'. Captain Dodson stated that the work could be divided into three sections: Relaxation, which meant providing the men with rooms where they could rest and talk at ease and so offset the physical and mental tiredness brought on by the unaccustomed change; the erection of halls to cater for the recreation of the men; and also educational facilities. All moneys were being provided by the National | Patriotic Fund Board and at the camp; to which the speaker was attached,' Captain Dodson said that five recreational huts had been erected and were serviced by different organisations. The hut he worked in was 120 ft. long by 60ft. broad and had been fitted out witu a “ quiet room’' where letters home could be written; a stage had been installed for shows, also a canteen, while tables and chairs for chess, ping pong and billiards occupied the main portion of the hut. Unstinting service was oeing given by members of the W.W.S.A., who nightly took over the buffet for some two hours. Their work was no easy task for some nights saw 1000 men passed through the hut. Captain Dodson and his colleagues themselves worked a 16-hour day jjreparing and catering for the various needs of the men. In cooperation with the Army Education Welfare Service group discussions took place whereby soldiers could get together and discuss topical problems and they enjoyed community singing, and the hut had been filled to overflowing whenever the sing songs were put on. Among other activities which had provided a means of widening the men’s knowledge had been the formation of a “brains trust,” a group of professors and business men who visited the camp on certain nights to answer questions on the subject of postwar reconstruction in New Zealand. The “dedicated” minute at 9 p.m. was always observed in the huts. As in the days of Moses, there was no doubt the men in the battlefield and in camp were doing their part; were the civilians on the hill-tops adding their prayers for the preservation of the race to spread Christianity through the years to come? the speaker asked.