Red Cross Appeal for the Wounded

Northland Age, Volume IX, Issue 67, 31 May 1940, Page 1

Red Cross Appeal for the Wounded

Fund Opens in Kaitaia with £l3l/11/I Despite bitter weather on Monday I night, the Red Cross Society’s meeting for the inauguration of the campaign for the sick and wounded fund, held in the Princess Theatre, was well j attended and the record sum of £l3l 11/- was raised in cash and cheque in a few moments. A further sum of approximately £lO was promised. Each threepence donated, it was pointed out;, represents a vote for Sister M. N. Collins, the Queen of the North. The Queen, therefore, received 10,524 votes from her Kaitaia subjects on Monday night. Associated with the Queen on the platform were Mrs. Knapp (President of the Whangarei Red Cross Society) who represented Whangarei on tfce joint appeal of the Red Cross and the Order of St. John, Mr. R. A. Stewart (President of the Kaitaia Sub-Centre), Mr. L. Peace (Chairman Kaitaia Town Board), Mr. T. S. Houston (Chairman Mangonui Hospital Board), Rev. H. Whitfield (Methodist), Rev. H. G. Taylor (Anglican) and Rev. Father McKeen. The meeting was opened with the singing of the National Anthem, after which Rev. H. G. Taylor offered a brief prayer. The chairman (Mr. R. A. Stewart) then introduced Sister Collins to the audience, saying she had journeyed from Whangarei to lead tonight’s appeal.

Our Duty to Help “We are met here tonight for the purpose of assisting to raise the sum of £250,000 in aid of the sick and wounded soldiers,” said Mr. Peace. “Our nation stands at this moment in the most dire peril for there has never in the history of England been a time so critical as this.” We knew, added Mr. Peace, what the consequences of defeat would be. They would mean all the horrors which had come to the people of Germany herself and the people of other nations which Hitlerism had since dominated. It behoved us to do everything in our power to help the men who were fighting for us overseas. They were offering their lives in a supreme sacrifice. And behind, often in fact in the thick of, the fighting there were wounded men requiring all the qid which could be given to them. Where men had no friends atfd relations the Red Cross helped them just the same. It was an organisation for the benefit of all the suffering, and had been so since its origin in the mists of the long distant past. Unorganised Help is Not Received The fact that comforts sent to individual soldiers by individuals at home were often not received, was stressed by Mr. T. S. Houston who said that he had had six brothers and a son in the last war. With such an organisation as the Red Cross, however, he was sure everyone could feel confident that comforts would not go far astray. If people could only realise the terrible pains and discomforts of the sick and wounded at the battlefront, they would not hesitate to give their all. “A Fire Let Loose” The fires of barbarism had again been let loose to ravage Europe, the Rev. Whitfield said. It was the duty of all who could not go to help fight this monstrous thing to do all they could to help those who could go. “Don’t Know There is a War On” “You in the North—in other parts than this, anyway—don’t know there is a war on,” remarked Sister Collins when she took the stage to explain the purpose and administration of the fund. Sister Collins had considerable nursing experience during the last war, and told of the various aspects of caring for men injured at the Front. Sometimes sold’ers came into hospital without even a razor but all that had to be done was to send in a requisition to either the Red Cross or the Order of St. John to get what was required.

Men had risked their all for us at Gallipoli and in France, and they were doing the same thing today in an even grimmer struggle. It was a sacrifice for which they could never be repaid, but it was our outy to stand behind them for all we were worth.

It was a shame and a disgrace, Sister Collins said, that in New Zealand at a time like this, there were people who were openly scoffing at the things men were laying down their lives for. Others were sowing the seeds of dissention. It behoved us to stand firmly against this lack of veneration for all that we held good. Sister Collins spoke of the “Queen” in the last war, who was now Mrs.

A. E. Harding of Dargaville. She had had to tour by means of horse and buggy through a much lessroaded North than we had today. Nevertheless, that “poor North” had contributed £41,000, which was l an inspiration to us now. R.S.A. Members Keen to Help Following upon similar lines to other speakers, Mr. J. O’Sullivan, speaking for the R.S.A., paid a tribute to the work of the Red Cross in the last war. He stated that the members of the R.S.A. were keen to do all they could and he held at that moment cheques from members who had not been able to attend the meeting. Overwhelming Response After the chairman had endorsed the remarks of speakers there was an overwhelming response by the audience to hand in their subscriptions. Pound notes were handed in freely, and a number of well known people came forward to write out cheques. Thunderous applause greeted the announcement that two cheques of £SO each had been handed in. The total result of (the appeal meeting was £l3l/11/- in cash and approximately £lO promised.