VOLUNTARY SERVICE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23661, 21 May 1940, Page 13

VOLUNTARY SERVICE

WOMEN OP NEW ZEALAND WELL-MERITED TRIBUTE PRIME MINISTER'S GRATITUDE The tribute paid to the women of New Zealand by the Prime Minister, the. Hon. P. Eraser, in his broadcast address on Sunday night, was'a wellmerited one, in view of the fact that the women of this Dominion have been working quietly but steadily for months past to make their war effort a worthy one. As far back as February, 1939 — over six months prior to the outbreak of war—hundreds of Auckland women had formed themselves into an organisation to take training in various forms of emergency precaution work, and, although this body was reorganised some months later, its work remained the same in main essentials. Owing largely to this group of women and with the co-operation of the St. John Ambulance Association and the Bed Cross society, the great majority of women and girls throughout the Do-v ( minion are fully trained in the first essential of emergency work —first aid. Others in large numbers have been trained in canteen cooking, air-raid and anti-gas precautions, fire service, home nursing and motor mechanics. "Regiment of Women" Since the training of thousands of women in these various branches has been completed, little has been heard about it, but the fact remains that each district has its own "regiment of women" at call and its own emergency cupboard stocked with various medical supplies. In Auckland alone 138 women and girls between the ages of 18 and 40, many of whom work in various professions or industries during the day, have taken their home-nursing course, which has included 60 hours' training at the Auckland Hospital, while over 40 nurses who had ceased practising their profession because of either marriage or other reasons have taken refresher courses at the hospital. These are now, in many cases, in charge of the emergency cupboard of their own district, while they are also, of course, ready to serve in any other way should the need arise. It is not generally known that 14 V.A.D.'s have already responded to a call for service which was issued last November when influenza was rife in the military camps in Auckland. The men were taken to the Auckland Hospital and the' 14 recruits were on duty there until the epidemic was over. Knitting and Sewing Another branch of war work in which women are proving their worth is in the realm of knitting, sewing and packing parcels of comforts for men on service. Practically every woman's organisation in New Zealand has formed its patriotic circle .and much really valuable work is being dono in this way. Manv hundreds of women have indicated their willingness to form a women's land army, but so far the Government has not put such a scheme into operation. If the call does come, however, there should be no lack of volunteers. The formation of an organisation to assist the wives, families and dependants of soldiers is another direction in which women are preparing to give their services, while the women's sections of each Metropolitan Patriotic Committee have been quietly hut effectively working for a long time. So far active service for women in any danger zone has only fallen to one section of the community, the nurses, many of whom are already serving with the j forces in Egypt.