VICTORIA LEAGUE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23772, 27 September 1940, Page 13

VICTORIA LEAGUE

WAR WORK IN LONDON FINDING LOST RELATIVES SERVICE FOR DOMINION MEN The work the Victoria League was doing in London since the outbreak of war was reviewed in an address by Mrs. Leo Myers to members of the league yesterday morning. The chairman of the lecture committee, Mr. L. S. Rickerby, presided. M rs. Myers referred to the strong links which bound the New Zealand league with the one in England, and said the contributions of the local league to headquarters were infinitely /greater in time of war. The full strength of the league in London was concentrated in the urgent needs of war work, and centres had been established for sewing, knitting, bandagemaking, canteens, welcome clubs and for the provision of comforts for the soldiers. A notable service by the league's hospitality committee was the tracing of the relatives in Great Britain of soldiers from New Zealand. Frequently, said Sirs. Myers, New Zealand soldiers wished to meet relatives with whom even their own parents had lost contact for years, and, working on the slenderist of clues, the hospitality committee was usually successful in locating the missing people. The emigration branch of the league carried out another important activity. During peace time its work consisted mainly of sending women for domestic situations to the colonies, but during the war the scheme oxtended to mothers and children in helping them to find safety and security in another land.

Mrs. Myers concluded her address by describing the beginning of the evacuation scheme in England, which at first had been unsuccessful, owing to the mothers preferring their homes in London and frequently withdrawing their children from the reception areas. The scheme, however, had now been reorganised with a greater measure of success.