LONELY SOLDIERS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23861, 11 January 1941, Page 10

LONELY SOLDIERS

REMARKABLE RESPONSE FIVE TIMES REQUIREMENTS [BY TELEGRAPH- —OTTN" CORRESPONDENT] WELLINGTON, Friday Since the office of the National Patriotic t<nnd Board in Wellington opened on .Monday after the holidays, finite a large file has been established containing over TOO letters from people all over the Dominion who read the announcement that the board had received a preliminary list of the names of 11 men serving with the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force in England whom the padres consider may rightly he classed as genuine 'ionely soldiers." After pointing out that the response had greatly exceeded anticipations and paying tribute to all those who had written tor their generous patriotic spirit. .Mr. G. A. Ilayden, secretary of the National Patriotic Fund Board, said that the intention was to make available the name of one of the soldiers to every two people. There were 11 names and this procedure would mean that only '22 of the applicants would receive name-, and they would be chosen according to the order in which their applications had been received. -Air. Hayden regretted that it was not possible to give a name to each of the applicants; if that were done, the "lonely soldiers'' would be swamped with parcels and letters. That would neither he fair to their colleagues nor to the men themselves, for it would involve them in considerable correspondence. which they would find difficult and costly to undertake.