16 YEARS’ WORK

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 17947, 26 November 1932, Page 15

16 YEARS’ WORK

NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS hi; ’ N.Z. R.S.A. LOOKS BACK FOR SOLDIERS' AND DEPENDENTS Nob only returned soldiers and their dependents, but all who have had occasion bo value the work of the New Zealand Returned Soldiers’ Association from any one of the many aspects that work has taken, should lincl much to interest them in a survey of the past 16 years’ work on the part of the exservicemen’s organisation. In the latest issue of the N.Z.R.S.A. Review, the quarterly journal which the national body publishes for circulation among its affiliated- branches and members, there appears such a survey, necessarily a condensed one, but nevertheless representing a permanent memorial of the outstanding achievements gained by the returned men since the formation of the association in 1916.

The' inception of the R.S.A. in New Zealand occurred in the third year of the waf, when the veterans of the Egyptian, Gallipoli, and Samoan campaigns were beginning to gather in the Dominion in such numbers ao to bo important even apart from the glamor that then surrounded every man who had seen overseas service. The war had not then reached its climax, but New Zealand had a. division in the field and from this division were returning the transport-loads of wounded and invalided survivors, while the return of the main body of the division itself was already being talked of. In the majority of towns and villages in the country there were soldiers’ clubs established, and from these foc.ussingpoiuts of returned soldier interest came the impulse to form a national organisation, to be conducted by the soldiers themselves for the benefit of the Jess fortunate among the returned men, and also for the benefit of the dependents of deceased soldiers. There was much to be done in botli directions, and even those who assembled for the first conference in Wellington on April 28, 1916, had only a glimpse of the importance which would attach to that work as the years passed by. Gisborne was among the centres represented at the conference, and for several years after the local branch of the new organisation was an exceedingly active one. Of the subsequent relaxation of interest and the consequent dormancy of the Gisborne branch for five years, until roused again to life bv the soldiers’ recognition of its necessity in their lives, most residents of this district are cognisant. The fact that Gisborne last March stood third on the roster of New Zealand branches in point of membership in itself indicates the strength of the returning interest. In a large degree, the history of the Gisborne association epitomises that of the national organisation.

The N.Z.R.S.A. had a merry voyage in the years immediately following the war, but a strong reaction set in mainly as a result of the 1921 slump, which brought returned men up against the serious question of economic existence once again. At the time, many soldiers took the view that their old associations in the N.Z.E.F. were likely to be a hindrance rather than a help in the economic struggle, aud for several years the N.Z.R.S.A. suffered iu membership and iu influence. Added to this was the fact that the badge of the association had been exploited by undeserving cases, until a great majority of soldiers grew averse to’seeing it worn at all, except for ceremonial occasions.

Those were the dog days of the New Zealand Returned Soldiers’ Association, when the average ex-service man was seeking his own pot of gold down various rainbows. Membership was at its lowest ebb in 1924-25, and it was in tliat year that the first signs of a. reawakening of interest in this district reflected a general renaissance throughout the Dominion. Those who- have kept watch over the movement practically since its inception in 1916 attribute the new stirring of interest in 1925 and 1925 lo the presence m New Zealand, as the direct representative of the .Ring, of Sir Charles Fcrgusson, himself as great a soldier as his predecessor had been a great sailor. Sir Charles laid the gift of inspiring leadership, and when the re-formation of Hie ILS.A, in this district was at a critical stage, his visit to Gisborne and the East Coast lent a peculiar force to the appeals of old-time comradeship. Right through the Dominion His Excellency canned the torch of fellowship among returned men, and from that year to tho present, the association has not failed to add regularly and substantially to its membership.

It has been a long, hard climb back to the plane of .comparative economic soundness and a position from which the influence of the returned soldiers as a body cun be wielded to the best effect, and a part of the story —not the most inspiring part, unfortunately- j -is unfolded in this abridged history of tho movement which occupies the current. issue of the N.Z.IDS.A. Review. The journal lias a circulation limited to the membership of tho association, but those who may be interested doubtless will find it possible to secure copies for perusal.