“ALL ARE WELCOME.”

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XLII, Issue 11476, 2 March 1918, Page 4

“ALL ARE WELCOME.”

MOTTO OF -:HE CHURCH ARMY.

When war broke out and the hardships of winter campsigns were experienced, one of the first bodies t® enter the field for the benefit and welfare of the soldier was the Church Army. The whole of their large and well-equipped organistion was brought into operation. The motor ambulances of the Church Army engaged on the Western front now number fifty; there were not so many of thbm in the beginning but they were the first to enter this field of work. To-day this body has cue thousand rest-huts on the various battle fronts, no fewer than two hundred and twenty being in the actual firing line In places where it is not possible to erect a hut, or even a tent, these rest-plaees are located in ruined buildings, cellars, and even in dugouts. Fifty kitchen cars, "each capable of making 300 cups of hot drinks at a boiling, jire at work daily behind the trerwnes, supplying refreshment to the men coming out, and, in London, across the water, hundreds of beds, for soldiers on leave, are provided in hostels, inclnded among which are such buildings as Buckingham Palace Hotel, whiph was handed over to the Church. Army by the Imperial Government. During the past seven months funds have been raised in New Zealand to erect ten Church Armyhuts at a cost of £SOO each. The upkeep of tha huts amounts to I=so each. The Church of England Military Affairs Committee, which controls all the institutes for soldiers in New Zealand, on the transports and overseas, is now appealing for funds to carry on the noble work. All told, upwards of £1,000,000 has been spent on this work since the war began, and the huts and hostels and other places so provided are open to all, irrespective of sect or creed, the motto being “All ar® welcome. ’ ’