An Appreciation

Rodney and Otamatea Times, Waitemata and Kaipara Gazette, 26 February 1936, Page 7

An Appreciation

, This month's issue of the "ISi.Z. U.S.A. Review" has the following: —"As we go to press, Mr W. M. (Pat) O'Hara, the aviator, is proceeding through New Zealand, on holiday. That is tne name he gives his-tour, but those connected with the New Zealand Returned Soldiers' Association know that what he is doing is one of the finest examples of the spirit of comradeship that'it has been the pleasure of this Review to record.

In his Klemm Eagle aeroplane Pat takes his holiday—he is an exN Z.E.E. Machine Gunner who, after the war, settled in Java on a plantation —and, at his various stops, he has very generously allowed his machine to be inspected, and has given flights to those who make a donation to the funds of the local R.S.A.

Pat is a most.modest chap ; when he arrived at the Eongotai Aerodrome, Wellington, he' was accorded a cordial welcome by Hon. Mr F. Langstone, on behalf of the Government, Mr W. H. Bennett (the De-puty-Mayor), Mr C. W. Batten (on behalf of the Aero Club), and Mr B. J. Jacobs (Dominion Vice-President N.Z.R.S.A.), on behalf of the ex-ser-vice men. In reply he modestly referred to his great Tasman flight, stating that ther£ was nothing in it compared to what had been faced at Messines, Passchendaele, and on other fronts ; he referred to his long absence from New Zealand and to the meeting of his old comrades, many of whom had aged considerably ; and he stated that when he had found the fine activity of the Returned Soldiers' Association in New Zealand, and its problems, he felt that he could not leave the Dominion without endeavouring to, in in some small measure, assist the men who were beginning to feel the effects of their warservioe.

When he made this splendid suggestion— per medium of the Waikato Eeturned Soldiers' Association, he expressed his earnest wish that there should be "no fuss or bother" —no receptions or smoke conceits, and that no one should put themselves out for him.

Such actions as these are not frequently met with, and the ex-service men throughout this Dominion will, we know, join with this N.Z.R.S.A. 'Review in expressing thanks and sincere appreciation to a digger comrade, Pat O'Hara, for his kindness, and our best wishes to him in his future wherever he may go.