WAR VETERANS MEET

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 75, Issue 6443, 7 November 1947, Page 4

WAR VETERANS MEET

SOUTH AFRICAN CAMPAIGNERS TE AWAMUTU REPRESENTED Many old friendships were renewed when over 50 veterans of the South African War attended the annual reunion of the Waikato branch of the South African War Veterans’ Association in Hamilton, Mr T. Parker, the president, presiding. Besides Hamilton members there were visitors from Auckland, Tauranga and other parts of the Waikato. The Te Awamutu veterans were Messrs W. Mackenzie, L. G. Armstrong, Anderson and H. A. Burchell. Mr Parker in his opening remarks apologised for the absence of the Dominion President, Mr H. Baird, of Hastings, who could not come at the last moment owing to illness. In proposing the toast of the local association, Mr H. D. Caro, Mayor of Hamilton, complimented the executive on its enterprise and work in reviving the local association, which now had a membership of 104. In proposing the toast of the Combined Services, Mr S. Lewis said that in the 1899-1902 war there was no Air Force and owing to the transport problems of the day the men had to go through many hardships. The worst of the hardships caused by poor transport was the lack of food, clothing and medical comforts for the sick and wounded. Messrs B. E. Woodhams, on behalf of the Waikato R.S.A., and M. Marshadle, on behalf of the ex-Royal Navalman’s Association expressed their appreciation for the invitation to be present and mix with the men who had blazed the trail for New Zealand in the art of warfare and laid such sound foundations for the men of the 1914-18 and 1939-45 to build upon. They both expressed the hope that 48 years after the 1939-45 war those who served in it would appear as bright, cheerful and healthy as the veterans at the re-union. Mr H. Bertram, of Auckland, referred to the work of the Dominion council of the Veterans Association and reviewed what had been done for members in the manner of pensions and the like. Representatives of the 2nd N.Z.E.FAssociation and the Prisoners-of-War Association were also present, and apologies for absence included letters from Mrs Hilda Ross, M.P. for Hamilton, Mr A. S. Sutherland, M.P. for Hauraki, and an ex-South African Veteran, Mr G. F. Sim, M.P. for Waikato, and Mr A. C. Baxter, M.P. for Raglan. The first toast after that to “The King” was a silent one, “Absent Comrades.” Interspersed with the other toasts were, items by Mr E. Tittleton (Auckland) and Mr P. Herlihy, Hamilton and Mr W. Whitehead.