FUN FOR TOMMY ON SEA VOYAGE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18188, 22 June 1927, Page 8

FUN FOR TOMMY ON SEA VOYAGE.

BOREDOM ON TROOPSHIPS MUST BE ABOLISHED. I * sergeants p!t«~hin* quoits, I ’ear the women laugh and talk, I spy upon the quarter-deck The orders an’ lydien walk. —“For to Admire.”—Kipling. LONDON. May 21. “Officer Commanding Relief of Boredom,” is the title that might b® applied quite unofficially to Mr F. L. Robson, of the Indian Y.M.C.A. ll© has just travelled to this country on the military hospital ship Kevassa, for the express purpose of helping to make the daily round more interesting and. amusing for the 1200 odd souls on board. Mr Robson had to cater for th® amusement of several hundred soldiers, an equal number of sick bay patients, about 150 children, and several dozen wives of soldiers. His varied round of operations included:Arranging deck sports and games. Organising concerts and whist drives. Lectures and working the magic lantern. Conducting community singing. Discussing emigration questions with men coming home for discharge. Spending an hour each day amusing the children. Distributing books and other literature. Running a fancy-dress carnival for 130 children. Helping at church parades and children's services. Circulating his gramophone and fifty records round all parts of the ship, and Assisting at amusements with songs at the piano. A Press representative asked Mr Robson yesterday what he did in his spar® time, but received no reply! Death to Boredom. “It was a most interesting experience,” said Mr Robson, “and my efforts seemed to be appreciated. “I think this idea of having somaone on board to organise recreation and entertainment should be extended to all troopships to drive away th® boredom and monotony inseparable from theee long voyages. “My gramophone was in tremendous demand. It was the only one in the ship, and the sick bays, the married men’s quarters, the children, th® troops, and the officers and their families all had their share of it. “A good number of men were coming home for discharge, and every day I got some of them together and discussed emigration with them, with a view to helping them to get a start in civilian life. Those interested I placed in touch with the Y.M.C.A. department dealing with emigration.”