A NEW ZEALAND GIFT

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 84, Issue 189, 13 August 1940, Page 6

A NEW ZEALAND GIFT

BRITISH WAR BENE' OLENT FUNDS. I Fer Press Association.) AUCKLAND. Aug. 12. It disclosed that John Court Limited, Queen Street, is the Auckland firm referred to in the radio broadcast from Daventry in the weekend for a gift of £5OOO to the British war benevolent funds. This sum forms part of total gifts of £lO,OOO made by the firm some weeks ago and which have been allocated after correspondence on the subject with the British High Commissioner for New Zealand, Sir Harry Batterbee. The offer of £5OOO mentioned was stated to be in appreciation of the valorous efforts of the services at the evacuation of Dunkirk. It has been agreed to allocate the gift equally between the Soldiers’, Sailors’ and Airmen’s Families’ Association and the King George’s Fund for Sailors. The King George’s Fund covers both the Royal Navy and Mercantile Marine. Of the balance, £2500 was transferred to the Lord Mayor of London’s appeal for the Duke of Gloucester’s Red Cross and St. John Fund. The Lord Mayor has cabled his sincere and grateful thanks for the most generous gift.

It was intended to pay the remaining sum of £2500 to the French Red Cross, but in view of the German occupation of most of France and the general change in the situation, this idea has been abandoned. At the suggestion of the British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, the money has been sent to the AngloFrench Solidarity Committee in London. This committee is co-ordinating the expenditure for all charitable purposes on behalf of the free French forces in the United Kingdom. Its activities are under official superT''ior