SOLDIERS’ COMFORTS

Waikato Times, Volume 126, Issue 21041, 17 February 1940, Page 6

SOLDIERS’ COMFORTS

HAMILTON APPEAL COMMITTEE EFFORTS RENEWED CALL FOR PUBLIC COOPERATION A renewed appeal for assistance in building up the fund for the provision of benefits and special equipment for soldiers serving in the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force has been made by the chairman of the donations committee of the Hamilton Patriotic Committee, Mr A. L. Tompkins, who has stressed the fact that the need is growing even greater with every enlistment. The speaker stated that, after being suspended for two months, the patriotic effort was being renewed and it was hoped that a good response would be received from the public. “With a large number of men already overseas, another echelon almost ready to follow them and still another group waiting to go into camp,” said Mr Tompkins, “the public will surely realise the need for an even stronger effort to build up the fund to provide the men with the comforts and benefits they would not otherwise be able to obtain. The Hamilton Patriotic Committee suspended its appeal just prior to Christmas to allow the public to devote its interests to seasonal matters, and now it has been decided to renew the efforts. Men in Egypt “Now that the first echelon is in camp in an Egyptian desert, the need for providing them with comforts is much greater than it would have been if they were in England,” said Mr Tompkins. “They are now living under strange conditions and in a very different climate and their needs are even greater than when they were in camp in New Zealand. “In several respects the committee was gratified at the way in which the public met its appeal before Christmas, but taken generally the response left a good deal to be desired. It has been thought, when complete and comprehensive arrangements were made for the collection of funds for this purpose, that the public would have come forward much more freely. However, it is hoped that, now most of the holidays are over and the people have settled down for another year’s work, a better response will meet the revival of the committee’s efforts. “Every day more men are joining the colours and as the numbers swell so does the need increase. The work of the committee is reaching huge proportions in providing comforts for the men, and the public can greatly lighten the burden of the task by lending their co-operation in a united effort to give the soldiers some of the facilities to which they were accustomed in their civilian life.”