ARMISTICE DAY

Waikato Times, Volume 193, Issue 22202, 23 November 1943, Page 2

ARMISTICE DAY

NEW ZEALAND TROOPS GOVERNOR TAKES SALUTE RECREATIONAL CENTRE (N.Z.E.F. Official War Correspondent) SOUTH PACIFIC BASE, Nov. 11 The Governor-General, Sir Cyril Newall, laid New Zealand’s wreath at the foot of an Allied war memorial in the Pacific on Armistice Day this year, accompanied by the French High Commissioner in.the Pacific, M. Christian Laigret, who is also Governor of a French Pacific island. His Excellency took the salute at a combined march past of Allied Army, Navy and Air Force personnel Bands of the Free French, United States and New Zealand military forces headed the parades of each nation’s representatives. Several hundred Dominion troops and many members of the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps serving overseas took part. The crowds which lined the streets greeted the march past with enthusiasm. The procession took more than half-an-hour to pass the saluting base. New Clubhouse Opened “I was most pleased to accede to the request to open the clubhouse,” said Sir Cyril Newall to the personnel of the Third New Zealand Division at a special function at a base camp to mark the inauguration of a new centre for the troops’ recreation and rest. His Excellency, who praised the work of the representatives of the National Patriotic Fund Board and helpers in building and furnishing the club, expressed the hope that it would become a social centre for as many of the force as could be there from time to time. The club, which stands in the heart of the Division’s training camp, has been designed to fill a paramount need of the Pacific troops to provide living quarters and a complete recreative centre for personnel on leave. Troops in the Pacific, said Brigadier W. W. Dcve, M.C., who introduced Sir Cyril Newall, had not had the advantage of big cities and adjacent countries in which to spend furlough, and it was the intention that this club would in some measure provide the change of environment that so many needed but so few could enjoy. Although troops in the forward areas will be unable to take advantage of the club’s facilities, as communication difficulties preclude their being given furlough, those at the training depot and in the base units will find its suitability for concerts, dances and accommodation a great asset.