A Bournemoutb but.

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume VIII, Issue 1, 1 July 1917, Page 6

A Bournemoutb but.

The Work of the Church Army at Suez and Malta*

. ; Company ''.'Ser^eant u M.aj(A:'..;Hn.sstap;' thus writes to Whs BoummoutH :■ Vih* itorf Directory \-±- ■■ ' / . '.!:-!;• '■ J '^ : "' : ■ !, \. : -'' ;: -fi^^ .o I was brought to the Island (Malta) with -t a ship load of : wounj^e«ji and ack patients from Salonika. Malta is a jrtace to which they send thf Worst cases froth Salonika to rest and get cenvaiescent.: An evening or two after my arrival I was walking around the hospital rgrounds; At the foot of the hill, and almost on the water's edge I noticed a Church Army marquee—or double marquee^— and the place looking invitingy I toddled down and entered. : v; This marquee is esentrally- d soldiers' home. The place is furnished with easy chairs; lounges, chesterfields and such like articles of rest. It is decorated with bunting and various kinds of plants. There are "baby" billiard tables, .bagatelle table, reading tables, piano, gramophone, lending library, ahd aft; abundance of books, papers, ndajgazines and humorous journals of all kinds. That is iii the first jportipn. -!;.' The second !.is diVided into > ; a Wrilin^f room —With material free of charge— and a small devotional chapel; tiastefully fitted. Here there is a short Sbrviqe each evening, arid Pri Sunday the Whole of the second marquee is thrown JntO the chapel, and the usual Church oi England Services are held. At night the recreation, f bom .isVch^e^il^fijpiteiAi.'. concerts are held, arid if ifcffix&d programme is being carried out the piano or the gramophone is oh the "g© with the latest popular airs. Need. l tell you that the p&ce is Well piatrbri&ed by the patients' frbiri the hoSpitaf aftd: bthei^ soldiers m the viciriity"; Captaiit Wyattis a gonial! good sbtil, Who^hal the knack oTeridearirij^ men. What struck me , most of all about the place is the general air bf unrestrained sociability. There is, of course, the atmosphere of Christian brotherhood, : brit ill is J hdt ; overdone-— heri<s its pioprilaHt^y with? thesbldiers, The trie^edJitd^t £ 3(Mi OM $rbftded|' %JStail©i»

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. dation for 5:00 men, and yet it was by fio trieanS i&rge Si^g^ ihe calls #ppn it. Afterwards it w^a,s mpved to pl Ferdan, and at the present time is Jbeing used as a GarriSon Church at Kantara, although retaining still the ffecreatiye side of its purpose. I have said it was not nearly large enough. Mr Wyatt tells nic it was the only building of its kind m the neighbourhood,, and* was requisitioned for all sorts of purposes. Under the auspices of the Church Army, evening prayers were, said daily, whilst at given periods celebrations of the Holy Eucharist Were given. These were well .attended by troops from the various divisions. Mr Wyatt told me that on Sundays as many as thirteen services were held m the Hut m one day, of which six 0. of E. The others were held by other denominations. These good folk had no place of their own, and as the Bournemouth Hut was the only building, and the broiling sun made open-air services an impossibility, the C. of E. authorities lent the Hut to the others. • Some idea of the extent to which the Hut was used may be gathered from the fact that between .1,500 and .2,000 letters were written and posted m the Hut letterbox a day ! The lending library consisted of 2,000 volumes of all the popular authors, and was extensively used. Every night the Hut was crowded, so much so that when a concert was given it was necessary to give three performances before all the crowd could be accommodated. It is also interesting to note that whilst Mr Wyatt was m charge three Confirmation services were held by the Bishop of Jerusalem. General officers, staff officers, regimental offik cers, were frequent visitors to the Hut, and many of these left behind them records of their appreciation. The Chaplains to the Forces were also generous m their praise. One Chaplain wrote: — We owe a 'great debt to the Bournemouth Hut at Suez, which extended liberal hospitality to our O.EM.S. gatherings and to Confirmation candidates. . . . It can truly be said that the presence of the Church Army m our midst, by contributing so largely to the means' at our disposal, doubled the usefuLness of the Chaplain's Work. A Brigadier- General wrote : I had some, experience of their wOrk m Suez, "where the Bournemouth Hut was of the very greatest value to hien m a place singularly devoid of healthy places <pf mastiine aud -^museinent.

The Hut and all that it afforded was much appreciated by the men, aS its crowded appearance Shows. Mi*. Wyatt, who was m charge, was always most willing to place the Hut at disposal for any special purpose, such as concerts or lectures— in fact, his effort was to iriake it of general use and of real benefit to the soldiers. '..It;: Was well managed and well kept. So much for the Top-notchers. Now for specimens of Thomas Atkins' remarks m the* Visitors' Book:— "A glimpse of English comfort," "A soldier's friend out of civilisation," " A rest and real contentment," "'An oasis we are all thankful for," ''Reminder of the old home," ! " Nearest home for 3,000 miles," ''Home froth home," !' For God, the King, and country," "Tlio ever open door," '"A refresher m Egypt," •"" An Englishman's home." Some of qourse, unburdened themselves m less serious vein. I found such remarks as these; — -"Just Al, 'nuff sed," " Home m the desert for dodging the column," "Always merry and bright," " People who understand what is wanted on active, service," " Some place," " A home of luxury m the wilds for Tommy," "It's a bit of alright here," " The best hut under the sun of Egypt," " A pool m the desert," "Absolutely it," "Aladdin rejuvenated," "A boon to the boys m this great wilderness," "I cleaned the windows on Good Friday, cleanliness being next to Godliness,"- "The place is an unexpected Paradise to me," ■■" A'l thanks duo to those who organised the ei'ectio.n of this hut."