Our £5000 "Campaign Comforts" Fund.
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Four More Gifts of £50 Each from the Industry—Collecting Cards Now Issued and Available--471 Cases Despatched to Date—More Extracts from Letters.
Patroness; H.R.H. Princess Arthur of Connaught.
Ladies Committee: Mrs. S. S. Long (wife of the D. S. and T., War Office), Mrs. Shrapnell-Smith (wife of The Editor:, Mrs. R. K. Bagnall-Wif d (wife of a former See. M.T.C., War Office), Mrs. W. E. Donohue (wife of the C.I.M.T., War Office), Mrs. H. N. Poster (wife of the D.A.D.T., War Office).
Hon. Sec. and Treas.: The Editor.
Purchase and Distribution: The Asst..-Editor.
The accompanying list of donations in cash shows that the total amount received, up to Saturday last, was 12452. The Fund has, since that date, turned the. halfway mark.
We this week refer (page 409) to our decision to issue collecting cards, and we invite the co-operation of readers of all ranks to ensure the proper and widespread use of these cards.
An example of the collecting card should, as we point out elsewhere, accompany each copy of this week's issue. Should the card have fallen out of any particular copy, we trust that, the recipient will write to us on the subject, and apply for one or more cards to be sent direct. These cards, it will be found, are drawn up in an unusual style, yet in one which we
feel satisfied will further the object in view. A souvenir, in the shape of a mounted full-page "CM." war cartoon, is offered, free by post, to every collector of f:,1 or more.
150 Each from 18 Individual Donors.
We have pleasure in recording the addition, since the publication of the first list of names in the Fund's "Roll of Honour" last week, of four individual; donors of 250 each. There are : Associated Equip. rnent Co., Ltd., London ; Crossley Motors, Ltd., Openshaw, Manchester; Dunlop Rubber Co., Ltd., Aston. Birmingham ; Vauxhall Motors, Ltd., Luton. We are hopeful that, with the maximum donation to the Fund fixed at one per cent. of the total which is sought; other manufacturers and traders, and other users or individual helpers, will he encouraged to augment
their initial donations by the necessary sums to raise them to the figure which we indicate. The sum of £50, if the donor is interested—or.desires to be interested—in but 1000 of the 15,000 officers and men of the A.S.C., M.T., amounts to a gift of Is. per head. It is not, of course, a question of the incidence of the sum given, but of the real claims which these hardworked and suddenly-transferred civilians have upon those of us who have to stay at home during the present war.
Extracts from Letters.
We have not space this week, owing to the preference which we give to extracts from Commanding Officers at the Front, to quote more than a few of the covering_ letters which have accompanied donations. Mr. Win. Letts, managing director of Crossley Motors, Ltd., in sending £50 from his company, writes : "It is giving us very much pleasure to do this, and I personally hope you will be able to reach the total (X5000) which you have in mind to get." Mr. J. Y. Paterson, of Ryde, I. of W., in sending cheque for two guineas, writes: "I have pleasure in sending cheque in response to your appeal for contributions for Army Service Corps comforts—a corps that has earned for itself much gratitude as well as praise for its devotion and efficiency!' We also wish to mention our particular gratification at the donation of three guineas from 2nd Lieut. J. K. Aykroyd, A.S.C., M.T. in view of the fact that he is now temporarily invalided home, and that his donation is a mark of esteem from nersonal knowledge of the valuable work which our Fund is doing.
Too Many Letters of Appreciation to Publish.
The operations of the Distribution Department of the Fund have now reached such a magnitude that it is impossible to reproduce anything like an adequate proportion of the letters of acknowledgment, thanks and appreciation, which are regularly reaching us now in large numbers. The whole of them. however, are being carefully filed, and are available for inspection by anyone, who is interested to learn how satisfactorily this branch of our activity is now being operated.
Weekly Deliveries at the Front.
Our consignments to date, it will be seen from the details we publish elsewhere, are rapidly approaching 500 cases, and by the periodic placing of orders for comforts to leave this country, either from here or from manufacturers' warehouses, we are endeavouring to ensure the regular receipt of cases by the whole of the 60 odd columns of A.S.C., ALT., for whom the subscribers to the Fund are so adequately caring. Helping to Make the A.S.C., M.T., Happy.
We wish it were possible for the latter to read all the very many gratifying letters which busy officers, in command of Supply Columns and Ammunition Parks, as well as of different M.T. detachments, yet find time to send to us expressing both their own heart-felt gratification and the enthusiastic thanks of the men who are working under them. Such letters alone, we feel sure' would be ample satisfaction to the subscribers for the guineas, for the half-crowns, or the •sixpences, which they are so generously providing to keep the wheels of this organization going round. We are all helping to make happy soldiers, and that helps the country.
Our Business Control by Busy Men.
We cannot boast that every single case of tobacco, gloves, or general comforts reaches its destination, although the proportion which undoubtedly so miscarries is, we can prove satisfactorily to ourselves, a very small one indeed ; it compares very favourably with the results achieved by other Funds, which have not the dual advantages of business control by busy men, and the efficient and never-failing assistance and direction of W.D. and Active Service Officers of all grades.
When the 23rd Gets the 54th's Tobacco.
It sometimes happens, for instance, that we get an acknowledgment, shall we say, from the 23rd Divisional Supply Column of four cases of tobacco. We know quite well that we have despatched them two only. They thank us with full hearts for those four cases, and we feel that we can excuse them for the slight omission to mention that two of the cases should have gone to the 34th. Perhaps they tried hard to find the 34th for those two odd cases—and perhaps not.
0.C.'s and Non-Corns. Who Do Their Best For Us.
In such instances as these, which we are able to cheek quite well, we always come to the conclusion that the very best possible assistance, under the circumstances, has been given to us by the men on the spot to ensure that our requests and instructions with regard to adequate and proper delivery of our cases have been carried out under conditions of distribution which are fraught with extraordinary difficulty. They invariably spare no pains to help us clear up and adjust such occasional diversions.
How We Try to Keep Matters Adjusted.
In such cases, as that imaginary one which we have suggested above, the 34th obviously goes without its tobacco for a time. Our course then is to correspond with the 0.0. of the 34th to tell him of the circumstances, and no doubt some time or other he comes across the O.C. of the 23rd, and they cheerily talk about it between them. What we do is to see that the column, which had thus so unfortunately been deprived of its delivery, is the next on the list in our new consignment, and the column which has had its double rations already does not go on that list at all. In that way, and in many other ways, which we cannot find space to describe, are we able to correct and adjust, as time goes on, the delivery and distribution methods, which are now, we consider, in a very satisfactory state of development.
It's on the Cards.
Our records, carefully kept on a simple card-filing system, are open to the inspection of any subscriber who cares to examine them. Our confidence in making this offer is the very best evidence we can afford to those "who are putting up the money" that we are sparing no single effort, first of all, to get the best possible value for them in respect of purchases, secondly, to take infinite care that every precaution is effected to ensure "the goods being delivered." So far, we ourselves, who are no sparing critics of our own handiwork, are satisfied with the progress.
A Few Extracts from Some Hundreds of Letters of Appreciation.
We have written above that we cannot, for obvious reasons, include any large proportion of extracts from the hundreds of letters which have arrived from the Front, with reference to our subscribers' gifts. We ehail, in future, confine ourselves to making very brief extracts from a few of the communications, which appear to us to convey news and information with regard to the operations of the Fund, which it is as well to make public.
This week, for instance, we can find room for the following extracts :
The O.C. No. 1111 Am. Park writes a very appreciative letter, of which the following is a part:—
" The officers. non-commissioned officers and men of this Park wish to thank you, and through you the many subscribers to your Campaign Comforts Fund, for the case of most excellent driving gloves, which we have just received. The gloves arrived at a most opportune moment,as the cold is intense and makes lorry driving anything but a joy-ride, particularly when the hands are unprotected.
"I have distributed the gloves to my first drivers, who much appreciate them, and also the kind thoughts for their welfare, which have prompted you to originate and uour readers to support, the Campaign Comforts Fund.
"I think you cannot do better than send out gloves, heavy leather ones, which are really appreciated, and taken care of by the men, who now know from experience what it is like to drive with frozen hands."
"I cannot say how highly those gifts of yours are appreciated and what encouragement the men feel at being so kindly remembered by their friends at home." —0.C., 72 Coy. • Ind. Pale Amm. Park.
"Although we have already had an issue of gloves, things get lost so quickly out here that your present of them will come into immediate use."—O.C., • Div. Sup. Col. .
"Perhaps you would like to know that footballs and boxing gloves are in great request out here. If you are kind enough to send us comforts in the future, something included of this sort would be highly popular."—O.C., II Div. Sop. Col. [We purchased 80 footballs last week.—En.]
"I wish to thank you and your subscribers for their great kindness to -us—a kindness which is greatly appreciated by all ranks."—O.C., 27th Amm. Park.
"I cannot find words to express the look of satisfaction on each man's face as he receives your gift, which is always very acceptable—especially the
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woollens in such a climate. I think the C.C. Fund will be ever green in the A.S.C., M.T., man's memory."
"These boxes of bull's-eyes are a source of pleasure, inasmuch that they bring home to the men the knowledge that they and their work are much appreciated.' —0.C., 1•11 Indian Corps Amm. Park.
"The officers and men of the •• Div. Sup. Col., In Co., wish to thank you for the eases of comforts which have been received by them. They .consider they are very fortunate to have received such comforts after having been such a short time in the country. The gifts most appreciated are, I think, the sweets, cigarettes, tobacco, and lighters, but I need hardly say that anything you are kind enough to send will be warmly appreciated."
The Tobacco is Top-hi Ir.
The following are extracts from a letter addressed to our Managing Director by a member of one of the Indian Divisional Transport Columns :
"It was my pleasing duty, as Q.M.S. of my company, to distribute, at 6.30 this morning, the contents of the splendid cases which the Campaign Comforts Fund has sent out. I much admired the clean and tasteful packing. The little boxes of matches are just the thing to please the men, and the 'Want Cards' were in special request. I addressed the men very shortly as to the use of matches and cigarette papers, and also how to 'get drunk in French. as I know you don't know., [These were Ferodo matche s.—En.]
"The tobacco is top-hole, but the men smoke the cigarettes first."
A Word in Praise of the M.F 0.
In conclusion, we should like to offer a word of praise for the invariable courtesy and remarkable promptitude which any letters receive, asking for advice or information, which we may address to the Military Forwarding Officer at Southampton. The efficiency of this Government department stands revealed to us as remarkably complete. When we state that an inquiry of last week with regard to a case of some value, despatched by us in November last, was fully and promptly answered by the next post, we need say no more. To identify one single case, and to forward the information we required about it, amongst the hundreds of thousands that must have passed through that office during the past few months, is a feat of some magnitude, and one with which, perhaps, we have not in the past been too familiar in respect of Government handling. It makes our special task of distribution a much easier one. This is one of the Departments working for the present great national cause, which is not likely to get much limelight. What little we can afford it, it will be our
pleasure to turn on. It is essentially a transport service.
Our New Inquiry Department is Organized and Gets to Work.
We have already perfected another branch of our activities, which is destined, we feel sure, once again to fulfil the role, which we have assumed, of assisting, so far as is in our power, all those who are interested in our great industry, and of keeping them in touch with transport happenings in the field of action, and with the men who are responsible. Through the kind offices of several highly-placed officials at British Bases in France, we are now in a position, effectively, to make inquiries on the spot with regard to tracing any men of the A.S.C., of whose whereabquts their relatives and friends have been in ignorance for any considerable period of time. Where letters and parcels haye, therefore, consistently failed to reach their destination, we shall be happy, in future, to place these additional resources at the disposal of friends and relatives, and to do our best to assist them in this particular matter of inquiry on the spot.
All letters with regard to such inquiries should be clearly marked "C.M. Overseas Inquiry Department."