Melbourne

Annual Report Of Ng

Women’S Assn. Of

rpHE following is a report of th(

i year’s activities of the Nev

Guinea Women’s Assn. Met bourne, made on July 3 by th( president, Mrs. H. A. Gregory.

Meetings have been held on the firs Saturday in each month and thus W( have been enabled to keep the Associatioi alive and a rendezvous with Territoriam which would otherwise be lost.

Food parcels have been sent to Britaii during the past year. They have beei gratefully acknowledged and, on our part we were glad to be able to do this smal service.

A donation was sent to the Shrim Memorial Fund in honour of our gallam men lost in the last world war.

A donation of £lO was forwarded t< the Bill Cook Appeal Fund, and manj members made individual donations. W< were happy to see Mr. Cook amongst those of the 2/22nd at the memorial service in January, when a wreath was placed on the Shrine in memory of oui own men who lost their lives in New Guinea.

The Xmas Party was a success and enjoyed by a great many Territorians and their friends and my grateful thanks go to the usual willing workers, Mrs.

Holland, Mrs. Pratt, Mrs. Street, Mrs.

Green, Miss Rogers, Mr. and Mrs. RO5 Smith and Mr. M. Clarke. I would like to take this opportunity to especially thank Mrs. Farnsworth, our capable and efficient Treasurer for her excellent work and co-operation throughout the year, also Miss Valda Youlden, our Secretary, for her services to the Association.

Our thanks go to the Vacuum Oil Company for an enjoyable night which they arranged for us, and to the members who donated sweets which were sold to assist our finances.

Parcels of clothing brought in during the year were collected by Mrs. Linggood for the “Save the Children Fund’’.

The Memorial Scholarship winners for the past year were Jean Ashby and Johm C. Spensley, both of whom lost their fathers during the war in New Guinea.

At present six children are benefiting from the Scholarship; they are Laloma Linggood, Nigel R. Cooper, and lam Stanton Crouch, whose awards will] terminate at the end of this year andl William R. Bliss who finishes at the endl of 1953. The awards granted this year will terminate in 1954.

Mr. Harry Erskine, popular ore

war Medical Assistant at Wau„ New Guinea, has returned, to the; town again. Mr. Erskine will be; joined by his wife and family at a. later date. He relieves Mr, E. Kuter who has been Medical Assistant-in-- Charge for the past two years.

Mr. D. E. Ward, senior geophysi- ■ cal interpreter of the American j affiliate of the Vacuum Oil Company' arrived in Australia recently en j route to Papua. Oil drilling ac- ■ tivities in the Territory will now 1 be based mostly on seismographic: data, and on Mr. Ward’s interpre- ■

tations probably will depend the;

future of activities in the area. He <

has just completed a three-year ‘

assignment in Indonesia.