CHILDREN affected by the war in Europe held a special place in the hearts of Wagga members of the Red Cross in October, 1914.
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The Daily Advertiser on October 24 reported on a committee meeting held by the branch two days earlier.
It was decided then to hold a quarterly general meeting on November 11.
"The meeting will also take the form of a Christmas gift tea, to provide some warm clothing as a Christmas gift for Belgian and other refugee babies," the Advertiser reported.
The branch decided to throw the November meeting open to any member of the public who wanted to attend.
"Admission will be a gift for a baby," the paper said.
“No woman can resist the call to help the babies, and in this way will bring comfort to the mothers."
The honorary secretary of the Wagga Red Cross League, Jean Kelsey, had a letter to the editor published in the October 23 edition.
She detailed some of the branch's donations to people suffering in Europe.
The donations included 11 large bales of clothing and £150 to the Red Cross in London, with special instructions that all the money be spent on buying clothing materials for Red Cross work.
It was stipulated that "poor women in need of employment" be given the work of making garments from the materials.
"In forwarding the money with these instructions we believe it will serve a double purpose – help the sick and wounded, and at the same time it will do something towards relieving distress by providing work for the unemployed," the letter read.
Terrible Losses | NULLIFY GERMAN SUCCESSES. | FRENCH COLONIALS FEARED. | GERMAN OFFICER'S LETTER. | PARIS, Friday - A letter of a German officer participating in the fierce fighting in the region of Roye and Noyon states that any successes which the Germans scored were neutralised by their terrible losses.
“Our men,” he says, “fight bravely but the enemy are becoming more audacious and warlike.
“The Tureos and Zouaves are hardy fighters and deadly marskmen. The French inflict alarming losses.
“Our 18th Army Corps was especially badly cut up.
“We had a victory at Remincourt but it was a victory we deplore. It was veritable slaughter.
“The victims on our side were youthful Schleswig-Holsteiners, of whom only a few remain.”
“In the region of Roye we had to dig up the soil of a whole forest to bury our dead.
“The voice of conscience is choked and the finer sentiment of humanity suppressed.
“When we come across a house you may rely that nothing remains inside. We thought our trenches impregnable but we were forced to retreat.
“The Moroccan troops are a terror to our men. No sooner had we taken shelter in a wood than there was a hail of bullets from the branches of the trees, where the Moroccans had climbed to fire. Our 17th division has no ammunition nor food.
“Our leaders seem quite incompetent. Many of our men are dying from fatigue and our ill-fed horses drop dead in appalling numbers.”
Hurled Back. | GERMANS RETREAT TO OSTEND. | THREATENS TO BECOME ROUT. | DUNKIRK, Friday - A French officer declares that the retreat of the German right threatens to become a rout.
The Germans are in a state of panic owing to the futility of their violent efforts.
Seventeen hundred German dead were buried near Nieuport. Their total casualties in that district are estimated at 10,000. Many of the killed and wounded consist of raw, almost untrained, recruits.
Thirty thousand Germans, who were strongly entrenched between Ostend and Nieuport, have been hurled back on Ostend, abandoning many guns and rides.
It is reported that the British fleet’s bombardment of the German lines destroyed a convoy eight miles long.
The Emden's Ravages | CALL FORTH PROTEST. | CRUISER MUST BE TAKEN. | LONDON, Thursday - The “Times”, referring to the exploits of the Emden, says that the time has arrived to inquire when the Admiralty proposes to terminate her audacious career. Her re-appearance means a direct loss of another £1,000,000.
FALSE COLORS | BOMBAY, Wednesday - Crews of the captured merchantmen report that the Emden is flying the British white ensign (naval ensign) to avert suspicion until she comes within easy gunfire.
A GHASTLY PICTURE | A CARPET OF DEAD. | THE RAVENS' FEAST | LONDON, Thursday - Mr Stephen Graham, the war correspondent, describing the ejection of the Germans from Poland, says, “The Russians won by virtue of personal religion in the soldier and the moral justness of their cause.
“The Germans fled, leaving corpses, shells, broken guns, wagons, automobiles and motor bicycles.
“Thousands of dead lay face downwards or face uppermost, while unnumerable ravens croaked and flutter overhead.”
