The Romance of the Red Triangle: The story of the coming of the red triangle and the service rendered by the Y.M.C.A. to the sailors and soldiers of the British EmpireYapp, Arthur K. (Arthur Keysall)
History
The Romance of the Red Triangle: The story of the coming of the red triangle and the service rendered by the Y.M.C.A. to the sailors and soldiers of the British Empire
Yapp, Arthur K. (Arthur Keysall)
World War, 1914-1918 -- War work -- Young Men's Christian Associations
THE question is often asked 'What is going to be done with the Y.M.C.A.
huts after the war?' It is never easy to prophesy with any degree of
certainty, but there can be little doubt that, properly handled, these
huts will be at least as useful after the war as they are now. Their
furniture, which comprises hundreds of billiard tables, thousands of
chairs, tables, stoves, ranges, and so forth, is well fitted for doing
good service after the war. One of these huts planted down in the centre
of some rural community and staffed by voluntary workers, who have
purchased their experience by downright hard service during the war,
should be an inestimable boon. It would break the monotony of country
life; or, being set down in an industrial district of a big town or
city, would help in congenial ways to relieve the tedium of the drab
life of the workers.
The immediate problem is that of the discharged man. Incidentally his
presence in our midst is even now helping us to gain that practical
acquaintance with his needs that will be invaluable in dealing with the
greater problem of demobilisation. Thousands of men are discharged from
the Navy and Army every week. Many of these for months, it may be for
years to come, will not be able to do a good day's work, no matter how
willing they may be, and it is up to us to help them. No one who has
seen the conditions under which they have been living in Picardy or in
Flanders can wonder at this, and they will need sympathy and
encouragement on the part of their employers. The Y.M.C.A. can supply
the human touch that may be of the greatest possible service to the
Ministries of Labour, Pensions, and Reconstruction, and although the
State itself must take responsibility for the future of those who return
broken from the war and for their dependents, there will still be ample
room for voluntary effort without any taint of charity.
A number of experiments are being tried, all designed to point the way
to future efforts if such experiments prove successful. The Red Triangle
Farm Colony at Kinson in Dorset has been fitted up as a sanatorium for
the benefit of men discharged from the Navy and Army who need sanatorium
treatment because they are suffering from, or threatened with,
consumption, and whilst the men are undergoing treatment they are
trained in poultry-farming, horticulture, and other outdoor pursuits on
plans cordially approved by the authorities.
A Red Triangle Poultry Farm in Surrey is also run entirely for the
benefit of discharged men, and a somewhat larger venture is under way in
Suffolk with a two hundred acre farm and extensive fruit gardens. At
Portsmouth and other centres hostel accommodation is provided for men
who, on leaving the Navy or Army, go through a course of training for
civil life. Experimental workshops in London are proving a great
success, discharged soldiers being trained in carpentry, joinery,
picture-framing, and the repairing of pianos.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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