League Secretary's Notes,
THE YPRES TIMES
57
TO OUR NEW MEMBERS.
We take this opportunity to welcome all our
new members who have joined during the past
quarter, and we respectively call upon your
valued support in recruiting. All your friends
who served in the Ypres Salient should be
approached and informed of our aims and
objects. Although many years have lapsed
since the Armistice, it is an infinite pleasure for
ex-service men to meet and talk over in detail
their lives at Ypres in its worst conditions, and
the chief aim of the Ypres League is to keep
alive the great deeds and sacrifices of those who
fought and died in the Salient and to make the
post-war generation realize what happened on
that famous battlefield.
Membership is open to all who served in
the Immortal Defence," and on joining as
Subscribing Members at 5s. a year, or as Life
Members at £1 10s., they receive Scroll Certifi
cates as a record of their service.
The children of those who gave their lives
in the defence of Ypres are eligible to join the
Junior Division and receive suitably worded
certificates. At the age of 18 years they may
enrol as full subscribing members, and so help
to carry on our work.
We wish to inform our new members that the
League has been inaugurated now ten years,
and in our last January edition of the Ypres
Times we drew attention to the fact that we
were determined to make 1930 a record year,
specializing in a strong recruiting campaign,
and we want those who have recently joined to
do their bit in this direction. The current
number of the Journal contains an enrolment
form, so we feel it will not be long before you
find your first recruit.
Another way in which you can be of great
service to the League is your interest in the
Ypres Times. Many of you have vivid recollec
tions of your experiences on the Western Front.
Battle articles and those of humorous vein will
be gladly received for the consideration of the
Editor. All the original articles appearing in
the Ypres Times are written by our members, so
we hope that if any of you are gifted in the
literary line you will not fail to submit a con
tribution.
We thank you in advance for the support
which you are kind enough to give us.
TO BRANCH SECRETARIES AND
CORRESPONDING MEMBERS.
We have much pleasure in announcing that
Mr. W. C. Dunford has very kindly consented
to act in the capacity of Corresponding Member
at Leicester, and we feel most grateful for the
time he has already given to recruiting and in
making the League's work more widely known
through the medium of his lectures on the
Ypres Salient. Mr. Dunford is ambitious in
forming a branch of the League in Leicester,
and we wish him every success in his endeavours.
A most encouraging fact of the New Year is
the steady flow of new members. For this we
are chiefly indebted to the sterling work of Mr.
W. H. Duncan Arthur at Congleton to our
London County Committee, who have gone to
a great deal of trouble to increase the member
ship in London and in the provinces to the
following old members Mr. T. Marsland of the
Whaley Branch, British Legion, and Mr. S. F.
Phillips of the 85th Field Ambulance. Both these
gentlemen are also giving a great deal of their
valuable time in raising parties to travel to the
battlefields during the summer under the auspices
of the League.
Another member, Mr. G. E. Potts, of Darling
ton, has done invaluable work in furthering
our aims and objects during his lecture
recently given to the Durham Light Infantry
Old Comrades Association, and we are indeed
grateful to him for the help we have received
as a result of his efforts.
The Junior Division is growing slowly, and
the membership form which was inserted in the
last issue of the Ypres Times has met with fair
response. For this recruiting we are chiefly
indebted to Major E. Montague Jones, Chairman
of the London County Committee.
Our members and their friends are already
making numerous inquiries in connection with
visiting their old battle haunts. The Regi
mental Association parties already booked up
are the 2nd Londons to Arras, at Easterthe
85th Field Ambulance to Ypres, on May 9th
and the Whaley Branch of the British Legion,
on August 9th, and several more parties are
expected.
We are looking forward to the success of our
Easter, Whitsuntide and August Bank Holiday
pilgrimages to Ypres, particulars of which will
be found on page 62, and we ask all our Corre
sponding Members and others interested to
give as much publicity in their power to these
pilgrimages, either through the local press or
by distributing prospectuses, which we shall
be glad to forward on application.
In this number of the Ypres Times we are
inserting a membership form, and we earnestly
request that it will not be long before you can
return it to Headquarters duly completed, and
you will receive our grateful thanks.
We send you all good wishes for Easter and
look forward to your future support.
