CHILDREN'S CHRISTMAS PARTY
154
THE YPRES TIMES
continued popularity of these meetings gives
us encouragement, but we must ask our London
members to exercise all that is in their power to
recruit more new members for the League so
that the numbers attending the Gatherings may
increase.
The forthcoming fixtures are recorded on
page 155, and we hope they will receive the
staunch support that has been shown in the
past.
We are hopeful of organizing a dance to take
place some time in January, and full particulars
will be sent out on completion of the arrange
ments.
THE NINTH ANNUAL
organized by the
LONDON COUNTY COMMITTEE
will take place at the
WESTMINSTER CITY SCHOOL
55, PALACE ST., VICTORIA ST., S.W.I
(By permission of the Governors of the School)
On SATURDAY, JANUARY i4th, 1933,
at 4 p.m.
Admission
Junior Division Members, Free. Friends, 6d. each.
Application for tickets should be made to the
Hon. Secretary, London County Committee,
Ypres League, at 9, Baker Street, W.i., not later
than January 12th, 1933.
A Christmas Tree will again be provided.
Gifts of Toys or Donations will be very grate
fully received, and should be sent to The
Hon. Secretary, London County Committee, at
9, Baker Street, London, W.i.
The object of this party is to strengthen the
Junior Division. Junior members are admitted
to the party free, and a limited number of friends
wishing to attend will be charged 6d. each.
Last year there was a record attendance, which
we hope will be exceeded. Application for
tickets should be made not later than January
12th.
Tea commences at 4 p.m., followed by a
ventriloquist entertainment.
To some children, this is the only treat enjoyed
during the festive season, and it is hoped that
members will do all they can to give us their
support and make this annual event a great
success. There will be a Christmas Tree, and
Father Christmas will appear during the evening.
Gifts of toys and donations, for which we
earnestly appeal, will be received very gratefully
by the Hon. Secretary, London County Com
mittee, Ypres League, 9, Baker Street, W.i.
We are very pleased to announce that the
Enfield Children's Orchestra under the personal
direction of Mrs. Lea Peabody, have kindly
promised to come and give selections during the
evening.
ANNUAL SMOKING CONCERT.
Pluvius, for some inexplicable reason, seems
to cogitate a spirit of antipathy towards the
Ypres League's annual reunion of members at
the October Smoking Concert. Or is it
sympathysympathy with the spirit of the
occasion For was not Ypres, and everything
associated with it, synonymous with rain, rain,
and yet more rain Certainly the gathering on
Thursday, October 27th, was no exception to
the attention this ethereal person appears to
devote to the Caxton Hall of recent years, but
if his object was to damp the spirit of con
viviality and comradeship within, his efforts
were entirely unsuccessful.
This 1932 reunion was especially notable as the
tenth occasion of this exceedingly popular annual
event, and it was fitting that the League should
be honoured with the presence, as chairman, of
Field-Marshal The Viscount Allenby, G.C.B.,
G.C.M.G., LL.D. Lord Allenby has been, for
many years, a Vice-President of the Ypres
League, but his manifold activities do not often
permit of his personal submission to the
vociferous welcome accorded him on that night
a greeting which signified unanimously the
respect and admiration that is conjured by the
name of Allenby of the East. We were glad,
indeed, to have him with us.
Of course, Major E. Montague Jones, O.B.E.,
the ever-genial Chairman of the London County
Committee, was there. We dare not imagine
a Smoking Concert without him. He spoke of
the activities of the League during the past year,
and also said how pleased he was to learn from
the Secretary that the membership of the
League had increased by leaps and bounds
during the past few months. We all know to
what extent this accomplishment is due to
Captain G. E. de Trafford personally. Major
Montague Jones also passed an expression of
gratitude to that indefatigable worker in the
interests of the League, Mr. John Boughey, upon
whom, as Hon. Secretary of the London County
Committee, falls all the work and worry of
organizing the League's social functions in
London.
It is said that old soldiers never die and,
surely, neither will old war-time choruses. How
the rafters rattled It has not yet been dis
covered whether the element of keen business
competition now prevailing in all trades and
industries was directly responsible for the per-
