Berkshire and The War: the "Reading Standard" pictorial record. Volume 3. p. 697

R IVER TRIPS FOR TH E W OUNDED.
W e can never do to o m uch fo r th e wounded. W h en we see th e blue-clad
lads lim p in g along th e streets, or painfully a ttem p tin g t o boa rd a car, we
should pause ju st fo r one m om ent and try and realise the' scenes of horror
a n d th e days and n igh ts of ph ysical and m ental a gon y th ey h ave passed
th rou gh fo r us. W e are, and w e shall be, eternally in th eir deb t. T o us,
th e n on-com batan ts, w h o have profited by their sacrifices, sacrifices m ade
g la d ly and ch eerfu lly enough, lies the pleasant d u ty o f handing them some
recom pense in th e w ay o f brigh ten ing their lives and b rin gin g happiness and
hopefulness b a ck again.
N o m an has done m ore in th is direction th an M r. E . B. Awmack, of
Broad S treet, Reading. I t was with him th a t th e idea o f h aving river trips
f o r th e w ounded originated , and it was he, who, under th e auspices o f the
Care and Comforts Committee, organised th ose trip s. R e a d in g peop le lent
con sid era b le financial aid, and th e river trips, which w ere m ade in th e finely
b u ilt and excellently appointed riv er launch€" Britannia"€ started in May,
1916, w ith a large co n tin gen t o f w ounded men.
T he trip s w ere con tin ued in M ay of this year, as m any as 120 w ounded
soldiers from th e variou s Reading hospitals being con veyed a t a tim e. They
were con veyed t o th e river in tram cars or, in th e case o f th e m ore seriously
w ounded, in bath chairs. U pon arrival at their destination th e w ounded
T om m ies w ere regaled w ith an excellent tea on th e law ns by th e riverside.
In som e in stances tea w as partaken of on board. A grea t fea tu re o f the
a ftern oon ’ s ou tin gs were th e enjoyable con certs which took place on board
th e launch, and in which m any local artistes assisted.
I t was indeed a h appy sight t o see th e soldier lads so h eartily en joyin g
them selves, join in g now and again in some popular chorus, and expressing
to th e fu ll t o all concerned th e fa c t th a t “ B ligh ty was the place ” fo r t h e m !
Th ere w ere thirty trip s organised and successfully carried ou t in 1917.
in w hich 4,000 R ea d in g w ounded participated. The launch "Tit -Bits " wras
also utilised fo r this excellent ob ject, running 37 trips w ith ten men aboard
on each occasion.
F ollow in g is th e list of th ose w ho foun d th e w herew ithal fo r th e trip s :
Athenaeum C lu b ; M r. S. B. Joel; S ir W alter Phillimore; M essrs. A . H .
Bull, L t d .; M rs. Harter ( €œ"The Grotto"€ ) ; Great W estern Passenger Staff;
M rs. Cory Yeo (Sonning ); Reading Co-operative Stores ; M r. Leonard
Sutton ; M rs. Nob le (Park Place) ; M rs. Mount ; M rs. Foster (Whitchurch );
M r. C. E. Keyser ; Phyllis Court Club (Henley ); Reading District Commercial Travellers;
Great W estern Goods and Cartage D e p a rtm en ts; M rs.
Weldon (Shiplake ); South Eastern Passenger Staff; M r. W m . Colebrook ;
Reading and District Newsagents'€™ Association ; Great Western Passenger
S taff; M r. J . H . Baylis ; Reading Bowling Club ; M r. Horace Gould ; Reading­
and D is trict Butchers'€™ Association ; Col. Macdonald (Whitchurch ); M r.
Allison (Shiplake ); M rs. A . D . Gordon ; Reading Special Constables;
Berkshire Club ; M r. W . Sime ; M r. Weldon (Shiplake ); Wellington Club ; Great
Western Signal and Stores Department.