According to the Cairns Post in October 1917, letters distributed to Red Cross branches appealed for them to ‘collect and send in quantities of men's second-hand clothing and boots. Numbers of discharged soldiers, who have obtained work, call in at the Red Cross rooms for working clothes, and find second-hand garments a great boon - boots and slippers are also asked for.’ The Red Cross also organised maternity outfits and bedlinens to aid those in need.

Clothing distribution was suspended when the ‘Spanish Flu’ epidemic struck as a preventative measure against spreading the virus.