MEN PERMANENTLY MAIMED.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXVI, Issue 3567, 29 September 1916, Page 3

MEN PERMANENTLY MAIMED.

(Per Press Association),

DUNEDIN, Sept. 28. The Willochra's men spoke in the highest icrms of praise of the manner in which the people at Home strive to provide comfort and pleasure for colonial soldiers. Tho experience of the soldiers in the West is a serious, grim business. Men qualified to speak say definitely that tho conditions there are incomparable to those at'Gallipoli. At tho Dardanelles death, so to speak, worked with a hook; in the West ho slays ' with a great sweeping scythe. There are compensating conditions in the West. As a soldier puts it, "Life b mostly hell, but, unlike Gallipoli, one has glimpses of a better place." Tho food is incomparably better in Franco, and this enables tho men to stand up more resolutely to the fiercer rigour of the game. On occasions there wovq in tho West potatoes, green peas, and even ripe cherries, but as against these war itself was at all times a nightmare of big guns.

Several en board the Willochra have been rewarded for notable service. Tho first of these is the officer com-

mandimr the ship—Lieutenant-Colonel G. F. Hutton. He came to New Zealand iii 1912 as aide-de-camp to the Earl of Liverpool. Ho loft the Do-

minion in-charge of the 10th (Nelson) Squadron of tho Canterbury Mounted Rifle Heuiment of the Main Expeditionary Force, and led his men on the Peninsula until August, gaining a reputation for cool leadership and bravery. Ho-received the D.S.O. Colonel Hu'tton was wounded :twico, and returns homo invalided. Major C. E. Andrews, N.Z.S.C., who I is second in command of the Willo- ! chra's contingent, was second in command of tho Otago Battalion until a few months ago, when his health gave. way. He. was formerly stationed at Timaru, but left for the front with the first lot of Reinforcements, being Staff j officer to Lieutenant-Colonel E. It. ! Bowler. lie took part in tho landing !on Gallipoli, and joined the Infantry Brigade after the August fighting. He was" on the Western front as second in command of the Otago men for somo months. Major Andrews is accompanied by his wife, who is a trained nurse and has been rendering war service in British hospitals as a volun-. towNo de.finito answer could be got to the absorbing question as to when the war will jricl. Tho men arc satisfied that the corner has been turned, and that tho Allies are now on the way to tlioir goal; but the general opinion of tho armies in France is that it is still "a long, long way to Tipperary." The men who returned to-day have been much impressed with the high standard of recent-Reinforcements, and declare emphatically that there is need for them. ' "The job has got to be done, and somebody has got to do it." That is tho View of the soldiers who havo been there, and of the soldiers who remain. It is generally thought by the men at tho front that Reinforcements will be required for another 12 months at ieast. The officers who have been invalided home are:—Major G. J. Beattie (Sumner), Major D. W. Talbot (Motueka, three weeks' leave), Captain F. A. Ruck (Christchurch); Lieut. P. A. S. Stephens (Ashburton). Of the invalided non-commissioed officers and men, 11 are ear-marked for general hospital treatment, three for Rotorua, seven for Hanmer Springs, three on sick leave, and one, Trooper A. W. Riggs, not stated. Another man is marked " incorrigible." Following are the names of the returned soldiers, with their destinations :—

For duty: Rev. C. A. Fraer (Kaiapoi), Sorgt.-Major J. M. Gillies (Timaru), Sorgt.-Major H. F. Dyer (Christchurch). Sergt N. R. Harper (Kaiapoi), Scrgt. S. Berryman (Kohatu, Nelson), Sergt. E. Stockcr (Christchurch), Nurse E. McMurtrie (Christchurch), For hospital: Sergt. H. Foster (Reefton), Corporal N. "Clark (Lyttelton), Corporal G. Walker (Waimate), LanceCorporal W. G. Holdaway (Welling 7 ton), Lance-Corporal W. R. A. Dunn, Private R. R. Eraser (Wellington), Private T. Han (Wellington), Private E. Hill (Christchurch.), Private I. Bettgeman (Wellington), Private R. H Smith (Timaru), Trooper J. CluniesRoss (Blenheim). For Rotorua: Corporal A. Mornir (Koromiko, Blenheim), Private 1. Davies (Westport), Private J. Wallace (Collingwood). For Hanmer Springs: Corporal A. G. Burns (Christchurch), Corporal G. . l( Harr (Winchester), Driver A. Hall (Christchurch), Private W. Porter (Westport), Trooper J. D. Smith (Pnpamii), Trooper F. AY. Anderson (St.' Andrews), Trooper J. Fox (GcralOn sick leave: Sorgt.-Major H. T.L Carver (Geraldine). Private C. Koogan /Flokitilta), Trooper E. Cane (Christchurch).