OTAKI MAN'S LETTER

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2507, 7 July 1915, Page 7

OTAKI MAN'S LETTER

WOUNDED WELL LOOKED AFTER AT MALTA. Corporal J. O. Griffith, of Otaki, who was wounded at the Dardanelles, writes in warm terms of the kindness of the people of Malta to the wounded' arriving there. In the course of two letters to his brother he says:— "May 15. "You will no doubt know all about us long before this reaches you. . Well,: we have had a fortnight of really 'hot stuff' and the boys did get to it pro- ■ perly. It makes a chap feel proud to; be amongst such, good stuff-. On Saturday last we made a general advance, and I had themisfortune to catch one. That was on May 8, and to-day is tho 13th. I got it through the left groin. I am doing tip-top, and I can tell you it's just lovely to get into a nice bed with clean linon and be waited on. We are on the hospital ship at present sailing for Alexandria. We wiU . strike port to-day, and go straight into hospital. We have been flying,about on all sorts of boats lately, sometimes .on torpedo boats and sometimes on muio. sweepers. I think I' will do ■ the trick properly before I come back, and go up in an aeroplane, and dowu in a submar-, ine. I think that would finish th& list. . . j. »Wo have not had a mail for some weeks now, but I suppose wo will get a pile when we get settled down again. The doctor says my wound is ... not very serious, bo don't be at all anxious.' Tommy Freoman is also wounded and on this boat, i . ( "May 19. "In my last note I said we were go- v ing into hospital at Alexandria. Well,, only 100 cases were, put off there, and tho' rest sent to Malta.. ■ Wo :are nicely settled down in the hospital now, and •the Maoris are about thrCe milos from us, doing garrison'duty? My ! word the people of Malta gave us a grand reception. The ladies had stalls ,on the wharf, and every man was given toa and sandwiches, sweets, biscuits, and - 'cigarettes.-'-They/also turned out with their motor-cars, and drove' us to the hospital. ' My wound is doing very well nowy and I can hobble around with the , aid of a stick. The doctor told me I was a lucky'' man. He says that another eighth'pf an inch and I would havo 'snuffed' it'; but here I am, good enough for half a dozen Turks yet. Wo. have got a nice little home here. I think you would feel jealous if you could only look ini and see us. The nurses are so good to us all, and. they look after us as though we were their bro-' thers. We get an ,issue, of cigarettes every, day, and tliey woii'-t lot us do a single thing.. ' . \ "It was fairly ,hp't.'going at Gallipoli.The worst part was in tho landiug. Once wo got a good , stand on the land we got along very'well. Of course the enemy were acting on the defensive all the time, and it only stands to reason that, we would' lose a fair number of men, being oii,a steady advance; all Hie way. ~We got after them with the bayonet three times, but very few of - them; would face'it. -'-'Captain'-Primi Tahiwi visited us to-day, and was very, ■good. ■ He gave us many things, 1 !-