“CASUALTY” TELEGRAMS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2522, 24 July 1915, Page 8

“CASUALTY” TELEGRAMS

OFFICIAL INSTRUCTIONS. Following is a poster being issued h,y the General Post Office relating to inquiries about wounded soldiers at the front: — "The free telegrams of inquiry, limited to three, which next-of-kin may send about wounded soldiers in Great Britain, Egypt, or Malta must be addressed to the Secretary of the General Post Office. There is no privilege of sending free private telegrams of inquiry to soldiers direct. The inquiry is passed on by tho Secretary of the Post Office to the High Commissioner in London or to tho Now Zealand military authorities at Alexandria or Malta, as the case may be, and the form of the reply is prescribed by the regulations of the War Office. A free telegram from New Zealand cannot convey a private message of condolence or sympathy, but must be confined to an inquiry about the condition of a soldier who lias been officially-reported as wounded or as suffering from disease. Any inquiry about a soldier not so reported l must be made by private telegram and paid for. No telegram will bo accepted for dispatch freo of cost unless tho person presenting it produces the official notification showing that tho soldier inquired about has been wounded, or is suffering from diseasoj and -before being returned to the inquirer this notification must be superscribed by the officer to' whom the freeinquiry telegram is presented! with the information of its being the first, second, or third inquiry. The easiest and best course to follow is to supply full particulars at a telegraph office with a request that inquiries be made about tho wounded soldier named therein; the Department will do the rest. The in-quirer's-address should be left at the office, so that the reply may be sent direct, But a telegram may be_ sent direct to the Secretary at Wellington if preferred. It must bo briefly worded, and must contain full information as regards regimental number, rank, name, unit, and, if possible, locality - (Great Britain, Egypt, or Malta) of the person inquired for. Next-of-kin desiring information about sick soldiers in : the''Dominion should apply personally, or by letter or telegram, to tho Officer-in-charge, Sick and Wounded Soldiers' Inquiry Bureau, General Post Office, Wellington.