A SOLDIER ON THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2538, 12 August 1915, Page 3

A SOLDIER ON THE WAR

... MORE NEWS OF LIEUTENANT BURN. Further news received from the Indian Government regarding tho .young New Zealand aviator, Lieutenant W. W. A. Burn, indicates that he may be a prisoner in the hands of the Turks in Mesopotamia. A cablegram from the Viceroy of India a few days ago notified that Lieutenant Burn' had been missing since August 3. A later cablegram from the same source, dated August 10, states thpt Lieutenant Burn and an Australian officer were . scouting,in an aeroplane when engin<j.trouble " compelled them to descend in,the desert Jiear.ii/river (probably the Tigris). When British- troops reached the machine some time later they found it much damaged and no sign of the missing officers. ■: Lieutenant Burn's family, with the exception of one brother, Mr. J. S. Burn, of Wellington, are resident in Christchurch. The family includes,three brothers, of whom two are on active service. Trooper It. B. Burn, of the Canterbury Mounted Infantry, wont to : G allipoli : with the Maiii Expeditionary Force, and is now serving there. In a letter to his family, which has ' i just arrived Lieutenant Burnspeaks ps .follows of campaign conditions in Mesopotamia and other matters. "This place is quite a holiday compared with , service in France. In fact, officers are tent here for a ,change.. From these officers one can get. a good description of fighting in the main theatre of war. 'An officer told me that although every man 1 is determined to see this thing through, it is their one wish to get wounded badly and,be sent to' England for . treatment and a rest. If a man is only wounded slightly it means that ■he has to stay in France, while there Is also a great risk of . being killed. I. little realised when I was in Auckland how. much men were neded, and I believe that if the average man in New. Zealand heard 'some or tho tales I have heard the whole male population would clamour to enlist. The NewZealand soldier when ho enlists only has a very hazy idea- of how much he is Heeded, and thinks that 6oldiering is. rather. : a.sporting way of serving his- ■ country. When a parent loses a- son, \x>r.a sister a brother,,in.this war, the tiiore dear he was to them the prouder they should feel in the knowledge that ho gave his life to prevent his own • country and womenfolk .from .being ( treated in the way that poor, but magnificent, Belgium was treated by the Unspeakable Germane., - "We have heard of the unspeakable lurk, but he is a perfect ■ gentleman oompared with his Allies, tho Austrians and the Germans. In fact, the prison- ■ ers the Turks have taken here have been treated in the best possible way, ; end it is not always easy to he kjnd to one's enemies when one ,is : being beaten." f In his letter, Lieutenant Bum'encloses one of a number,of silk handker- • chiefs printed with maps, which lie had purchased in a native bazaar. Tho maps are of different parts of Turkey, •including Mesopotamia • and the Dardanelles,' and: of;' Australia, and New Zealand and adjoining islaud groups, with what was German: New Guinea and other former Gorman possessions circled in red; Lieutenant Burn states that tlio handkerchief maps were issued before the war was thought of. Ap- • parcntly they represent one' means taken by the Germans to popularise the idea of a. German-Turkish alliance embarking. upon a : career of conquest in the Pacific. At all events the choice of map-subjects is significant. Another curiosity forwarded by the young officer is a small aluminium medal struck by the' Young Turks to commemorate their revolution. ;