A NEW ZEALAND D.C.M.

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2625, 22 November 1915, Page 7

A NEW ZEALAND D.C.M.

LIEUT. CECIL HUMPHREYS IN. SCOTLAND.

Advice lias been received in Wellington- that Lieutenant Cecil Humphreys, D.O.M.j of Chriatchurcli, who has had a brief, but exceptional, career in theArmy, is at present* at' the Stobs Camp in Scotland, whore he is engaged in instructing the young officers in trench warfare.. Lieutenant Humphreys, who was a civilian when tho war broke, out, and know nothing at all of militarj' (natters, was in ' London when the hostilities commencetlj and immediately volunteered. He signed, on in the Army Service Corps,, but was so anxious to get into the trenches that ho relinquished hifi stripes and'joined the line regimonfc. Through all tho severe fighting he v)as conspicuous for his bravery and initiative, and promotion came rapidly.. He was wounded in the thigh at Neuve Chapelle and narrowly escaped death.' A shrapnel shell burst in tho trench in which he was fighting, but luckily tho trench was _ full of water; otherwise all in tho vicinity must have cither been killed or wounded. Although a portion of his thigh was carried away, Lieut. Humphreys continued to fight for twelvo hours afterwards. As the result tlio wound had to be kept open for five weeks in order to rid it of dirt. After being in hospital for a long time, Lieut. Humphreys is now at Stohs Camp.

Lieut. Humphreys is a son of Mrs. Rowse, who was_ licensee of the Excelsior Hotel,. Christchurch, 'for several years.