ALLEGED DELAY IN OUR CASUALTY LISTS

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2641, 11 December 1915, Page 3

ALLEGED DELAY IN OUR CASUALTY LISTS

[ DIFFICULTIES EXPLAINED. 1 (From Malcolm Ross, Official War CorI respondent with the N.Z. Forces.) • 1 • October 11. > _ I note there has been some criticism ; in regard to the apparent slowness with ; which the names of those New Zealand- • ers who have fallen on t'lio Peninsula have been forwarded from tho scene of ( action. : Whatever may be said to tho ■ contrary, tho method adopted is the best-that--could bo devised. In fact, )it is'tho only, safe one, and if people , only, knew'tho almost insuperable diffi- ., cullies that havo to be overcome in the ,' difficult situations that have occurred I out here, along a hampered lino of com r ; munications, duo allowance would uri- ■ doubtedly be made for tho delay. To : begin with, battalions send in their rei ports once a week direct to the base. ~ rhat is to save dealing .with two usual ; intermediate channels .. of communica- [ tion—the ' Brigadier and Divisional i Headquarters. This report contains ; tho names of casualties—killed, woundi ed, missing, prisoners, and sick. Tbo • base in this case is necessarily at Alex- , andria. For each man there is a page i in a loose-leaf ledger. _ and particulars ' are entered opposite nis name. The .first return—especially after a .battle of any magnitude—is invariably incom-. p'eto, and contains errors. Before an accuratelist can bo made out for transmission it' must be checked, with other returns and information such as the base receives from the medical units and the hospital ships. When these returns are compared, a large number of discrepancies are found. Thus, in the battalion report, Private Jones may— on the strength of'what a comrade has seen or imagined he has seen—be tb-' ported killed in action, whereas a week or so_ later he may appear in hospital suffering from lumbago! Mistakes are especially apt to be made in the case of a big battle, or where a position has to be stormed in -the darkness. Tho mistakes aro equally numerous in an action whore a fafes has subsequently to retire over a rough ground or from, enemy trenches, that it has captured: "Missing." Many of the bodies are never recovered ; they lie in £7To no-man's land between the opposing trenches, into which none dare venture, even under the cover of night. Others are buried by the enemy in hurriedly-dug graves amongst the scrub or in the trenches, where they fell.' Thus it will generally be found that not many of those finally classed as "missing" return, though sometimes . days afterwards, ' a few straggle in, wounded or exhausted by the fighting. Many a man has saved his life by shamming dead when he has found himself in a hopeless situation; hut, generally, the New Zealandors and Australians fight on, and after a few days there is not much chance of the return :of their "missing." The only hope is that, either wounded or unwounded, they are prisoners in the hands of the Turks, in which case they will be well . treated, .for the Turk, , unlike the Bosches, has, on fhe Peninsula, at least, proved himself humane and "a clean fighter. Groat oare has also to bo taken in cases where men have been almost blown away by bombs or high explosive shells. Over and over again, in a charge; men have beon reported killed, and afterwards' they havo come in, wounded-or-untouched. There have even been cases where a chaplain has reported burying a certain man, and that man has turned up safe and sound I Thus, it will bo seen that needless anguish would be caused to many parents if any undue celerity were exeroised in .'forwarding the lists. 1 At the Petone Oddfellows' Hall last evening a well-attended conc'ert was held in connection with the Convent School. The senior and junior girls and infants gave items that were well received. Others contributing were:—M.. Reed, R. Moore, M.- Cloherty, A. Keating, C. Lacey, 0. E. and K. Ryder, K. Locke, E. Cate, D. Collett, F. Whitley, T. Cooper, L. Wright, B. O'Brien, and M. Bolton. A drama, entitled "The Reverse of the Medal," was presented; the characters being taken by M. Carter, L. Wright, 6. Purcell, T. Chestermail, K. Walshe, M. • Reed; and I. Walsh. The junior boys rendered an item, entitlod "The Soldier," that was much appreciated. •