SOLDIERS' LETTERS

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 281, 16 August 1918, Page 3

SOLDIERS' LETTERS

THE HISTORICAL RECORD APPEAL TO RELATIVES | The appeai for letters from soldiers Who are or who liavc been 011 activo service in this war for the purposes of colmaterial that may be of use for the writing of a history of the part played by New Zealand in the great struggle has met with a fair response, but the Director of Base Records would 'be glad to hayo more of these letters and diaries. Relatives who are in possession of letters from soldiers may perhaps think that they are of no value, but it happens very often that a letter which is made up mostly of personal matter contains some one or two facts, as, for instauce, a date or the particular unit -which went first into some action. It is. feared that there is still some distrust on the part of relatives about the scheme. It should be understood that all letters and diaries sent in to the Base Records Office aire most carefully recorded. They aro read iby an officer of the Department, who is not a soldier, has no rank, and does not wear uniform. He marks tho letter or document without defacing it to show which parts of it ho considers valuable for the purposes of the irecord to bo kept, and these passages so marked are transcribed by a typist. These are tho only two people in tho office who see the letters. As soon as a document is sent in an acknowledgment gow to tho sender, and immediately afterwards it is read and examined as to its historical value. In most eases tho extracts are made in a couple of days, though it mr.y happen in some cases that a document will be, held for it week, but .never longer. No personal matter is ever extracted. There iiopcl be 210 fear that the contents of any of the letters sent; in will be used in any way against the soldier writing them. The' Chief Censor has already undertaken that no disciplinary action will be taken against a man who may have committed breaches of the censorship rules, or who may have criticised a superior officer. 111 any caso the Censor does not see the letters, and cannot ibecouie aware of the contents of any of them.

A great deal of very valuable material has v beeji obtained already, and the extracts have l>een selected with thoroughness and, classified under suitable headings. ■It happens that a considerable quantity of matter hns been received about the Palestine operations. The Sen. ussi campaign and the- Oannl fighting also seem to be fairly fully.covered, but more material is wanted about Gullipoli, and especially about tho Suvla Bay operations on August C, and the evacuation. Stories about tho landing also are always welcome. Battle stories in letters or diaries rarely fail to afford • useful material. Sometimes, though not very often, the reflections of soldiers on the war are considered to he worth recording, , Another department of army activity not yet fully covered is the medical side. Letters from medical oncers ■ would, be gladly received. Up till tho present tho only letters on this subject have been from soldiers in tho medical corps or from other soldiers. , There have been none from medical officers. And of course any matter about operations in France or in Flandeirs may useful historical facts. The record is going to be a useful and a valuable one for tho compilation of the Now Zealand history of the war, and it is very desirable that it should be made as complete as possible. It is not being kept in any per. i'uiiclory 'way. '