A GALLANT LEADER

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 115, 8 February 1919, Page 7

A GALLANT LEADER

GENERAL RUSSELL RETIRES FROM' 1 NEW ZEALAND DIVISION ■ • London, February 3. Writing froiii Eeverluisen on February 1, Captain Malcolm 3!oss,-New Zealaud official war correspondent, states;— To-day General Russell ..severed- his long and' brilliant connection with the New Zealand Division. We have known him as a soldier of keen initiative, quiok decision, and tireless energy, and above all. as a gallant leadcv. He himself has taken- all tho chalices of war, in .order that' tho welfare of his men should never be left to'chance. Ho was known to almost every officer and man in the front line, and there is scarcely a yard of it over, which he had not travelled. Frequently his visits to the.line were more than exciting,. and lie had many lucky escapes, his cloScst Call being, just after the. Battle of Messines, when an enoray sniper grazed his skull with a bullet that went clean through his steel helmet: Somewhat of ail idealist, General Russell yet. managed, even in , the'most 'strenuous times, to give his. schemes for recreation and the education of the men a practical turn. Tho honours which came, to him unsought he wore with becoming modesty, regarding theju largely in tho nature of a tribute to tho initiative and dauntless courago of the splen.did officers and men it was his good ■ fortune to command. As one who.has watched his military career from the Gallipoli days onward, and has seen him ' in evory battle the New Zealanders fought, from Sari Bair to Lo Quesnoy, I may, now that he has left us; express this tribute which I know is fully con. curred in by everyone in tho division, AH who are left regret his going, and all who have served under liini will wish him continued success in whatever sphere of life, he may now engage' in. Like many who have borne the continuous stress and strain of-four years of war, his heart has suffered somewhat, and it 1 it his intention, after spending a brief i holiday in Southern France; to return to ■ New Zealand at the earliest ow urtunity, J