MOURNED AS DEAD

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 103, 25 January 1935, Page 11

MOURNED AS DEAD

Man Been in Dominion For 19 Years NOW AT AUCKLAND Last Meeting With Mother in London By Telegraph—Press Association. Auckland, January 24. Mourned for by his aged mother in England for the past 19 years as dead Percy Roberts, whose disappearance was mentioned in a cablegram published in the New Zealand Press today, has actually been in New Zealand since the Great War and for many years has been living in Auckland. As a result of war service he has suffered partial loss of memory. He is now 50 years old and for the past 10 years in particular has been in poor health; A few weeks ago he was discharged! from the Auckland Hospital, where he had been a patient for seven months, but it is possible that he will shortly have to re-enter the institution. Through the efforts of Mr. and Mrs. Goodsail, of Grafton, by whom he has been befriended, Roberts’s mother, Mrs. Mary Roberts, who is aged SO, and his two sisters, have been traced .and letters are now on their way to New Zealand. His father died .about 30 years ago. Last Seen In London. Roberts was last seen by his relatives in London in 1916 and later was reported “missing, believed dead.” In an interview Roberts was able, with the assistance of Mrs. Goodsail. who has known him for the past 25 years, to give an aAount of his movements over that-period. “I left home and came out to New Zealand in 1911 landing at Wellington, where I worked for some time as an electrician, my occupation,” he began.- “At the beginning of 1916 I was in Wellington again and enlisted, sailing with the 16th reinforcements. “I went with the engineers, but when I got to France I was sent to the 3rd Auckland Company, and became a private in the infantry signallers. Towards the close of the war I spent two months in hospital in France, suffering from trench fever.’ I was later sent to England and was in Broekenhurst Hospital when the Armistice was declared. t “It was while I was on leave from tlie hospital that I went to London to see my mother. That was the last time we jnet. I returned to Broekenhurst Hospital still suffering from tlie effects of the war, and was there for some time. When I was discharged I returned to New Zealand, and have been here ever since, making my headquarters at Auckland.” “One or Two Decent Jobs” “I have had one or two decent jobs since I have been in New Zealand,” said Mr. Roberts. “Before I went away I ‘was electrical engineer for the Tafhape Borough Council. After the war. however, I would remain in a job for a time and then have to give it up on account of ill-health. I installed the electrical plant at the Morewa Freezing Works, near Kawakawa. “I was also with the Government on the Hikurangi drainage works, as mechanical engineer, and for a short time I was with the Waiuku Borough Council. I have had many other good jobs but have been compelled to give them up. “During the past ten years I have been prevented from working and have spent the time in Auckland. Lots of things have been out of my memory, yet other little incidents have stuck there. Now and then I am able to recall certain things.” f Wrote Letters to Mother. * “As a matter of fact I have written five or six letters to my mother, but I think I must have addressed them incorrectly, as they have all been returned through the post. The last letter I wrote was over 10 years ago. I am now 50 years of age and until I was told to-night I thought my mother was dead. She . will be delighted at the news and I am just as delighted to know that she is alive. It is pleasant news to me.” Mr. Roberts concluded. Mr. Roberts, who has never married, is in receipt of a small war pension and is living in a room. In addition to his mother he has two sisters in England, one of whom he knows is alive. His only brother was killed at the war.