UNKNOWN SOLDIER

Hokitika Guardian, 29 March 1928, Page 1

UNKNOWN SOLDIER

IN MENTAL HOSPITAL. t By Telegraph—Press Assn., Copyright. , 1 WELLINGTON, Alarch 28. < There lias been in the Cullon Park ; Alental Hospital at Sydney for the j past eleven years, a soldier whose , identity has been a mystery. The ( official records show that the patient ( dressed in an Australian soldier’s lmt j and civilian clothes, was found wan- , f during in a London street at the height of the war. He told the authorities that lie was an Australian soldier, hut. Beyond that, he could not remember anything. The Australian Repatriation Department had disowned him, declaring that a search of the whole of the Australian Imperial Force enlistments had failed to identify him as an Australian. After all these years he ap|K?ars to have been identified as a New Zealander, George Thomas AfcQuay. a native of Auckland. On Alondny afternoon, a visitor from Sydney was received by the Base Records Office of the Defence i Department, Buckle Street. This visitor had certain particulars relating to an unknown soldier in an Australian Hospital, and who. it is thought maybe a New Zealander. Details relating to the man are contained in a circular issued by the Returned Sailors and Soldiers’ Imperial League of Australia. and give a photoograph of a man, with details of his weight, age. and apjiearanc-e. Acting under instructions from the Adjutant-General, the Record's Office immediately proceeded with inquiries. After communication with Australia by cable yesterday afternoon, a repl.v was received this morning from Sydney, giving details of the man corres-

ponding with the circular received on Alonday afternoon. and also his mother’s addresses at Orlando Street. Stratford, Taranaki. It was also stated that there are now two persons who have identified the man as AfcQuay. A search of the Records soon brought forward the file of George Thomas AfcQuay. He was horn at Auckland on the 25th. of August 1880 and on the 17th. February 1915 he enlisted for service with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. The description therein practically tallies with the one from Australia. After consideration and confirmation of certain details, it was decided to communicate with the parents, the mother at the address given in the cable .and the father at AYaihou. They have been urged, however, not to become too hopeful, as the investigations' are not yet complete. The New Zealand Government’s agent in Sydney has : been asked to obtain further particulars of the soldier, and the Defence Department has also asked the Australian military an-' thorities to furnish particulars as to how AR-Quay came tinder their control. " As the case stands at present, there is 'faint hope that the missing soldier

mav leturn to his father and mother. MOTHER IDENTIFIES PHOTO. NEAV PLYMOUTH, Afarb'h 28. A photograph' stated to have been taken of the unknown soldier in the Alental Hospital in Sydney, and forwarded to Wellington for identification in New Zealand, was brought to Stratford this evening, and handed to Airs Robert AlcQuay, Orlando St. She immediately identified it as the photograph of her son, Thomas George AlcQuay. She says that, though lie has changed considerably since she last saw him in 1915. he is without doubt her son.