N.Z. SOLDIERS IN ENEMY HANDS

Southland Times, Issue 24829, 22 August 1942, Page 5

N.Z. SOLDIERS IN ENEMY HANDS

CONTRAST WITH LAST WAR The change in the character of warfare as between the present war and the war of 1914-18 is sharply reflected in a comparison of the New Zealand soldiers taken prisoners now and then. During the whole of the 1914-18 conflict only 501 New Zealand soldiers were captured by the enemy, 464 in France and Flanders, 25 on Gallipoli and 12 in Egypt. The exact number of New. Zealand soldiers now in Axis hands is not known, but with those captured in the recent fighting in Egypt the total is probably close to 7000. The contrast becomes all the more marked when it is remembered that in the present war the New . Zealand Division has been engaged in actual battle areas probably no longer than the New Zealanders were on Gallipoli in the last war, namely, eight months. In addition, after the evacuation of Gallipoli the New Zealand Division spent two and a-half years on the Western Front. During those years the division had short spells for rest and reorganization, but it was never actually away from the battle area and had its full share of front line duty and of offensive operations. The division suffered heavy casualties. In every offensive <in France except the final advance the number', of killed and wounded averaged one-third of the troops actually engaged. Ten per cent, is regarded as a normal casualty rate. The mobilized strength of the New Zealand Division in the last war was 124,211 and of these 97,335 went overseas. Casualties totalled 59,483, made up of 18,166 killed and 41,317 wounded. It will be noted that the total casualties were considerably more than half the number of men who went overseas, and that the number killed was about 20 per cent. Although the battle casualties, were heavy deaths from sickness and disease were remarkably low, totalling only 1622 for the whole war. This is a tribute to the precautions taken by the medical service to safeguard the health of the soldiers.