New Zealand

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIV, Issue 7, 11 December 1915, Page 5

New Zealand

CABLE FROM MALCOLM ROSS. KITCHENER AND NEW ZEALANDERS. RECENT FICHTINC AT .ANZAC. HOSPITAL AT SALONIKA. Peu I’uess Association. Weliiugon, December 10. The following special cable has been received from the New Zealand official war correspondent (Mr Malcolm Koss) dated November 26th.— Lord' Kitchener asked the first man he met on landing, “Are you an Australian?” The man replied, “I am a New Zealander.” Lord Kitchener answered, “We are all very proud of you at Home, and they are very proud

of you in your own country, too.” Lord Kitchener’s last words on leaving, to the New Zealand general then commanding the army corps, were, “I am very glad to have seen lor myself all that the troops have done.”

Recently the enemy artillery has been unusually active in the Anzac zone, also in bombing. At Suvla they placed 150 shells on one our sections, causing one casualty. At Helles they opened a bombardment lasting nearly two hours and attacked under cover of rifle lire the first trenches recently captured by us. Their counter-at-tacks were easily driven off. Several of their dead can be seen lying in front of their trenches and few got beyond their own wire. Our naval and land guns are causing numerous casualties and considerable damage to the enemy works. The Turks are also being harried by our aircraft. The weather is bitterly cold with gales, thunder, and lightning, and, rough seas in the gulf. Fresh equipment has arrived for the New Zealand hospital at Salonika, which is now proceeding nearer the front. The climate and other conditions being unsuitable, the nurses will remain in Egypt at least for the present.

A LETTER FROM MUDROS. NO BOYS WANTED. Hastings, December 10. In a personal letter to the editor of the Tribune, dated Mudros, October 28, Brigadier-General Sir Andrew Russell says“l see recruiting is satisfactory. lam sorry to think that they will bo wanted, every one of them. The class of men coming forward is very good, and our reinforcements compare well with any I have seen at Mudros, where most come on

their way to the Peninsula. Age is of importance. Young fellows under 21 don’t wear well; their stomachs don’t seem to bold out against diarrohea and enteric. Men from 25 to 35 years are tho best, though the young i

ones, no "doubt, can give u s older men a beating in ’getting over the ground fast. But then soldiering does not include a daily charge, but does include a daily encounter with microbes. The Mounted Brigade has had a rest for nearly two months, and we are off any day to the Peninsula, or elsewhere. I hope we go as well in the next series as in the last. “What we do want is a chance of fighting as Mounted Rifles, and I had hopes that the Salonika venture (might, and may still, have given us (the chance. The men could no have fought better. I believe we shall want all the cardigan jackets we can get before winter is over (at the end of April). The prospect of a winter in the trenches is enough to make one feel cold. Another 12 months should see the job through, and those of us who survive will be glad to tie up alongside Wellington wharf. General Munro, the new Commander-in-Chief, has just inspected us. If looks go for anything we have got a fighting geii’eral.’ THE ELEVENTHS. HOLIDAY VOLUNTEERS. PRIME MINISTER’S APPEAL. Wellington, December 10.

To-night Mr Massey issued the following appeal:—“l have learned with some surprise that a number of our recruits who intended going into camp next week are withdrawing their names, with the object of having the holidays free, and again giving in their names afterwards. I have also been informed that recruiting had so improved during the last few days that had it not been for this unforseen contingency, the Eleventh Reinforcements would have been up to full strength at due date. I can quite understand the desire of our boys to be with their friends and relatives during this festive season, and I have no fault to find with the sentiment by which many of them are actuated, but in view of the seriousness of the position, and the necessity for all men in the Reinforcements starting their training at the same time in order that the great reputation which New Zealand soldiers have acquired may be kept up, may I, under such circumstances, appeal to the registered, and even intending, recruits to adhere to their original intentions to go into camp before the holidays, and so keep their training system working as it ha s worked for many months past — smoothly and satisfactorily? I know what 1 am asking for may be considered a sacrifice, but I am confident ■that the loyalty and enthusiasm of young New Zealanders will be equal to the emergency which has arisen. I ask our boys to remember their comrades who are celebrating the holiday season in the fighting line, where, along with other brave men and trained soldiers, they are doing their duty to the Empire, their country, and their fellow citizens. I ask them to remember how thorough training has enabled our soldiers to distinguish themselves, and to do credit to the land to which they belong. If they remember these facts and act accordingly ; if they give up the fleeting pleasures of a few days for the more lasting pleasure of having done the right thing at the right time, I am quite sure that in after life they will always look back with satisfaction to the Christmas holidays of 1915, spent Iby them in Trentham training camp.”

NGAERE W.C.T.U.

I The following letter Ins been received from Her Excellency, Lady Liverpool, by Mrs M. T. Phillips, secretary of the Ngaere Women’s Christian Temperance Union: — “Government House, Wellington, December sth.—Dear Mrs Phillips,— Many thanks for your letter. The two cases from the Ngaere Women’s Christian Temperance Union have arrived safely. They are just what is required, and are all very nice and most acceptable. I have put them I with the hospital ship things. I hope that is what you would wish. His , Excellency is very glad to have them, [and it is a good way of getting them to the right quarter, as, if the hospital ship gets more than its quota, , the balance is handed over to the. hospitals. We get great accounts *of the good work the Maheno is doing. Thank you all for your help. ! —Yours sincerely, Annette Liver*