AUSTRALIA'S NEED FOR MEN.

Taranaki Daily News, 30 January 1918, Page 6

AUSTRALIA'S NEED FOR MEN.

SOJIE STAKTLIXG FACT-' An Australian soldier in England sends sunn; ji;n 1 iciihii's of tlie dwindling Austialisui forcua at tin.' limit. Jn liis letter, published in a recent Sydney Morning herald, lie states;— "Xlie artillery are now right up in the open, and tlie casualties have been heavy, mo-it of the trouble being caused by bombs. "Tli result is thai instead of a mna beign sent home from the firing line for a spell, he goes into a divisional flmmunltion column, and.bumps shells (four at a time), weighing SSlb, for a week or two, then back. They tell us large reinforcements of artillery are coming, but so is Christmas, and by the time some of them arrive, the fellows in l'rnace will be past relief. '•3 l v unfortunate young brother ha l ! been "rounded three times. He is rejoining his unit on Monday, and will have another cut at it. Went into the trenches in Vranci with the firsj Australian troops, ar.u has been here ever since, except when ir. hospital. Moil coming back tell me that every watch is settled, the vibrations knocking the hair-spring;- out of gear, while the gas settles the ease. Phillip (brother) wrote mo that in his experience, lw had never seen such an awful barrage as the troops were subjected to in early October. As for the German sbeing up the spcut, that is all Imnksim. T-lif- wiec- coming here as prisoner;; ave strong and well built, seem well nourished, aud put two reinforcement:. j know or to shame, from the point of view of physique. Just now they are gaining in Flandsr;- ; it ia at a great cost in men's lives. : 'I suppose some time Australian men will make up and realise the hell thciv inaction U subjecting their mates in France to. They could give them a decent rest, hut they won't. They could let them see their women folk again, hut they won't, and it is only when one is awav for months, with only news at irregular intervals, that one realises what the society of those we love can mean. Personally should give a whole year's pay for one week with my baby girl, and it is on mail day;j thta one realises the ties that bind us to home. The fellows get far more excited over mail day than they do pay day, and the, lucky possessor 0 ftwo or three letters is looked at With envious eyec. got 14 in 0:10 batch, an accumulation rr.it tc r. friond in London, and re-addressed. It nearly caused a riot. Over here, tco. we are rationed. Each man gets 1 1-4 round of bread per day, avid about once a fortnight anger in the tea. The food is well c-6oked, but 1 could frequently eat more than the issue ration. "If, an I believe, there if. a. judgment for mankind in the life to come, then the slackers in Australia will stand l good chance of bein gdamiifd eternally. TIII3 war ir, not a. matter of personal choice, it is civilisation against a power whose iniquities find 1,0 parallel ir. history. Here they know it, fcr there s.re frequently as :nany as fi\c iaidn i,: London in a week, and when one sees houses demolished, and little one- carried off to the hospital wit ban arm or a leg missing, one roalk-cs thr.t fliers i, a war someffhcie. and that somewhere is pretty close. Whe.i. ton, men back from France tell how the men on stretchers arc deliberately picked off by snipers, S3 well as the bearer;, it males olio feel that this is no! war as vc understand it, but hell let loose"