THE NEW ZEALAND DIVISION.

Taranaki Daily News, 18 March 1919, Page 5

THE NEW ZEALAND DIVISION.

LETTERS FROM GENERAL GODLEY. v The Minister of Defence (Sir James Allen) iij.s received letters from General Godley containing -tunc rfmnrks of gencm' itilere-t regarding the New Zealand troopsV.riiinrr pi ■Taitlia.ry 21. General Godley «nid: "1 have jii=t come back from a vi--it to the New Zealand Division at Cologne, and 1 am glad to be aMe to tell vnn that I found then; very ,'jiimhihg ard happy." Tn a letter Written nt Mens on December SI. General Godley said: "This nWe is full of returned prisoners, and erdv f :iis mnfnir."- 1 have been feeing a lot of thetn. - Their accounts of their treatment vary considerably, but there !•• m> doubt that. n=4T)ecially at the heginning, a great mary were disgracefully treated. On the othet hand, there are others who sav thev were Well treated, _ • "Van will he interested as an old artilleryman to know that within the last week. T have inspected on one occasion eight-horse batteries of heavy artillery, fi-ineh howitzers and fiO pounders, ind on another occasion five brigades, that is, twenty batteries, on parade, the two biggest assemblages of heavv artilleff. I hciiev--*. and have been told bv gunners, that V l '' or been in the history of the Royal Regiment of Aftillefv." General Godlcv refers tn the cable<jrnm sent bv the Minister of Defence intWi«i"T Hf* ernefiditnre of esri.OTf on Ihe cdneptimi scheme for the soldiers He «avs fiat he does not think so much moiiev will be required Til view of the early demobilisation arid the position generally, there will be no question of spending any very large sum of monrv on education. hrit he has iold General Richardson not to stint expchdifilre on anything that the troops may require. "Tfi itcTirdaiice with the instructimvs and authority you rave me y,hen I left New Zealand." added General fcodley. "I '■are set itr a hoard of senior officers for the disposal of stores, and everything is well in train. 1 think. -7 have the Otagn Mounted Tilfle*. (he Cyclists' f.nttilion. the T'linnr-'liti" Comnnnr. ttid the Li?ht Railway Field Twnr liere with the eorns nt present ns well a= a considerabb' number nf New Zealand clerks and others of the orris slfStf and EnThliy'mrnt Cninnant fVew Zealand). They are era dun 11- pa=.=ina away, nrd T am afraid it will not be lons before we lose them all Everyone on the corns sfntT 1= very unlw,T>y at the prnspeet nf losing our New Zealand e'erieal staff. The-.- have be{n airte excpllent nnd a great stand-by to the corps''