MOTOR SMASH

Wairarapa Times-Age, 26 December 1941, Page 6

MOTOR SMASH

A SOLDIER KILLED FOUR OTHERS INJURED. FATALITY AT ELLERSLIE. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) AUCKLAND, December 23. One soldier from Papakura camp was killed and three companions were injured at 4.30 a.m. today when their taxi struck a power pole at the intersection of the Great South Road and the main highway at Ellerslie. The taxi-driver was also injured. The pole was knocked out of the ground. The soldier who was killed was:— Private William Patrick Coneglan, single, Pihama, Taranaki, who died of head injuries. Those injured were: —

Private Leslie Walsh, aged 32, Portland, Whangarei, fractured jaw, lacerations to the face and shock, condition fairly serious. Thomas Gibson, aged 22, Eltham, incisions and shock, condition satisfactory. Private Frank Victor Clements, aged 26, lacerations to the face and shock, condition fairly satisfactory. Edward Rivett, aged 28, a married man, Onehunga, the driver, suffered contusions and shock and his condition is fair.

A pedestrian stated that he heard a loud crash and found the taxi overturned. One soldier had been thrown through a window. The (driver was dazed and bleeding copiously. The pole was resting on the side of the car, blocking the escape of the soldiers in the back seat. After the wreckage had been cleared it was seen that the soldied seated behind the driver was dead.

Private Coneglan had been in Papakura Camp since October and was previously employed as a farm hand.