A NOBLE SOLDIER

APPRECIATION RECORDED

The following motion, proposed by Mr. J. Hutcheson, was carried at yesterday's meeting of the War Relief Association :—

"The Executive Committee of the Wellington War Relief Association desires to place upon record its high appreciation of the unselfish life and noble death of Lieutenant Foster Brooke Crouch. A devoted son, he lived for those dependent on him. An ardent patriot, he died for humanity on the battlefield of. France, 23rd March, 191 Q. A belated competency, that during life would have seemed to him great wealth, he bequeathed without condition to the funds of the War Relief Association; his dependents having predeceased him. In such example lies ijhe regeneration of the British race." ' In speaking to the motion, Mr. Hutcheson sketched the arduous conditions under which the boyhood of Lieutenant Crouch was spent. Tho father was illequipped to maintain a family in the colonies. None but a few observant neighbours could guess how hard was the struggle for existence in that, family. The mother struggled to keep body and soul together till her only child could fend for himself, but when the lad at about 14 or 15 went out to face the world she seemed to liave reached the limit of her endurance, and lapsed into a .state of melancholia. Her affectionate son had her properly cared for, and somehow out of his meagre earnings managed to provide a home for himself and his deI pendent father. Shortly after the outI break of war' the mother died, and tho | son resolved to 'go/to England to wind up the small estate from which his mother had drawn her small annual income; intending'immediately thereafter' to join the N.Z.E.F. in England. Before leaving New Zealand he made provision : for his father's maintenance and subsequent burial after death, which took place somewhere about the beginning of 1918. "Such in brief was the inauspicious youth of Lieutenant Foster Brooke Crouch. Pure and unadulterated filial devotion characterised his life.' The patriot's final gift signalised his death.. Refused enlistment (on technical grounds) with the N.Z.E.F.,'with whom his heart lay, he entered the Inns of Court Officers' 'Training Class, and quickly, graduated as 2nd lieutenant. In due course he was drafted to the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, and after being twice mentioned in despatches for.bravery in the field, died in battle like a gallant gentleman on 23rd March, 1918.-Shall we who know bis life of unassuming self-denial and self-sacrifice, allow his name and memory to drop into oblivion?" In seconding the motion, Mr. D. M'Laren said he thought the memory of such a noble, unselfish life should be perpetuated. The motion was agreed,to. It was further resolved, on the motion of the Chairman (Mr. Tripp), that the Mayor be requested to convene a meeting* of members of the War Relief Association, officers of the Returned Soldiers' Association, and others who would be interested in a memorial to Lieutenant Crouch. Mr. Hutcheson thought that a scholarship might be founded, and he mentioned that many men who had known ■ the young man had stated their desire to assist.