Dick Travis, V.C.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 208, 3 September 1938, Page 11 (Supplement)

Dick Travis, V.C.

Prowler In iVo Mans Land. (By C. SCOTT.) I never it;as much of a soldier, The 'eads 'an me couldn't agree On the uay of controlling an army, But they 'ad the pull over me. An' sometimes I reckoned I'd work it, .-In' leave 'em to sink or to swim, But a tfian's 'ad to stick to 'is'cobbers, Though they tcere as fed up as 'im. SERGEANT DICK TRAVIS, who hailed from the Bay of Plenty district, was one of the most outstanding soldiers serving with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in the Great War. He belonged to an Otago battalion, but for his outstanding daring as a prowler in No Man's Land, capturing Germans single-handed from their own trenchee, and for his general versatility, he was given a roaming commission. I also believe he detested parade ground soldering (he was not singular in that respect) and the monotony of trench warfare palled on his valiant spirit. Army heads and diggers alike credited Dick with being able to capture a prisoner whenever he felt inclined. He lived up to that reputation and alwaye got his man." On one occasion I was

in the front line treneli when Dick arrived to "have a look over the country'" as he phrased it. He looked at No Man's Land and the enemy positions through his glasses and casually remarked, "H'm, not a bad bit of country. I'll know more about it to-night." ou'd have thought he was examining a bit of farming country in New Zealand.

A cool customer was the valiant Dick. He was killed in action a few months before the Armistice. May his valiant soul rest in peace.