Among the moat unpopular of the New Zealand Field Artillery units were the trench mortar batteries X, Y and Z, known to the troops as the "5.5.5.," for reasons which shall be namelessl Firing a 601b shell from a charge placed down the barrel (known as "plum duffs"), the guns drew the enemy's artillery fire to such an extent that infantry had to be moved one hundred yards away on either side. Left to right in this group all of them were killed by a premature explosion in their own gun at Armentieres in 1917 are: Corporal Bill Seymour (Auckland), Bombardier George Print (Palmerston North), Gunner Alfred Elstone (Otago), Bombardier Bill Stowe (Christchurch).

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 219, 16 September 1939, Page 9 (Supplement)

Among the moat unpopular of the New Zealand Field Artillery units were the trench mortar batteries X, Y and Z, known to the troops as the "5.5.5.," for reasons which shall be namelessl Firing a 601b shell from a charge placed down the barrel (known as "plum duffs"), the guns drew the enemy's artillery fire to such an extent that infantry had to be moved one hundred yards away on either side. Left to right in this group all of them were killed by a premature explosion in their own gun at Armentieres in 1917 are: Corporal Bill Seymour (Auckland), Bombardier George Print (Palmerston North), Gunner Alfred Elstone (Otago), Bombardier Bill Stowe (Christchurch).