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Press, Volume LIII, Issue 16068, 26 November 1917, Page 9

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PERSONAL NOTES ABOUT NEW ZEALANDERS. (FROM OUR own CORRESPONDENT.) LONDON, September 18. Lioutenant Gladstone Ward, son of the Minister of Finance, after serving for more than a year in the Mechanical Transport branch of the A.S.C. at various stations in the United Kingdom, left for Egypt in March, while Sir Joseph and Lady Ward were in London. After a few weeks there, he was detailed for duty with the Expeditionary Force in Palestine on the trans-" port of heavy artillery. This was sufficiently exciting while it lasted, but Lieutenant Ward was more than pleased with the change when he was transferred to the Tank Corps, with which important arm he has been ever since. Various stories have been told of the work of tanks in Palestine, but nothing has been said officially. It is more than Jikely, however, that before the autumn campaign is finished their presence there will bo freely discussed. The many friends of the Hon. W. Pember lleeves and Mrs Reeves will regret to learn that, according to information received, their son, FlightLieutenant Fabian P. lleeves, R.N.A.S., who was reported missing on Juno Oth, is now believed to have been killed on that date. He was only 21 years of age. Sergeant Roddy MacDougall, 6f the Gordon Highlanders, a younger brother of the late Captain Allan MacDougall, of the Royal Fusiliers, has been killed in action. Another brother, Dr. D. J. MacDougall, who was in New Zealand, and educated at Wellington College, is at, present in hospital, suffering from .severe wounds, which may cause the loss of an eyo. He has been serving for the past two years in the R.A.M.C., . and was awarded the D.S.O. recently. Mrs MacDougall (Wellington) is now residing at Loch Maddy, in the Hebrides. Midshipman V. J. Somerset Thomas, son of the Professor of Music at Auckland University, has been appointed to , H.M.S. Barham, Admiral Evan Thomas's flagship. Major R. O. Chesney, N.Z.S.C., has relinquished the appointment of I).A.A.G. to tho New Zealand Divi- / sion, and is seconded for duty in England. Ho is succeeded by Major W. L. Robinson, hitherto second-in-com-JJiand of the 3rd Battalion, the Canterbury Regiment. Major L. G. D. Acland, M.C. of the AJS.C., is appointed D.A.A.G. at Headquarters in London, and Captain A E. T. Rhodes, C.N.71., to the same post in I Egypt. - Lieutenant-ColonelM."M: Gard'ner, R.N.Z.A., who received his'D.S.O. from ! , the King at Buckingham Palaco last' week, is returning to New Zealand on duty, and relinquishes the appointment of D.A.AIM.G. to the 2nd Anzac Corps. Mr Arnold W. Sellars (Auckland) has . joined the R.F.C. as a first-class air .mechanic, and is in Lincolnshire. He arrived in England in December, with Mrs. Sellars, and offered his services, • but , was turned down. For a while he took the position of manager of the Hyde Co-operative Society, relieving the previous manager, who had joined the Army. At the beginning of June, Mr Sellars again offered himself, and was ' accepted for the R.F.C., trained at Farnborough, and posted at Castle r Bronrwich. He was sent to France : with an advanced scouting squadron, I -but was invalided home, and has now been given light duty. Mrs Sellars has 6taved with relatives in various parts of England. , September 21. Lance-Corporal Frickleton, who was awarded the Victoria Cross recently in | Fiance, received his medal from the .hands of the King at an investiture at' Ibrox Park, Glasgow, on Tuesday, when 'two other V.C.'s, one of the Lancasters, and the other of the Gordon Highland- i era, were also decorated. After pinning the medal on Frickleton's tunic, . . the King congratulated him on his bravery; asked him how he was feeling aiter his wounds, and said that he hoped ; He would be long able to wear his inedal. < The King, on learning that Corporal Frickleton had been gassed, expressed the hope that he would take care of his health, and that he would -'Soon reebver his normal condition. Mr A. E. Cooper (Canterbury), of the produce firm of Sims, Cooper and Co., - joined the N.Z.E.F. in England about a year ago. After a few weeks' training for the Artillery, he was requisitioned by the War Office, and has since been employed in connexion with the btate purchase of wool. The Rev. H. Northcote, formerly .Vicar of Linooln. has for tho past few years , been chaplain at Boulogne, and since the war has had a great deal of _' military work to do. Mrs Northcote, a daughter of Canon Thorpe (Christ- • church), is also in Boulogne, and since ::tte arrival of New Zealand troops in Irance, has acted on behalf of the , New Zealand War Contingent Associa- - -Won as tho only New Zealand hospital Northern France. v The following ex-members of tho «.Z.E.F., having completed their cadet training courses, have been commissioned, to tho R.F.A. Special Reserve: — . Lance-Corpora 1 Walter F. Kent-John-ston,. Sapper Leo G. Mahon, Sergeant John. Martin, N.Z.F.A., Q.M.S. TVilliam E. AVilson, N.Z.E. "* -. Corporal Clarence A. Umbers, of tho A ; Z,A.S.C., ■ has received a first commission in the R.F.C., and is posted to the general list. &igeant Gordon B. Chrystall, of the Canterbury Mounted Rifles, who was Bom mated last November for an Imperial commission, and has completed P*® course at Emmanuel College, Camridge, l ,ns received his commission in tho R.F.A. Tho following New Zenlanders have . been elected Fellows of tho Royal Inof Public Health: —Captain I. f*- Fans, Captain K. F. Gordon, Lieu-' tenant A. A. Haworth. Captain G. W. ■Hill, Captain E. C. Lowe, Lieut.-Col-®jjel D. j Lieut.-Colonel N. .J** Murray, Lieut.-Colonel B. E. Myers, Major A. V. Short, Captain F. F. A. Bulrich, and Captain J. K. Venables. . All are on service,with the N.Z.E.F. in England, or in France. October 2. Lieut.-Commander G. H. Dennistoun, D.5.0., R.N. (Peel Forest), is again mentioned in General Northey's disP 0 j Administrator of Nyassaland for service on Lake Nyassa. "Their K, *orkj" says the dispatch, "though far K *£om the fighting line, has been none Wv the less arduous throughout tho cam;|P '"-■fiig.-Lieutenant "William Poterson.,

R.N.R., formerly of the New Zealand Government steamers Tutanekai and Hinemoa, has been awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. Mr Peterson was appointed to H ..M.S. Angora at the end of 1915, and has since bzen in others of H.M. ships. Captain Peter Mello, late of H.M. Transport A2l, has died at Bcxhill-on-Sca of illness contracted in the Dardanelles in 1915. Captain Mello was only 36 years of age, and was wellknown in the New Zealand trade. Two New Zealand officers, Major U. Craig (Waihi) and Captain G. Redpath (Rakauroa), both of the Medical Corps, were staying at the Bedford Hotel, on the night of one of tho air raids, and were slightly injured by a bomb which fell in tho street. Major Craig afterwards went to hospital, suffering from bomb fragments in the leg, and Captain Redpath had a minor injury to his ear. In both cases the injury is not serious, and the two officers assisted to attend to the other persons injured oy the bomb. Major Craig was on the point of leaving for Egypt,,, but is now under treatment at Walton-on-Thames. Corporal B. J. Loudon, 23297, ol tne N.Z.R.8., was also.slightly wounded in the thigh, and is suffering, besides, from shell shock. Brigadier-General Youn ff was very unfortunate in receiving a rather severo wound tho day after he took over command of his brigado. He was, in fact, in the act of taking it over from ActingBrigadier A., E. Stewart, when he received a bullet wound through the neck. Injury to the lung has since developed, and it is unlikely that General i'oung will be able to return to duty for a month or two. Sapper G. B. B. Dowall, of tho New Zoaland Engineers, who was recently recommended for a commission in the Imperial Army, has now received a lieutenancy in the Royal Engineers, and is attached to a Headquarters unit in Franco. The following are promoted iieutenants in tho Artillery:—7-416 Driver H. E. Wright, 2-1213 B.S.M. E. S. Tison, 9-362 Sergeant H Crawford. 23-t>B3 Seri geant W. Blakey, 11-1877 Corporal T. W. Grant, 7-1414 Corporal F. R. ismytho, 2-376 Sergeant J. M. Watkins. Corporal H. H. Pavitt is promoted to a commission in the Engineers. Major G. C. Griffiths, of the Canterbury Regiment, is promoted LieulenantiColonel, to command the 4th Battalion with Major C. B. Brereton as second in command. Captain B. B. Green, of the Dental Corps, is transferred to the Canterbury ' Regiment as a combatant officer, with J the rank of lieutenant. The latest orders of the N.Z.E.F. contains the following, under tho head- ' ing "Now Zealand Cental Corps'': — Captain C. E. Wyett, having been tried I by Court-martial, held on Juno 21st, 111)17, found guilty of "conduct to the I prejudice of good order and military j discipline," and sentenced to be disI missed from His Majesty's t>ervice, and such sentence having been -duly confirmed, is struck off the strength of the N.Z.E.F.—to date August 22nd, 1917. Captain Wyett came to England, at the end of 1915 to offer his services, and in 1916 joined the New Zealand Convalescent Hospital at Hornchurch in his professional capacity, being afterwards taken on the strength of the Dental Corps, and employed at the Divisional. Dental Hospital in France. He has now attested as a ranker in the N.Z.E.F., and is employed as a driver in the Motor Transport. October 5. Cadet P. D. Hall, R.N. (son of Mr J. D. Hall, Christchiirch) has completed his course at Osborne, and has been transferred to Dartmouth. Mr R. A. Meyer (Christchurch), who came to England for the Motor Patrol service, is on duty at the Dover Station. Mr Walter Cyril Beaumont,. who has just joined in England the N.Z., Field Artillery, is the well-known Auckland sculler. For the last few years he has been engaged in _ business between Canada and Great Britain. Second-Lieutenant Hubert W. H. Willes, Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry (son of Mr W. A. Willes, late of Christchurch), has been wounded. He was in Canada previously, and belonged to Strathcona's Horse. A year ago he was gazetted to his present commission.