LONELY SOLDIER

Evening Star, Issue 23650, 9 August 1940, Page 6

LONELY SOLDIER

BESIEGER BY PEN-FRIENDS SWAMPED BY FLOOD OF MAIL Once upon a time there was a Lonely Soldier in the First Echelon, N.Z.E.F., to whom no one wrote —no one, that is* save the Commissioner of Taxes. Th» Lonely Soldier wrote a sorrowful letter to a friend in Auckland, and that friendi was a friend indeed. She brought the letter to the ‘ Auckland Star.’ . There was punch and.. heart appeal in the story of the Lonely Soldier in Egypt, looking wistfully at his sectionmates as they read their letters while he had nothing to study save the comfortless printed' notice from the dear old Commissioner of Taxes. . The “ Lonely Soldier ” paragraph was read far and wide. Every sub-editor in the country recognised a first-class paragraph in the “ Lonely Soldier.” It was snipped and reprinted everywhere. In some towns the newspapers worked up local inquiries about letterless Diggers. They ran special articles, even editorial comment, on the subject. . Then Australia caught on. New Zealand’s Lonely Soldier was no longer the forgotten man. He was a hero. Letters and telegrams poured into the office of the ‘ Auckland Star.’ Between 30 and 40 Dunedin people inquired of the Dunedin ‘ Star ’ and were given the address. Everyone wanted the full military address of the Lonely Soldier, the lad with only the Taxation Commissioner’s letter to console him. Au»r tralia joined the hunt. Typists worked overtime sending the address to these friendly folk. Private 5676, Fourth Field Ambulance. N.Z.E.F., became almost as widely known as Major-general Freyberg. The thing became a nightmare, a tremendous snowball, growing in size a« it raced downhill. I SHALL BE SUBMERGED!” The Lonely Soldier is lonely no longer. He has a legion of friends. He has been overwhelmed with kindness. Hearken to his plea; “As no doubt you guessed,” he writes, “ I have been the victim of a series of strange emotions, in consequence of an at first unaccountable rise in the volume of my slender mail. First, one letter arrived when I expected none. Then another. Then suddenly, out of the blue, six letters," all together. And_ all with a Svdnev postmark. Disturbing. "“Naturally. I was surprised and pleased at first, hut as the mail grow* even larger T must confess to a keen sense of alarm. There seems to be a danger that this increasing flood of mail might swamp me, that I will be carried away on the flood of this rising tide of correspondence. HORROR! “ One Sydney lady wrote, to my horror, of thousands of Australian women who had found a new interest in life, a new means of doing their bit for their country. It was not till I had recovered a little from the initial shock that T made the awful discovery. I was this interest! “Anyhow, that par in the.‘Star ■ has had the most far-reaching effects. For the time being, with each successive air mail, I think in terms of fan mail, correspondence secretaries, postage bills, and other things which had better not be mentioned for fear of complications. “ Most of the letters (only air mail so far) have been from young ladies. However, no matrimonial intentions. Working in this heat, among the flies, f have managed to answer 12 of the air mail letters. How I shall manage to answer the thousands of letters which have been promised, apd which ar» probably on the way to me by surface mails, t don’t dare think. “ I realty appreciate the kindlv intentions which actuated von in publishing that paragraph in the ‘ Star,’ and tender my sincere thanks,to all writers of letters". Results have been so good as to he thoroughly embarrassing. I know I shall he submerged ! “ So please, no more!”