CASUALTY CABLES.

Greymouth Evening Star, 17 August 1915, Page 2

CASUALTY CABLES.

DEtfARTrvi&rtTAL DALAYS.

AN EXTRAORDINARY CASE.

fBT TELEGRAPH—SPECIAL TO "STAR."]

AUCKLAND, This Day. Spojrtsmen in general, and footballers in particular, will regret to hear of the official notification of the death of Corporal Charles Savory, of Auckland,' the well-known Northern Union representative footballer and ex-amateur heavy weight champion boxer of New Zealand. He was born in Auckland and was 26 years of age. Many extraordinary cases of delay and error in the notification, of casualties have come to light since the New Zealanders went into action, but the circumstances connected with the death of Corporal Savory probably strengthen more than any previous blunder the plea for more effective and, if necessary, civil control in the Records Department in Egypt. In one sense the notification of Corporal Savory's death will not come as a shock either to liis sorrowing relatives or to his many hundreds of friends, for it occurred as long ago as May Bth, since which date many letters have reported his death. Fourteen weeks after he was killed the official notification arrived vestei'dav.

Corporal Savory's name first figured in the casualty list on June 16th, five weeks after he was killed. He was then reported to have been wounded, and his brother, Mr. George Savory, of. Grey Lynn, received the following message from Mr. Allen, the Minister of Defence:—"Regret to inform you that :\ cable received today reports your brother, Private C. Savory, wounded Please accept my symnnthy and hopes for a speedy recovery." A similar message of. sympathy was received from the Prime Minister.

''PROGRESSING FAVORABLY." No intimation was given as to the nature of the wounds and the relatives availed themselves of the three messages of enquiry allowed by tho Government. On . June 25th a reply came through the General Post Office as follows : —"C. Savory. No particulars given. Progressing favorably." At this time he had been dead for seven weeks. Still no information was forthcom•"r- n S to the nature of the well-known fxuballer's wounds, and on June 30th "Sir. Gecrge Savory dispatched a further cable of inquiry. Again the reply came : —•'•'O. Savory progressing favorably." Meanwhile no word had been received from the "wounded" man, and a third inquiry was made on July 7th. This time the following reply which is view of the previous progress reports was a little alarming, was received;—"Alexandria reports no further reports received since reported wounded." At this stage other things were happening calculated to give the harassed relatives cause for the greatest anxiety. Letters-began to arrive from the Dardanelles describing the fighting and one of these stated that "Charlie Cavory was one of the first killed." Savory was such a well-known figure that it was hardly possible that there could be any mistake, and this time Mr. Savory, on the advice of a local member of Parliament, wrote to the officer in charge of the Records Department at Wellington, pointing out the .unsatisfactory results of the inquirios already made. "I note the replies you received to the three service' telegrams sent on your behalf," wrote the officer in reply, "and I regret that the third reply cannot be considered satisfactory. T should like to point out, however, that the authorities at the base furnish progress reports on the condition of all sick and wounded soldiers from tinr* to time, particularly regarding those whose condition is not satisfactory. As your brother has not, been reported since May 15th T think you mav conclude his case is not one for anxiety. T hope soon to hear that he has bpen placed on the list of convalescents find von may rest assured that as soon as advice of whatever' nature comes to hand concerning him von will be promptly communicated with."

KILLED BY A SHELL. After this encouraging letter the relatives bravely refused to entertain information contained' in two other letters which arrived from- soldiers serving at the front and describing how Savory was killed. "Savory was killed by a shell. A terrible sight," wrote A. V.. Cross, the Newton Ranger's forward, who is also serving at the front, on a post card received five weeks ago. His death is also said to have been reported in a Sydney paper, but still the relatives refused to believe the statements. Finally the first batch of New Zealand wounded men arrived, and one of the soldiers env phatically confirmed the report of his death.

All this while no word had come from Savory himself, and finally the relatives dispatched an entreaty to a private source in. Egypt. No direct reply was- forthcoming to this, and last week end Mr. A. M. Myers. M.P.. was approached and asked to move in the case. On Sunday, however, the following message was received from the Minister of Defence :— "Regret to advise vou cable received this day rewort's thai' your Vo+her. Private diaries Savorv. nrevionslv xenovted wonnded io furthp-"- renovfpd*fr> Wye. died of nrro'i.vrJs rsn Mav Rtb. ""I<">™ accept sineeroH- in th" l" c " wh'^n vnn nnd N? w 7p , ' ln '"d ha , rp ' Tl-io was follovod l iv messages of condr>leric.'> from +bn Governor. It will be obvious that after all this time the relatives are still unaware or the circumstances under which Coiporal Savory was killed, although it is assumed that he was killed by a shrapnel shell. Even now the name is not included in the public casualty lists.