AGONY OF SUSPENSE.

Greymouth Evening Star, 22 July 1918, Page 3

AGONY OF SUSPENSE.

_. —— ■ SOLDIER'S FATHER SUFFERS. MYSTERY REGARDING SON. An unenviable experience as regards the late of ins soldier-son lias beialien Colonel Fair, of the Repatriation Department, Sydney. He stated tnat he recently received a letter from the War Office which indicated that ins son Henry, who was previously reported to have "died of wounds, was still alive, and would be discharged'forthwith torreturn to Australia. . "I do not know what to think, said Colonel Farr. "I do not know now whether the boy is alive or dead, lie went Home to England m December, IQI4, as one of the personnel of a transport's crew. While in England he enlisted in the West Yorkshire Regiment in March, 1&15. He as invalided to

England with shell-shock after the Somme, and recovering, was sent back to the front, whence his hist letter home was dated June sth, 1917. "On June 6th the authorities cabled is that Harrv had died of wounds, and later we received a letter from a nurse in a casualty clearing station, who stated that mv boy had been admitted to her hospital badly wounded, and had later Hied. We bad become somewhat reconciled to our loss, when, on December 12th, 1917, a cable was received from Nottingham in which the auti.orv ties stated that mv boy was still alive, and doing duty with an area employment company in France. On receipt

of this cable I wrote and cabled to my son at the unit address given m the cablegram, and also wrote to the War Office!" •L received 110 letter or answer from Harry but the officer commanding too company wrote that a man by the name of Farr had paraded to him avd stated that to the best of bis knowledge he had no friends or relatives in Australia. As this man was about 45 years of age, -it could not possiblv be ray son. Now I have received a further letter from the War Office stating that my boy i« still alive, and would be discharged forthwith, and that he would be instructed to report to A.I.F. headquarters in London, where arrangements would be made for his passage to this country. "4s, however, no letter has been received' from Harry since June sth, 1917 up to which date he wrote home rorrnlarjy, it only be concluded that, one of two things has happened—pither that his mental fa entities becomp. deranged through his original shell-shock, or. what I fear is probable, that the authorities have made still another mistake."