KILLED ACTION.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXII, Issue LXXII, 1 June 1917, Page 4

KILLED ACTION.

AN OKAIAWA BOY'S FATE. The following letters, which hare a immber of unaffected yet affectXJboy was killed/in action at Gaza Palestine, m an engagement with the Turks .Farrier.Franlf Williams was wefl known ' ul • li hams ' serein partnership as coachbuil/ers, farri.ers and generS , smiths, and/the letters referring bis [Personal character and the circum | stances of jLis death will probably ?e sympathetically read by many besidel his friends] as they throw ligjJt on . he soldier's life and show how fine the feel ings are wjhich are most commonly felt by brave/men:— -n j• i t, ■ A Pril 9th > 1917. Dear FJnend — Being a close friend of your dead- brother Frank, I feel it mv duty to *|Tite to you and oiTer my deep! : est sympathy m the great sorrow which, has so suddenly befallen you and the i rest of tfour family. Yours is a hard . lot to beYarj for I know how you were j all attached to dear Frank nnd he to--' you. I [feel very, verysony indeed for you All. Frank, Jack Silvester and mvselr /went into camp together, and 1< rank/ and I have been together ever since J A few months ago we were in Cairo! together, and later we went to±*ort/baid for a few days. So you can see tfVe were very close pals and I niis^ him/as a brother. Frank is buried near our/ pr.esent camp. Some of the boys^. ma«de a nice cross and placed n at thehe&d of the grave. Percy Joblin and asergeant made this and cut out the inscription. George Green and another Cykaiawa, boy (I forget his name) havegathered all Frank's belongings that hecarried with him, and have forwarded them to you. Frank was a brave and Conscientious lad, and the world would \be much better if there ware more of this kind. Believe me you have the sym.. jpathy of all the boys who came in con/tact with Frank.—Yours sincerely W | R. Anton. ' ™A? ril 15th 1917- Mr W- Williams, * Ukaiawa. Dear Sir, —It is with feelingsof great sympathy with you all that I write to let you know of the death of: your brother Frank at Gaza on March 28th. It was ill a very stubborn fightthatfc he met his deatih—a fight which, (resulted in his regiment taking twoTurkish guns with the bayonet. This , splendid bit of work was carried out j successfully, but it was unfortunately ! necessary to clear snipers away from . the vicinity, and your brother was; j filled outright during this operation. My heartfelt sympathy is with you all m voiit sad loss. Your brother's quietand unassuming nature won him -thehearts of all, and his bravery was much \ admired.—Yours sincerely, Cecil Allison \2nd Li.eutemant Wellington M.R. Reai*" lment. \) March 31st, 1917.—pear Will,—Wej feel it very much having to write to I 'you m this strain, but as we are for- ! warding you Frank's personal property, i vyhieh we know you will like to nave, wg. ; iyill give you particulars as to how i JTrank met his death. We were all advancing together and were well up intothe rear of th c town of Gaza, when wecame on top of tfyf Turkish guns that, had; been doing considerable damagedurmg the day. These were surrounded and the guns and their crews were taken, but, unfortunately, there werenumerous prickly pear hedges, and these were much infested with Turkish snipers They were very troublesome, and, sad to say, it was one of tihese thalt caught Frank. There is one consolai on —, at "c offered no pain, being:' shot through the chest at short range? Death was instantaneous. When darkness came on we withdrew with the* runs and carried Frank back with us Later the padre assisted in burying nim. The grave has been attended toand a cross erected at the head by his. comrades. We hav c had a photo taken -i'li as soon as tlie prints ar«available we shall post them to you. We al! assure you that Frank was oneoorf r the most popular fellows in the squadron, and the loss is felt very keenly byall.—Yours very sincerely, GeorgeGreen, Nelson C. Tregea