ON ACTIVE SERVICE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16123, 11 January 1916, Page 4

ON ACTIVE SERVICE.

NEWS OF AUCKLANDERS.

SOME RECENT PROMOTIONS. AIR SERVICE COMMISSIONS. [from orn own correspondent.] London. December 7. Great regret will be felt at the unfortunate illness of Captain T. E. Donne, record officer, which has come at a most inopportune moment. For months past he has had a strenuous time, and not feeling very fit at the beginning of last week he was prevailed upon to spend a few days quietly at home. Unfortunately, the proposed rest came too late. On Wednesday he was confined to bed, and it is probable that his absence from the Record Office may be prolonged lor two or three weeks. In the meantime, Major T. H. Dawson, A.M.R., lias assumed control. Lieutenant .T. E. Anderson, R.E., who has been in Flanders for the last seven months, is in London now on a week's leave. Some weeks ago the name of Lieutenant G. S. Bogle, R.E., appeared in the casualty list from the Dardanelles. Details of his death have now been received. Lieutenant Bogle was going out to the wire entanglements beyond the trenches, when he was shot in the abdomen, his death taking place next day. Flight Sub-Lieutenant Norman R. Davenport, of Auckland, has been transferred to the Eastchurch Flying Squadron, after having qualified at the Royal Naval Air Station, Hendon, for his pilot's flying certificate on a Grahame-White* bi-plane. He will probably be stationed at East. j church for a few weeks before leaving fop | the front.

Flight Sub-Lieutenant F. C. C. Calder, R.N.A.S., of Auckland, is confirmed in his appointment for temporary service. Mr. Ray L. Price, of Auckland, has left for Salonika. He has taken up work with the British Red Cross Society, and he expects to be in the Balkans till the end of the war. Cromwell Boy's Adventures. An "old boy" of the Otago Boys' High School was in London last week-end on special leave from the French military authorities. He was Mr. James Waddelf, of Cromwell, who was at the Otago High School in the late 'eighties. His present title is Chef de Bataillon J. Waddell, Chevalier dc la Legion d'Honneur. In other words, he is commander of a battalion in the French army, corresponding with the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the British army. He left New Zealand many years ago, became .a naturalised Frenchman, and joined the French army. He has seen considerable* fighting and previous to the present war had medals for the Sahara, Morocco, and Indo-China campaigns. Now he has two new decorations— Legion of Honour and the medal for being mentioned in despatches. He was twice mentioned by the French commander for bravery at the Dardanelles, where he was wounded during the summer, and retnrued to France. Having recovered, he took part in the recent fighting in Champagne. Mr. Waddell is now looking fit and well. He still takes keen interest in New Zealand, and hopes to pay a \isit to the Dominion after tho war. The Late Lord Seafleld. An officer in the Cameron Highlanders, writing home, relates how Lord Seafield met his death. The parapet of the trench occupied by the Camerons had fallen in owing to tho wet weather. Lord Seafield was going the round of the trenches when he was observed bv a German sniper. A bullet came through the sandbags, passed through the arm of a sergeant, and struck Lord Seafield on the temple. He was carried to headquarters, but did -not regain consciousnessMajor H. C. Hurst, C.M.R who was wounded about the head and face during August, has been passed by the medical board as fit for duty, and is now at the base* depot at Weymouth. Captain-Chaplain Dobson, of Christchurch, is in London recovering from an attack of dysentery. He is making good progress, and has to report to the medical board at the end of this year. Commander A. E. Dunn. R.N.R., who is in command of H.M.S. Gazelle— warship that is now fitted to carry a seaplane on tho mine-laying expeditions—lias received the following naval signal from Vice Admiral J. M. deßoebeck, commanding the Eastern Mediterranean squadron: " I desire to congratulate you and the officers and ship's company of Gazelle on the successful issue of the mine-laying operations recently carried out in the Gulf of Smyrna." Corporal L. V. Bishop is gazetted to a commission in the British army as 2nd lieutenant.

On Furlough in England. Quartermaster-Sergeant Wynne Chilcott, New Zealand Engineers* of Devonport, late of the Government Valuation Department, Auckland, came to England with fever on the hospital ship Caledonia, leaving the Dardanelles on August 20, a fortnight after the heavy Suvla Bay fighting. Since then he has been "at the Canadian Hospital at Taplow. and Is on furlough now. He has just returned from a few days' sport in the snow in Scotland, and has gone on to Cornwall to stay with his uncle at Trevanion, Wadebridge. He expects to sail shortly for the front. Lieutenant H. B. Wheeler, of the New Zealand Staff Corps, who reached Eng land in July, has been promoted captai . in the reserve of officers (Royal Wes Kent Regiment) and seconded for service with the Army Ordnance Department. Commander H. L. L. Pennell, R.N., one of Scott's lieutenants in the last Antarctic Expedition, has been posted to the cruiser Queen Mary. A New Zealander with a commission in the Royal Flying Corps is Mr. W. S. R. Bloomri'eld, of Auckland. During the current week the following New Zealanders have been admitted to Mount Felix, Walton-on-Thames : —Svdnev Bryant, Norman Clark. Charles English, Edmund Gale, John Goode, William Stuart Haylock. Francis Leslie Gordon Jolly, James Arthur Linton, Kenneth Gordon MacLennan, George Thompson Miller, John Steven Wilson, and James Victor Wren. Those who have been discharged from the New Zealand Hospital within the last few davs have included : — Hugh Cameron, Tom Cutts, Norman Low, James John Milne, Albert Edward Peck, and Gordon Sisley. Sapper T. Trezise hopes to be out very soon. Mr. F. G. Hall-Jones has left Mount Felix, and is in London. 2nd Lieutenant H. M. Clarke, of Auckland, is at the Kenilworth Hotel.