WOUNDED IN ENGLAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16123, 11 January 1916, Page 10

WOUNDED IN ENGLAND.

THE RECORD OFFICE, VALUABLE WORK DONE. MEN WELL CASED FOR. [TKOM OCT. OW.V CORB£SPO>vDEXT.] London, December 7. Sir lan Hamilton, in his memorable despatch regarding the gallant landing at Galliopli, described the British Navy as having been both mother and father to the army. This happy phrase may be used vith equal truth in describing the care and treatment which the New Zealand Record Office has bestowed on tho thousands of wounded and sick Nov.- Zealanders who have come under its direction. rrom the time that the soldier lands in tin's country until ha —either by trar.fort to the front or by hospital ship to his native land —he is never out of touch with this Department. Captain T. Jr.'. Donne, the officer in charge, and his staff are hard at work ail day long and late into each, evening dealing with the mass of corraspondeEce relating to men in hospital, attending to the wants of men on furlough, a:;d satisfying the demands of all as far as military regulations admit. In addition to this, the Kecord Office is m constant communication with headquarters in tho Mediterranean and with the Minister lor Defence in New Zealand, "which necessarily means a perpetual stream of cables and letters. Moreover, a large proportion of New Zealand casualties Vive to be :icu£ed to relatives in vhis country, and the number of inquiries, written and verb*], is almost beyond belief. The Staff. Including Captain Donne the Record .Office staff numbers 29, and tho post office--12. The staff includes threo members of the High Commissioner's department, a few elderly men ineligible for military service, and the remainder are New- Zealand soldiers who have been wounded and are unlit for active service. Staff SergeantMajcr G. Hovey, Auckland Mounted Rifles, is Captain Donne's right hand man, and other New Zealanders include : —Record Office; -Sergeant, F. W. Slothes, Private H. C. D. Salmon. Signaller H. Wilkinson. Furlough and Equipment : Sergeant T. O'Dowd, Trooper J. t,O'Brien. Correspondence: Sergeant V. put. Kousden, Private L. L. Shaw. Hospital Visitor: Sergeant P. H. G. Bennett, T3.C.M. Movements of Men in Hospital: '_ Sergeant J. Balfour, Sergeant C. D. G. : Taylor, Sapper L. W. Louisson. Post ;Ofiic*i: Sergeant T. G. Godfrey, Sergeant 38. Tilsky, D.C.M., Corporal R. Dawber, Corporal J. W. Kennedy, Lance-Corporal '{£. H. Atkey, Privates J. Lee, C. H. V Pugh, E. C. Hoult, J. McNish, Ciochetto. Qnartcrmaster Stores: Corporal T. Bryant. Kit Store: Private W. Ranstead.". In Charge of -Maoris en Furlough i Corporal , 3?. Warbrick. , '. - Settiag Into Touch With the Men. Z The arrangements for getting into im■Jnediato touch with the wounded leave sothing to be desired in theory, though in practice there is occasionally a hitch", and a man may be in hospital for a few days before his presence is discovered. Many months ago thousands cl specially printed pest -cards were sent to Egypt, and - arrangements made whereby every sick mac coming to England should be given one of these cards, so that on arrival in hospital he could fill in the particulars and get the card posted. . In the event of the man losing the card on the voyage he is met at the port of arrival by members of the Red Cross Society, who replace the lost card. This work is done gratuitously By the Red Cross Society. Directly the wounded soldier arrives "in hosoital, the Record Office receives a telegram notifying the fact, and as soon as possible a sergeant . visits-; the institution Ho obtain the full names of the patients, the nature of their wounds or" sickness, and this information is cabled to the New Zealand Government.. The Record Office then sup- , plies the Waj Contingent Association with a list of the names and this association in turn gets into touch with the men, arrangements are made for visitors, and it supplies them with necessaries in the way of comforts. Back to War or Homeward Bound. When a man is discharged from hospital he is sent, if necessary, to the convalescent hospital or camp at Epsom, •where there are between 400 and 500 Zealanders at present. If a man's course runs satisfactorily he is placed on furlough, and if not he returns to hospital. Assuming the former he receives 14 days' furlough, and this is when the raid "on the pay office takes place. When the. holiday is completed he goes to the New Zealand and Australian base depot at .Monte-'-Video camp. Weymouth. In camp the men are all medically boarded Those who are unfit for further service are returned to New Zealand, those fit for—light duties are engaged in the camp until they recover thsir normal health, and .these fit for active service are returned to the Mediterranean. The officers go to the two hospiEndsleigh . JPslzco and Wandsworth —which have been allocated to New Zealand, and they report to tho War Office, and are medically boarded in their turn. Such, briefly, is a bald outline of the career cf the wounded on this side. Heavy Correspondence. With over 4500 men in the United Kingdom cither in hospital or at Weywouih or on furlough, it may be taken ;: for granted that the staff has to put in •!;- long hours. The correspondence is amaz- ;;'.,. ing._ To date no fewer than 10,500 written !§j-.-inquiries have been received asking for jte information respecting men, and the verbal ! ; "inquiries probably outnumber those by c four to one. Whenever a casualty occurs affecting a relative in this country there , is sent a telegram, followed up by a letter ! end the arrival, discharge, or transfer of a. I hospital patient means further letters, j Facilities are afforded the men for cabling to New Zealand,' and, of course, every day there are men desiring railway tickets, badges, equipment, and making inquiries generally.

Other Activities. While the Record Office deals with the ; military and business side, the New Zea- , land War Contingent Association looks • after the social Bide of the men's life in England, and hardly a soldier calls at 13, Victoria Street, who does not visit the lower floor to pay his respects to the i Hospitality Committee of the association. I While in hospital he has been called on by | the association's official visitor, and many I small comforts have been supplied him. j Tho members of the Hospitality Committee* : are doing excellent nnH nraioewortby work. I which is only limited by the amount' of ! . funds at their disposal. Their responsi- I hiiity is gicat. because they take under , \ their charge ail the soldiers, with the I |t: exception of the men at Walton-on- I • Thames. Consequently their index card | system embraces practically 4000 names. "> The pay office is attached to the accountants branch of the High Commis- ' ; loner's department, and is under the j jj riirecuon of the accountant, Mr G F I Cos : The officers carrying out the work — are Lieutenant P. A. Ely and Mr L J I Bennett, deputy-cashiers, "the former hem L i :■ in charge of the men's pay office and the - latter allotments, officers' pay, etc. The office has excellent accommodation in the I old Westminster Post Office, which is on I the opposite side' of the street from the Government premises. The staff numbers I about 32. Since the office was opened a '(•■ daily t>sm of £700 has- been paid over the counter. On busy days 200 men have I fc£?iS? pa '" and taken out as much as ;■:. «GI4oQ.