GOOD WAR SERVICE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LV, Issue 16763, 1 February 1918, Page 5

GOOD WAR SERVICE.

SEVERAL MAIN BODY MEN.

WEARERS' OF DECORATIONS.

Some of the invalided soldiers who arrived in Auckland yesterday have lengthy periods of service to their credit, a few of them having been on active service from the'first days of the war. Included in the contingent are two officers and two non-commissioned officers who have been decorated for services in France, whilst others have been mentioned in despatches or earned promotion in the field.

"Major D. Dobson, who was awarded the Military Cross for general good work at | the battle of the Somme, is a Main Body I veteran. He left the Dominion with the. rank of second-lieutenant, and was promoted at Gallipoli Peninsula, where ho was wounded. He was made captain in France in March, 1916, and from that date until he was badly wounded at Passchendaele, on October 12, 1917, was in most of the actions in which the New Zealanders were engaged. He received his majority at Passchendaele. Captain C. H. A. Senior, who left New Zealand with the seventh reinforcement as second-lieutenant, was awarded the Military Cross for his part in a raid made by the 2nd, Auckland, Battalion, in February, 1917. Captain Senior was wounded in the action, but later returned to the firingline. He was promoted lieutenant in April, 1916, and received his captaincy in September, 1917. He has one brother, Lieutenant S. E. Senior, in France. Sergeant Reuben Stewart, who wears the Medaille Militaire, was a private attached to the Main Body. He was right through the Gallipoli campaign, after which ha was raised to the rank of sergeant, and sent to France, where he took part in several important battles. At Messines he was mentioned in despatches, and subsequently received the French decoration, for his services at the battle of the Somme. He was badly wounded at Passchendaele. Sergeant Stewart had one brother, Bombardier H. Stewart, killed at the Somme. Another brother, Private H. V. Stewart, is at present in France. Sergeant John Stuart left with the third reinforcements as a private. A week before the evacuation from Gallipoli, he was invalided through sickness. He was raised to the rank of sergeant shortly before the battle of the Somme, for hi« part in which he was mentioned in despatches. He was awarded the Military Medal at Passchen-i daele, at which he was severely wounded. He had one brother, Private A. Stuart, k.Tied at Passchendaele.

Member of Saraoan Advance Guard Major W. A. Walker has been on active service since the outbreak of war. He went to Samoa with the advance guard, with the rank of lieutenant, and, aftereight months, returned to the Dominion, joined the First Battalion of (ho Rifle Brigade, and shortly afterwards received his captaincy. In August, 1917, he was promoted major, but two months later was wounded twice at Passchendaele. At that time he was second in command of his battalion. Prior to enlisting, Major Walker, who is an old King's College boy, was on the staff of the New Zealand In-

surance Company. Major J. H. Luxford left Auckland in February, 1916, with the rank of captain, attached to the Rifle Brigade. On arrival in France he was transferred to the Machine-gun Corps, and after a short period of service with that section received his majority. He fought through the battle of the Somme, after which he had a short furlough in England. Just prior to returning, he had to be operated on for appendicitis. Upon recovery he rejoined his unit, but was wounded at the battle of Messines. Later, he rejoined his unit. He is a son of Mr. W. L. Luxford, and prior to leaving for the front was practising as a solicitor at Te Awamutu. Captain P. Pile was a second-lieutenant attached to the Otago InJantry. eighth reinforcements. At the Battle of the Somme, in September, 1915, he was wounded three times in one day. 7 As the, result ,of one of the wounds,, he had his <right arm amputated. He was invalided to England, where he was confined to his bed for eight Sonths. Ho was promoted lieutenant at ie Somme, and received his captaincy 12. months later.. Captain Pile has two brothers in the. Imperial Forces.

Three Main Body Men. Second-Lieutenant L. Cooper is a Main Body man who left New Zealand with the rank of corporal, and served right through the Gallinoli campaign without mishap. He was promoted sergeant in Egypt, and sent to France, where he was selected for a commission and withdrawn to England, where he qualified. Later, he returned to the firing-line, but was finally severely wounded in the leg at Passchendaele. Second-Lieutenant H. E. Stratford is also a Main Body man. He left the Dominion as a lance-corporal, and served at Qallipoli, where . he was wounded and evacuated to Egypt. Upon recovering, he was sent to England for training for a commission, and after' qualifying proceeded to Prance, where he took part in several actions with the New Zealand troops, until he was wounded at Passchendaele. Lieutenant Stratford has two brothers on service. One, Brigade Arm-ourer-Sergeant H. S. Stratford, was also a Main Body man, while the other was a member of the sixteenth reinforcements. Lieutenant P. R. M. Hanna, Royal Field Artillery, son of Mr. T. H. Hanna, of Whakapirau, who was wounded in the shoulder on October 2 last, is another officer who returned by the hospital ship. Lieutenant Hanna, who was one of the first Main Body men to enlist in Auckland, left as a' sapper in the Divisional Signal Company, and after going through the Gallipoli campaign obtained a commission in the Royal Field Artillery. He is a native of Blenheim, and was educated in Wellington and at the Wanganui Collegiate School. He was on the Auckland staff of the National Bank when he enlisted. He is now on six months' leave.