WAR BIPEDS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17145, 26 April 1919, Page 9

WAR BIPEDS

RAPID PROMOTION GAINED.

LONG PERIODS OF SERVICE.

WEARERS OF DECORATION'S. Included in the draft of soldiers which returned to the Dominion by the transport Bhano, were a number of officers who, in addition to having lengthy rej cords of service, have been decorated for their deeds in the field. Lieutenant-CommandeLW. M. McLeod, of Whangarei Heads, has had a distinguished career. Early in 1915, he worked his passage to England, and joined up I with the Royal out abaut a I month later was called out by the Admir- ' alty and attached to the Royal Naval Reserve. After nine months' serv.ce as gunnery officer on the famous Barilong, i he was promoted lieutenant, and transI ferred to H.M.S. Heather, on which he served for six months, when he was g ven command of H.M.S., P.O. 55., engaged in escorting destroyers. Lieutena. t-Co:nman-der McLeod was awarded the D.S.O. (or his part in action with the enemy' subI marines while serving on the Ilea her. Like the late Lieutenant-Commander Sap- ' dens, V.C., he served h.s time on Messrs. . J. J. Craig and Company 5 beet of vessels, trading in and out of Auckland. Never Away from Unit. Lieutenant J. H. Wilson, M.C., M.M, and bar, of Duned.n, has a unique record I of service in that, with the exception of ' three months in England spent in studying for a commission, he was never away from his unit from the time he left New i Zealand with the fifth reinforcements until the signing of the armistice, when he was in the line in France. During that time he took part in ptaoticully every important engagement in which the New Zealanders were engagrd without being wounded. At Gullipoli he served as a private, but after the evacuation was promoted sergeant, and later ; was nominated for a commission. In addition to winning rapid promotion he was awarded the Military Medal at Mes- . sines, the Military Cross in October, 1918, and the bar to the M.M; for his , part in a brigade advance at "Ypres. Lieutenant A. S. Mulligan, D.C.M., ' M.M., of Winton. was a corporal attached to the Main Body. Ho went through the operations on -Gallipoli Peninuula, and saw service in France without sustaining a wound. He was promoted on the field in France," and was i awarded the M.M. at the fciommo in 1916 i and the D.C.M. at Passchendaele. j Captain H. S. Gabites, M.C., of ' Dunedin, who went to the front- early ' in 1915, also has the record of never 1 having been away from his unit or having , been wounded. I Members of Samoan Force. « Lieutenant Q. H. Tomline, M.C., of Wellington, a member of the Machine Gun Corps, weiife with the I advance guard to Samoa, but, after ! a short stay at the island, he .returned to New Zealand, leading for the front with the sixth reinforcements Ho received his commission on the field in . ', France, where he was twice wounded in , . the first battle of the Somme. Aft this stage he was mentioned in despatches. Lieutenant Tomline was awarded the • . Military Cross for his part in an action at ; Lassigny Farntf where the Ne\v Zealanders i first entered the second battle of tlw Somme. Prior to going Ito the front, he i was well known in boxing/ cycling, and r . football circles. . '< ; , Captain A. J. Nimmo, M.C., of Weli | lington, served with the Samoan force a-* a sergeant, but later proceeded' to the ' front with lube eighth reinforwhieiitß as second-lieutenant He was mounded at Passchendaeb, and at the Somite. He was D awarded the Military Cross for work in f. the .last-named baMIo, and was promoted " Captain in September, 1918. ■ ■ * Captain H. E. McGowan, M.8.E., of 1 Willowbridge. South Canterbury, left New Zealand in the beginning of 1916 a? a 8 lieutenant. He saw service in Franco. 8 In June, 1917, evacuated to Eng'and. Ho ? was then promoted captain, andshortly ' afterward was appointed chief instructor 1 and director of m agricultural farm at , Torquay, a position he still holds. \ Lieutenant D, G. Sironach was in Eng- ' land at Hie outbreak of war, and, enlisted 1 with the British Army. Later, he gained ' a commission, find was attached to the ' Northumberland Fusiliers, with whom he ; saw much service in France. ".'Some months before the armistice was qighe-'d he , was transferred to the Royal Air Force. j Lieutenant Stronach is the only surviving son of the We Mr. W. G. Stronach, of , Mount Pisa Station, Central Otago. '•'