SEVENTH NEW ZEALAND CONTINGENT

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1628, 13 May 1903, Page 53

SEVENTH NEW ZEALAND CONTINGENT

ITS PRESENT TO LIEUTENANTCOLONEL HON. H. F. WHITE. The following letter lias been sent to us by Mr G. It. J i-.iiistou, late Major or the Seventh New Zealand) Regiment. In it Lieutenant-Colonel Hon. H. F. White, D. 5.0., acknowledges the receipt of a gold watch and chain, sovereign case, greenstone pendant with gold fern-leaf thereon, which Mr Johnston! was requested 1 to convey to him on behalf of the officers, non-commissioned officers and men of the Seventh New Zealand Regiment as a mark of the esteem in which he was held while under his command during the Boer war in - South Africa. Much of the- success of the Fighting Seventh was due to this officer’s enterprise, his daring and dashing ex«< pleits on many occasions resulting indhe capture or louting cf a wily and r e.so CTree vful enemy. No doubt many of the late members cf the Seventh are in various parts of New Zealand, am% will be pleased to know (through the columns of the “New Zealand Mail”) how much their old! commander treasures the memento they have presented to *>. Vu. ‘‘To Major Jcrm.von. late Seventh New Zealand Regiment, Pretoria. ‘‘Dear Major Johnston. —The gift yefu handed me to-day from the officers and men of the Seventh New Zealand Regiment I shall always) treasure with thet greatest pride. It is not for me to speak of the good ivork done by the Regiment. All the world knoivs how gallantly it did its duty. I had the great honour to> have the regiment under my command during 1 its service in South Africa, and ever found it ready at duty’s call. . . Splendid! horsemen, model mounted troops and ag brave a.s liens were the Seventh. That the officers ancl men of so distinguished a corps should have thought fit to give me so beautiful a memento, I take aa the greatest compliment ever paid to me. Any success' I may have had is attributable to those gallant’New Zealanders who so ably carried out my orders. To them all credit is due. It ga\ r e me the very greatest pleasure when at home to hear nothing hut praise of the regiment. England is proud of it, Nexv Zealand isl proud of it, but I feel sure you will alloiv me to say that the pride I feel in having had the honour to have the regiment under my command cannot be surpassed. Will you convey to your comrades) and my olcl friends my gratitude for the great honour they have conferred on me? I regret very much that I could not see them, to”thank them personally; but —though many thousands of miles separata us the memovf of their grand fighting qualities, am* tlie> cheerful ivay they did their arduous work, will jnever fade from my thoughts.—T am. yours very truly, HARRY WHITE. “Lieutenacnt-Coicnel Hon. H. F. White, ‘‘Guards l Club. "London, March 27, 1303.”