TROOPSHIP RETURNS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16994, 3 May 1917, Page 5

TROOPSHIP RETURNS

AN UNEVENTFUL VOYAGE. 60 CASES FOR NEW ZEALAND. —: -"V ONE COT CASE ON BOARD. 3 A troopship arrived at Port Chalmeiß ;< yesterday, bringing. 70 'invalided soldiers. ~f, The vessel came alongside the wharf at / ? -'- 8 o'clock. , - The Medical Board commenced, its examination of tho men about 9 o'clock, and was busily engaged for several hours. Vaiii- v _ able assistance was given by a number of 1 voluntary workers. - 5 ' The voyage, to Port Chalmers occupied eight weeks. When the.vessel left her first 'v' port of departure she had 2GO Australians ' - on board, including a few New Zeal&ndersi At Suex she took on board about 80 menj most of them belonging to New Zealand. ihese men had been in engagements in the desert near Rafa, Moascar, and other . ? places which have been mentioned in tho j cables. » Only one death occurred on board. Trooper Mitchell, of Palmerston North, was suffering from a wound in the spine, and his case was serious from tho first. Ho -T died the day before tho steamer reached Melbourne, and was buried at sea. : Trooper Frank Culverhouse, of the Canterbury Mounted Rifles, is the only ooi case on board. He has spinal trouble, and was taken on board at Melbourne. TTa \ went with the Tenth Reinforcements, was hit in Egypt last August, and had been in ■ hospital in Melbourne for seven months. Ho is progressing nicely. His mates car- , ried him, into the concert on the evening before the vessel reached Otago Heads. Several of tho men are using crutches.' A number of them receivod their wounds near the border of Palestine, where they were engaged in skirmishes •which led up ' to the b g attack on Gaza. Captain W., H. Simpson, of Wellington, 5 the medical officer, returns invalided from - <3 France. He was on the Seacliff Mental Hospital staff before ho left with tne Navua • j a year ago. All tho men, he reports, have t done well on the voyage, and many of- ' J''i them have recovered wonderfully. i Major Bennett (Tenth Reinforcements) is in. _ change of tho troops. There were six-' nurses .in tho ship's hospital. <V 5 All but ono landed •in Australia, v 1 Nurse D. Johnson, of Melbourne, came on - « .to New Zealand. Privates Webb, Wilson, -i and Nixon were the hospital orderlies. They had been stretcher-bearers in the field. , J Tho weather on tho voyage was splendid. * It was only two or three days ssgo, when nearing tho New Zealand coast, that the vessel rolled a bit. " The, ship comes into port in good order. The decks ore clean, and ihe hospital and , * men's quarters tidy and wholesome. * ' Five men have returned on duty—CSaptain ■■ -i Simps6n, Company Sergeant-major' Rut-her* iford, Serjeant Terrill, Sergeant Cook, and ■'< Private King. ' A supply of fruit and cigarettes from the Patriotio Society, was placed the vessel" as soon as she arrived. ' 'l • After examination, tho Dunedin men cams .'•■>*; to town with their friends. The 'others, • £ whose are north or south, remained >' ■'"VsnJ by the ship, and .leave to-morrow morning, the northerners joining l the express about 8.15, and the men for the south comingup by' the 7.9 train to Dunedin so as to get on to the mail train at 8.30. > Major Cooper and Captain Myers down from Dunedin to supervise the military work, and Captain Dobson was ai Port ' J to control the business of the transport s; department. 2 The Mayor of Dunedin and the.Mayor of '' Port Chalmers boarded the vessel during fee morning and welcomed the men. v Last_ evening the Port Chalmers Patriotio Committee provided an entertainment for V the returned soldiers. ' ,<i - The a list of the, men:— * I Major James Armstrong, sheep farmer, "*•" Dannevirke. ' ■ v Major Wm. Atherton Bennett, farmer, \ Bay of Plenty. \> Captain Frederick Boulton' Hugfae6, photographer, Christchurch. 1 Captain Maxwell Aldred, farmer, Auckland. ~ H Second Lieutenant Oswald Lovell Ferens, =V ; bank' clerk, Oamarn. Staff Sergeant-major Wm. Henry Eibbitt, > saddier, Hastings. Staff Sergeant-major Eric Wm. Wanden,clerk," Blenheim. Private, Robert Casey Andrew, blacksmith, Masterton. _ T • Saddler Wm. Stephen J. Barber, raflway porter, Christchurch. ' -> ( Saddler-sergeant Thos. Henry Beacham, farmer, North Auckland. Sergeant Allan Stuart Blaokie, draper, Auckland. . '''^ Trooper Wm. Boyle, shepherd, Scotland. £ Sapper John Alex, Browne, linesman, •.« Hobart A Trooper Robert Burgess, farmer, Canter- •- bliry. . J? "Lance-sergeant Percival Augustus Cave, < chemist, England. "5 Trooper Henry Wm. Clark, jockey, Auck- -inland. _ ! ' Corporal John' Coleman, student,. Weilington. - ' ' 'p\ Trooper Joseph Hyram Conghlan, farmer, •Southland. Sapppr Arthur Gethlin Creqgh, linesman, / New -South Wales. ' , Trooper Clias. Frcdk. Dassler, farmer, Te Awamutu.' . • Driver Wm. Jas Davidson, labourer, St. Kilda. Trooper Robert Joseph Day, shepherd, , Timaru. Sergeant Fredk. Gordon Dill, farmer, Kaipara Flat. ' Trooper Edward Wm. Dunn", carrier/ " Taumarunui. i Trooper Leonard Jas. Evans, bookkeeper, Wellington. Trooper Angus Archibald Finlayson, farmer, Eamo. Serge.mt Arthur G. M. Fitzherbert,' i farmer, Milton. -. v <\ Trooper Jas. Lindsay Foster, farmer, , " Thornbury. ' Trooper John driver. Wellington. Lan;c-c r-;ora! Ernest Wm. Hille, labourer ' Christchurch. , s Trooper John Jenkins, engine-driver, Wales. , , Sapper August Franz Kroning, telegraph- J . ist. Gore. Trooper Walter Adrian. Langley, farmer,: : Manawatu ' > * Trooper Fredk. Daniel M'Namara, labourer, Auck'and. Private James Henry A. Mamwaring, gasfitter, Marton. Sergeant Wm. Arthur Terrill, "flaxdresser, Masterton. Trooper Douglas Maxwell, labourer, Ho • kianga. Trooper Neil Morrison, farm hand, Scotland. Private John Nixon, labourer, Christ church. ~ Private Joseph Paice, shirt cutter, Auckland. Corporal David Hunter Palmer, farm hand, Pokono. Sergeant William Pascoe, linesman, One- ■ hunga. v Sergeant David Paterson, farmer, New-' Plymouth. ' Trooper Lawrence Arthur Peroival, For- ' delL ; ' . Trooper Jas. Napier Plowman, vinegar brewer, Napier. Trooper Charles Seymour Pratt, commis- . sion I agent, Melbourne. Trooper' Michael Ryan, carrier, Auckland, Trooper Stanley Alexander Smith, grocer's carter. Dunedin. Trooper Gerald Edward Spooner, shepherd, Christchurch. Trooper Albert John Stewart, shepherd, Wellington. Private Charles Fredk. Sfcabbs, linesman, Te Awamutu. Trooper Wm. Francis E. Symea, farmer, Wanganui. Privato Terongo Tuakeo, laJxjurer, Cook Islands. Corporal Wm: Henry Turner, sheep farmer, West Australia. Trooper Fredk. Ernest Walker, farmer, f Rem\iera. Private Alfred Webb, sheep buyer, .Addington. Trooper Wallace Douglas Young, jockey, Bulb.