WITH THE SILENT DIVISION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23114, 13 February 1937, Page 4

WITH THE SILENT DIVISION

A NEW ZEALANDER'S WAR MEMORIES " Recollections of an Amateur Soldier." By C. A. L. Treadwell, 0.8. E. Foreword by Claude H. Weston. New Plymouth: Avery, 6s. While reminiscences of soldiers who served in the Great War are numerous, there are singularly few books of this kind by one-time members of the

Silent Division. " Recollections of an Amateur Soldier" is a quiet, personal narrative of a New Zealand barrister who, in 1914, was associate to the late Sir William Sim. Enlisting immediately on the outbreak of war the author served as a junior officer for some months in the Otago Regiment, and later with the Wellington Regiment, his service being interspersed with several periods of staff duty. Finally, in 1918, when health precluded his remaining with the forces in the field, he organised and conducted a legal office for the division in London.

The earlier chapters deal with enlisting ing and initial training (wherein the Territorial training received in the O.T.C. at a university college stood the author in good stead), and the voyage to Egypt. After he has traversed in some detail the happenings in the Land of the Pharaohs, the scene changes to France and Flanders, where the author took part in the four major engagements of the Somme, La Basse, Ville, Messines and Passchendaele. The descriptions of London and other towns, both in England, and France, visited during periods of.leave, are extremely interesting, and the narrative is varied with amusing sidelights on army life. Altogether, the book makes extremely pleasant reading, and that pleasure is enhanced by the local colour, and the mention of surnames and place-names so familiar to anyone who has read the official histories of our own effort in the war. To old soldiers, and to Dunedin and Wellington people in particular, the book should prove most interesting. We recommend it to all who still maintain an active interest in the part played by the New Zealand Division from 1914 to 1918. The Author: Charles Archibald Lawrance Treadwell was born in 1889 at Lower Hutt and educated at Wellington College and Victoria College. During his study for a law degree he was a clerk in a Wellington legal firm,, then as Associate to Mr Justice Sim resided in Dunedin, whence he enlisted. His war experience extended over four years in Egypt, France, Belgium, and England. He was mentioned in Despatches, and finished his war service with the rank of captain. Returning to New Zealand with his wife, a New Zealander whom he married in London, he became a partner in the legal firm of TreadwelFs. He has taken an active part in public life in Wellington, and Is a major In the Central Command. His publications include two legal works, "Notable New Zealand Trials " and he is part author of the "Official History of the Wellington Regiment." J. F. G. S.