IN THE EMPIRE’S CAUSE

Southland Times, Issue 24420, 28 April 1941, Page 4

IN THE EMPIRE’S CAUSE

N.Z.E.F. CASUALTY

LIST

(P.A.) WELLINGTON, April 27. Thirty-one names of members of the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force are given in a casualty list issued officially tonight. One has been killed in action, two have died of wounds and the remaining 28 have been wounded. In the list are the names of three men from Southland who have been wounded. They are: —

Sergeant John Michael Fennell. Next of kin: Mr M. Fennell, Victoria street, Reef ton (father).

Sapper George Lee. Next of kin, Mrs E. Ward, Winton (sister).

Corporal Donald Collett McDiarmid. Next of kin, Mr J. McDiarmid, West Plains Road, Invercargill (father). The other officers, non-commissioned officers and men in the list are:— KILLED IN ACTION Sapper Alexander Grieve Figgins. Next of kin, Mrs E. M. Figgins, 49 Hill street, Oneliunga (wife). DIED OF WOUNDS Lieutenant Thomas Edward Dawson. Next of kin, Colonel F. Dawson, medical officer of health, New Plymouth (father). Lance-Corporal Christopher J 3lll ®® Kelly. Next of kin, Mrs M. E. Kelly, 23 Kenwyn Terrace, Wellington (mother). WOUNDED Lieutenant-Colonel Frederick Stewart Varnham. Next of kin, Mrs D. N. Varnham, 26 Baring Terrace, New Plymouth (wife). 2nd Lieutenant John Windeyer Fisher. Next of kin, Mr H. Hill Fisher, Al bury, South Canterbury (father). 2nd Lieutenant Ernest Frederick Kent. Next of kin, Mr G. F. Kent, Brewery Road, Mornington, Victoria, (father). Trooper Trevor Louvain Anderson. Next of kin, Mr H. P. Anderson, Manunui (father). Trooper Frank Asher. Next of kin, Mrs H. Greer, Korokoro, Petone (mother).

Trooper Thomas Bitters. Next of kin, Mr T. Bitters, Severn street, Island Bay, Wellington (father). Private Allan Casford. Next of kin, Mrs E. Casford, 3 Kelvin street, Aramoho (mother).

Sergeant Laurence Arthur Crawley. Next of kin, Mrs L. A. Crawley, private bag, Waipawa (wife).

Sergeant Peter Terence Cullen. Next of kin, Mr W. H. Cullen, Gate Pa, Tauranga (father). Private Alfred James Dick. Next of kin, Mrs M. Dick, 145 Regan street, Stratford (mother).

Lance-Bombardier Neil Dougan. Next of kin, Mr W. J. Dougan, 280 Great North Road, Auckland (father).

Driver Stanley Allan Fisher. Next of kin, Mrs E. B. Fisher, 9 Rosella road, Mangere (wife). Signalman Edmund Mervyn Garrett. Next of kin, E. Garrett, Junction road, Hornby (relationship not stated).

Gunner Richard Leslie Gaskin. Next of kin, Mrs J. H. Gaskin, 10 Hereford street, Palmerston North (wife).

Gunner William Douglas Graham. Next of kin, Mrs D. I. Graham, care Mrs M. C. Darvell, King street, Te Kuiti (wife). Gunner James Noel Gregory. Next of kin, Mrs B. Gregory, 8 Nixon street, Arch Hill, Auckland (mother).

Gunner Robert William Howie. Next of kin, Mr S. H. Howie, 9 Plunket road, Mt. Eden, Auckland (father).

Trooper David Frederick Jolly. Next of kin, Mr D. E. Jolly, Russell, Bay of Islands (father).

Sapper Frank Peter Moore. Next of kin, Mrs D. A. Moore, 29 Ferguson avenue, Green Lane, Auckland (mother).

Corporal Neville Frank Phillips. Next of kin, Mr F. Phillips, 21 Nixon street, Whangarei (father).

Bombardier Richard Porter. Next of kin, Mrs E. Porter, 27 Benbow street, St. Heliprs (mother).

Gunner Roy Rennie. Next of kin, Mrs K. F. Elton, 715 Mt. Albert road, Epsom, Auckland (mother). Private lan Munson Ross. Next of kin, Mr D. Ross, Sylvia Park avenue, Otahuhu (father). Gunner Cedric Douglas Stewart. Next of kin, Mrs A. M. Stewart, care Mrs Lowes, 29 Princes street. Auckland (mother). Trooper John Renton Topping. Next of kin, Mrs W. Topping, Ratapiko (mother).

AIR FORCE CASUALTIES

(P.A.) WELLINGTON, April 26. The following Air Force casualties were announced today:— Pilot Officer Rex Mulligan Morrow, R.N.Z.A.F., missing on operations. Father, Mr W. R. Morrow, Christchurch. Pilot Officer Morrow was born in Dunedin in 1910 and educated at Christ’s College. Squadron Leader Ronald Janies Bennett, R.A.F., missing and believed killed on operations. Sister, Mrs P. A. G. Knocker, Wallingford, England. Squadron Leader Bennett was born in Blenheim in 1908 and was the son of Dr J. F. Bennett, of Blenheim. He left New Zealand in 1930 to take up a short service commission in the Royal Air Force.

ISSUE OF CASUALTY

LISTS

DELAYS UNAVOIDABLE

To anxious relations and others who await tidings whether all is well with men who have been in the forefront of the fiercest fighting in Greece, a paramount question today is how long they will have to wait for news.

A complete and very thorough system for recording casualties exists in the Army. Daily, or as often as is practicable, each unit sends to its brigade or regimental headquarters full lists of the officers and men who have been killed or wounded, and these are sent on to Divisional Headquarters the same day. From that office they are telegraphed to the Deputy AdjutantGeneral’s office at the base. There they are checked with the records, and the lists are then cabled to the countries from which the forces come.

Every field ambulance, casualty clearing station or hospital through which a soldier passes has also the duty of furnishing details of number, rank, name and unit, together with a report on the injuries suffered, to the office at the base. In the case of the seriously wounded and sick, a special daily telegraphed report is required. CONGESTED CABLE LINES Note should be taken of the fact that the return is to be forwarded by units daily “or as often as is prac-

ticable.” If the New Zealand Division is still engaged in the rearguard action in Greece, a battle of movement under the most arduous conditions, it will be exceedingly difficult to maintain an up-to-the-minute office system in the battalions and batteries. Troop and platoon commanders, with their non-commissioned officers will take notes of the casualties suffered by their commands, but they must wait until there is a lull in the fighting before they can pass the details to their own unit headquarters. Again, it is not known whether the base office, known as Second Echelon, a term which must not be confused with the titles given the several early bodies of troops to leave New Zealand, has been moved from Egypt to Greece. But whether the office is in Greece or in Egypt, there is probably at this moment considerable congestion of the cable lines due to calls dealing with more urgent military business affecting the progress of the battles.

NEWS NOT WITHHELD There are some people who assert that casualty lists are' withheld for various reasons. There is no point in doing so. Units must get their lists in as quickly as possible, so that they may draw reinforcements to bring them to full strength again. The necessary checking and telegraphing of the lists takes time which deprives them of any value they may have to the enemy for his immediate purposes should they, by some means, become known to him.