MEN ON MISSING LIST

Southland Times, Issue 25478, 26 September 1944, Page 4

MEN ON MISSING LIST

EXHAUSTIVE SEARCH FOR NEWS

Steps that were taken in the New Zealand Division in the Middle East to gain information of men reported missing, especially after the Greece and Crete campaigns, are given in a letter which Mr J. W. Robertson, assistant secretary of the Invercargill Returned Services Association wrote to Dominion headquarters of the R.S.A. in reference to a suggestion that regular broadcasts should be made by New Zealand stations asking returned men to supply to next of kin any information they have of missing men.' The suggestion, which was made by Driver T. G. McCreath, of Invercargill, was forwarded by the Invercargill R.S.A. to Dominion headquarters which, however, replied that it had decided not to take any action on the lines suggested. One of the reasons given for this decision) was that “the majority of the men who may be able to furnish information regarding any of the men missing would be still overseas on service.” In his reply Mr Robertson stated: “This assertion is'certainly not true of the man still missing from my battalion, the 20th. Most of our missing- date from Greece and Crete, and some time after these evacuations the first of a well-organized series of attempts to gain definite information about the missing was made throughout the division. Detailed lists with all available information and dates were printed in The 2nd N.Z.E.F. Times. These lists also appeared in routine orders and were gone through thoroughly, first by battalion, then by company and finally platoon by platoon. INFORMATION COLLECTED “Every available scrap of information was collected and sifted. It was found that two very important sources of information were missing: (a) Prisoners of war in Italy and Germany, (b) The wounded and unfit who had been hurried back to New Zealand. “In the majority of the cases it was known that some of the wounded already sent back to New Zealand had been alongside missing men in hospitals in Crete and Greece and were now the only persons who could give definite news of their fate. I am still hoping that by some happy accident I shall meet some of the men who returned early and question them about friends who have been missing since Crete. “After every campaign in the Middle East individual units were questioned as to their missing. Except for discoveries by the Graves Unit I do not think much more can come from the division. There remain: (a) Prisoners of war in Germany, (b) Repatriated prisoners of war now back in New Zealand. (c) Wounded and medical cases also back in New Zealand. “As there does not appear to have been any organized attempt in New Zealand to gain information from the last two groups I consider the wireless an excellent medium for the job.” UNRELIABLE INFORMATION

In its reply headquarters stated: “In the case of those men who were returned to New Zealand after the Greece and Crete campaigns an enedavour has been made to obtain information from them by Base Records, but it was found that the evidence obtained was in the large majority of instances unreliable and contradictory. “One outstanding example was a statement to the effect that a comrade had been definitely seen to have been shot and that he was left as dead on a beach in Crete. The position of the body was described even to the point of how it was lying with the head washed by the waves. This statement was later refuted almost in its entirety, the man being later reported as a prisoner of war and unwounded. It would appear that memory is unfortunately a most unreliable witness after a period of years, especially on active service matters, although perhaps we should say fortunately. “We are not unsympathetic in this matter, but we are definitely of the opinion that every possible endeavour is now made to ascertain the whereabouts of all personnel following each and every action. Driver McCreath’s suggestion is not new to the authorities. It has been made on several occasions and has been turned down' mainly for the reason given above—unreliability of evidence given in good faith.”