WAR TROPHIES

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 16500, 30 July 1919, Page 8

WAR TROPHIES

OFFICIAL DISTRIBUTION SCHEME. "ENOUGH FOR ALL.” Some time ago it was ohidaliy announced that the distribution of war trophies in Now Zealand would ha undertaken systematically, with a view to fair adjustment between the claims of all districts. As these requests cannot be dealt with by officers commanding the various military districts, detailed instructions to them on the matter have been issued by General Headquarters. These state that AVar Record Sections have been established in London and Egypt to deal with; — (a) Custody of war records—-orders and instructions issued in the Now Zealand Expeditionary Force. (b) Collection of information in connection with the war for subsequent reference in compiling official and popular histories. (c) Custody and history of trophies captured or salvaged by the N.Z.E F. (d) Collection of war trophies from the Imperial Authorities and other sources, (c) Preparing and collecting of medals, photographs, battle pictures, medical, dental, and other specimens as exhibits for museums. An endeavour is being made to obtain five specimens of each kind of wav trophv with the object of providing for provincial museums as well as for the National War Museum, should it ultimately ho decided to .establish one in the Dominion. War trophies are now arriving, and are being stored in the charge of the Ordnance Department except those trophies which have been captured by units. The latter will not be held by the Ordnance Department, but will he sent to the towns in which the headquarters of the unit concerned is located. Those trophies are not to considered the exclusive property of these towns, but of tho respective regimental, areas.

Officers commanding regiments are requested to confer with iho mayois of cities and towns in which their_ headquarters arc situated, with a view to arranging for a committee to be formed in each area, to deal with the distribution of captured trophies to the various localities as the committee may deC ' There will bo a largo, number of trophies other than those belonging to individual units of the X.Z.B.b. These will be stored at Trentham until the requirements of the whole Dominion have been ascertained, when they will be allocated and distributed. Tho matter of allocation will be dealt with as speedily as possible, but final action will not*bo taken until all the material arrives from London. There should bo enough trophies, particularly field and machine guns, to satisfy nil reasonable demands. Correspondence in connection with war trophies should be. speciallv addressed ‘‘Offices i/c Uar Trophies, 'General Headquarters Defence. Department, 'Wellington.”