FOR VALOR.

Waipawa Mail, Volume XXXVII, Issue 7917, 11 August 1917, Page 3

FOR VALOR.

NEW ZEALANDERS DECORATED. BY FRENCH GENERAL. Special Service.

(From the Official War Correspondent).

August 1. General Anthoine, of the French army, has just paid a visit to the New Zealand headquarters, where he decorated several of our force with the Croix de Guerre. The recipients were members of the brigade and pioneers that recently did excellent work in assisting to dig in guns on the French front. The ceremony was quite an impressive one, the units concerned providing the guard of honor and military band, the army corps and divisional commanders and members of their staffs being present. Not the least impressive part of the ceremony was when General Anthoine pinned on the breast of General Plumer’s tunic the Croix de Guerre in honor of his victory at the Battle of Messines. The New Zealand officers who received the medal were:—LieutenantColonels Austin, Stewart, Roache and King. Other ranks awarded the decoration were-Sergeants T. Jones and M. J. Rillstone; Riflemen G. N. McKnight, C. H. Warren, S. R. Furby, S. C. Sturgess, and A. Laughlin; Privates Pua Tamihana and Toi Karini. Of these Sergeant Jones and Rifleman Wooten were killed and the other non-coms, and men were wounded in carrying out the work.

An interesting though sad feature of tile ceremony was that owing to absence of tile killed and wounded their medals were pinned on the breasts of their junior commanding officers. The Military Medal has been awarded to the following for gallantry in tile field: —Corporals W. A. Sinton and F. G. Lynch, Privates K. S. Moore and T. H. Crawford, Sapper L. C. Wliitelaw.