AWAITING THE NEWS

Camp News, Volume 2, Issue 71, 2 May 1941, Page 6

AWAITING THE NEWS

Casualty Lists Of New Zealand Forces METHOD OF COMPILATION To anxious relatives and others who await tidings ‘as to whether all is well or otherwise with their men who have been in the forefront of the fiercest fight in. Greece, a paramount question today' is how long they will have to wait for news. On the experience of the last war, it may be a week to 10 days before the first lists of those who have fallen or have been wounded are issued. The first list from the landing on Gallipoli on April 25, 1915, was announced in Wellington on May 2, and it was followed by further lists on May 3 and 4. From the Battle of the Somme, which the New Zealand Division entered on September, 15, 1916, the first list was published on September 23, but it was not till September 29 that it was announced in New Zealand that the Dominion’s me:, were engaged in the battle. 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 oj 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. Congested Cable Lines. 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. Note should be taken of the fact that the return is to be forwarded by units daily “or as often as is practicable.” If the New Zealand Division is , still engaged in a'rearguard action, 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 battalion and batteries. Troop and platoon commanders, with their non-commissioned officers, will take notes of the casualties suffered by their commands, but they i must wait till there is a lull in the fightI ing before they can pass the details I tc their own unit headquarters. Again, it is not known - whether the base office, known as Second Echelon, a term whicj must not be confused with the titles given the several early bodies of trodps 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 rhe 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.