by Dorothy Turner

Of the thousands of men who served their country during the Fist World War, few would have committed their thoughts to paper, let alone the deeds, good or bad, that they carried out. For many of us, we can only guess at what went on in the lives of our ancestors at that time. Some would return as heroes and stand in the forefront of their communities, but the majority would return and say very little about war-time experiences. In some respects, families can only assume what transpired when they have a chance to peruse the military documents of their ancestors. Such is this case.

Come on in lad, sit down and we will have a chat about it. Made your decision have you? Right. Just let me get your file. Now, let's see. May as well start at the beginning. Your name and Rank -— 3/147 John REYNOLDS, private. What do you prefer to be called, John or Jack? OK, Jack. You attested at Wellington on August 11 1914 were Single, a cook, lived at the Union Dining Rooms and your next of kin was Mrs Albert Burns of 22 Elizabeth Street, Petone. You joined the Medical Corp and sailed with the Main Body aboard Troopship Number 8, SS"STAR OF INDIA", returned from Egypt July 1915 and were discharged September 1915. Excuse me, Jack, a little discrepency there if I may say so. You had a wife and child in Sydney, according to the attached report, yet you were paying your allotment to some other woman. You old devil, you! By all accounts you refused to do the proper thing so that your family would benefit, so the Top Brass stepped in and rescinded the fiyst order. Took two shillings per day for your wife and child from your pay. Did you contact your family when you arrived back from Egypt? Some people in authority may have regarded you as a waster Jack, but who am I to judge. We all have faults. When you undertook your medical prior to enlistment there was one tiny thing that slipped your mind — apparently. Why did you not mention that you were predisposed to rheumatism? Surely you realised that your condition could become more generalised and put you out of action. That didn't enter your mind? As it happened, you did take crook out of Colombo and were laid up for several days. Maybe you looked upon war as a great adventure and you were off to do your ‘stint’ come hell or high water. Too great a chance to miss out on, was it? Your period of training within the ranks of the Royal Australian Garrison Artillery in previous years, would have been beneficial for such an event anyway. Why waste all that effort? The troops you were with thought they may have been heading for England or France, but that was not to be, as when the transports arrived in Egypt, orders were received that the men disembark at Alexandria, entrain to Cairo, then on to Zeitoun, where they would form the nucleus of the New Zealand Division. The Turks were on the move! How did that strike you Jack? Action at last maybe! Even though there were days of monotonous slog in the hot sands of the desert, there were days too when you and your mates would be out sight-seeing around the Pyramids and getting into strife in the 'unmentionable' part of town - the Wazir. Did you join in the fun Jack? Hey, you weren't part of the major riot that erupted in that district, were you? Plenty of casualties that day. The hospitals would have been bulging at the seams. It wasn't that which caused your hospitalisation for three months, was it? Either that, your rheumatism or the dreaded dysentery!

I see that you were admitted to the Mounted Field Ambulance Hospital at Zeitoun on April 15 1915, transferred to Egyptian Army Hospital at Pont de Koubbeh, April 16 and finally invalided home aboard "WILLOCHRA" on June Oth. Bet you kept your eyes open and learnt a few things about the goings on in a hospital while you were indisposed. Chat up the nurses did you? With your ambulance training they may even have needed your assistance at times. The dysentery took hold of a lot of blokes and many had to return home because of it. At least you were cleared to do your job as an electric wireman, Electric wireman! What did that have to do with tucker? Weren't you a cook when you first enlisted? Crikey, Jack lad,what else did you have up your sleeve, dare I ask! The Army still had a use for your experience and I don't know how you swung it, but you were enlisted as an Instructor for nearly a year until you just finally had to call it quits. I11 health certainly dogged your footsteps, old son. Wellington hospital must have just about seemed like second home to you, the number of times you were admitted. No wonder you became so brassed off. Even the time spent in Motueka didn't seem to help matters even though your board and lodging at Langham Hotel was paid for you, so there was no worry on that score. Fate may have delt you a rotten hand in many ways, though I am inclined to think you would have taken advantage of anything, so long as it suited you, Jack lad. So, all in all, war wasn't all that great,was it? That about sums up the situation. If the final decision that was made, was ‘out of the frying pan and into the fire', only he knew. Oh,Jack lad, I hope the end result was well worth the hassle!

NOTES : 1 Defence Department,Service Record 2 Report extracted from History Sheet of Service Record 3 New South Wales Military Records. Marriages of Royal Australian Garrison Artillery 1888-1924, Family History Centre Film #1368199

BIBLIOGRAPHY : Official History of N Z in the Great War Vol 1V DREW The N Z Medical Service in the Great War 1914-18 CARBERRY The Great Adventure Edited by JOCK PHILLIPS, NICHOLAS BOYACK & E.P.MALONE Behind the Lines NICHOLAS BOYACK