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The Kia ora coo-ee : the magazine for the ANZACS in the Middle East, 1918

Personalities

page 6

Personalities.

Brig.-General G. M. Macarthur Onslow, D.S.O., V.D., L.H. Bgde., has been awarded the 3rd. Class Order of the Nile by H. H. the Sultan of Egypt.

Major A. Dick, A.L. H., has been awarded the D.S.O. for gallantry and devotion to duty in the Field. He was wounded in action recently.

Capt. R Mac Pherson Smith, M.C., A.F.C., has been awarded the D. F. C. for gallantry and devotion to duty in the Field. He was awarded the M. C. in March, 1917, and a bar to it in the following December.

Lieut. P.G. Hartley, M.M., late of No. I Squadron A. F. C, has joined the staff of the War Records Section. He will be stationed in the Field as "outside officer" of the Section, and in the near future will make a tour of the Regiments. His work will include the collection of war trophies captured by Australians. Lieut. Hartley will be constantly

on the move, but communications on the subject of trophies may be addressed to him at H.Q. Desert Mounted Corps.

Lieut. H. A. Letch, M.C., A.F.C., who was killed in action on August 22nd., was promoted from sergeant to commissioned rank in May, 1916, and was with a Light Horse regt. when he won the M. C. He transferred to the A.F.C. in June last.

Sig. Corporal T. Finlayson, A.L.H., and Tpr. H.B. Cartwright, A.L.H., have each been awarded the Military Medal.

Sgt. Wm. G. Gordon, A.M.G. Sqdn. has been awarded a bar to his Military Medal. He is the first member of the A.I.F. in Egypt to receive a bar to this decoration.

W.O. Alan S. Murray, who has been awarded the D.C.M. for gallantry and devotion to duty in the Field, was specially enlisted in Australia for survey work with the E.E.F. He was attached to the Survey Dept. G.H.Q. on his arrival in Egypt.

A wedding which created much interest was celebrated in Salonique recently, when Sister May Duncan Smith, of Beandesert, Queensland, was married to Lieut. H. Woolam, of Manchester, England. The ceremony took place at G.H.Q. chapel, the principal chaplain to the Salonika Forces officiating. The bride was attended by Sister M.E. Jones and given away by Col. V.J. Crawford, D.S.O., O.C. of the —th. Hospital to which Sister Duncan Smith was attached. Many Australian Sisters were present. Lieut, and Mrs. Woolam left by train for Athens, en route for England.

The Distinguished Flying Cross has been awarded to the following officers of the A.F.C. for gallantry and devotion to duty: Captn. A.R. Brown, Lieuts. H. B. Fletcher, G. Finlay, W.J.A. Weir, C.S.Paul, G.C. Peters, J.H. Traill, P.J. McGuinness, D.C.M., and H. Fysh.

Colonel C.E.R. Mackesey, C.M.G., D.S.O., until recently officer commanding the New Zealand Training Regiment Depots and Details in Egypt, is an Irishman by birth, having first seen the light at Dublin, fifty-seven years ago. His military career was commenced at the bottom rung of the ladder and he has advanced step by step to his present rank. In April, 1902, he received a commission in the Marsden Mounted Rifles; and at the time of General Sir Ian Hamilton's inspection of the New Zealand Forces the Auckland Mounted Rifle Brigade was commanded by Colonel Mackesey. When war broke out, be commanded the 11th. North Auckland Mounted Rifles, and left New Zealand with the Main Body as Officer Commanding the Auckland Mounted Rifle Regiment. He went with the Regiment to the Peninsula, and served through the Desert campaign, receiving the D.S.O. and the C.M.G., in 1917. In May of that year he left on a flying visit to New Zealand, and upon arriving back in Egypt, took over the command of the N.Z.T.U. and D.
Colonel C.E.R. MACKESEY, C.M.C., D.S.O.

Colonel C.E.R. MACKESEY, C.M.C., D.S.O.

A linguist of no mean ability—he is a qualified interpreter in French and German—he is ever ready to place his ability in this connection at the service of the men under his command; he personally conducted classes at the camp, in which many men obtained a good grounding in languages. Three of Colonel Mackesey's sons have seen service in this theatre. The eldest, 2nd Lieut. H.F. Mackesey, was killed on the Peninsula; Major C.R E. Mackesey was for some time second in command of the Auckland Regiment, and was invalided home after wounds; and Lieut. W.E.R. Mackesey is at present on service. Colonel Mackesey relinquished his command at Ismailia to take over important duties in Occupied Enemy Territory.

Tpr. F.H. Livingstone, A.M.R., attached to N.Z.E.F. Headquarters Gift Section, was married recently, at All Saints Church, Cairo, to Miss Grace Wood, eldest daughter of Mr. W. Wood, Cairo.