New Zealand at the Front: 1917. NZEF WW1

EDITOR'S N0TE

THE contributions for this book have come from Trench, Dug-out, and Billet.

They are the offspring of the Battlefield.

Therefore they may show a lack of polish, a certain roughness, that would not be so apparent had they been evolved under more favourable circumstances.

It may be said of these productions that they are the children of the imagination of men who, in the wielding of the sword, have scant time for the handling of the pen and brush.

Therein lies their peculiar virtue. If they have neither the quality of culture nor of genius, at least they have the merit of freshness, and reflect something of the ideas, the temperament, and the life of men who, from A sense of duty, find themselves engaged in a mighty conflict in a strange environment, far from their own land.

As such they will be treasured-in the homes of our own people, and also, perhaps, receive some kindly attention in what we New Zealanders still call the Homeland.

Owing to the difficulties of-publication and of transport in these times of great adventure, the material for the book had to be procured at short notice from the men of the New Zealand Division. It was hoped to have included contributions from that section of our Forces that is still fighting the Turk in the Desert beyond the Suez Canal, but, as the book had to be ready for the Christmas mail this was found impracticable.

To all who have contributed the promoters convey their grateful thanks. Sufficient was received to fill two books. One only could be published. On some of the children of these generous authors the Editor has had to use the knife of the literary surgeon. To the fathers of such he conveys his apologies. There were other children of fancy too weak to be operated upon. To the parents of these he expresses his regrets. In either case it may be that his diagnosis and his knowledge of literary anatomy have been at fault, although his intentions were of the best.

Fortunately, in war, there can be no inquests, and surgical failures on the battlefield have not yet come under the heading of Courts-Martial. There remains the possibility that some irate parent, brooding on the mutilation or death of his favourite child, may take the law into his own hands; in that case the Editor's sole claim to fame may rest upon the brief though ambiguous epitaph that has become common in this war : " Missing, believed killed " !