Apparently the whole of the Australian and New Zealand forces - those who, together with an Indian contingent, held the strip of ground at Anzac - have been withdrawn, and, along with them, the British forces that landed at Suvla Bay, with a view to their being utilised in some other sphere of operations.
From this it is not to be inferred that the attack upon the Dardanelles is being abandoned.
Upon this point we are re-assured in the announcement that the contraction of the Allies' front will admit of the operations on the other parts of the line being more effectively carried out.
An entire abandonment of the undertaking upon the Gallipoli Peninsula would be a step which would be fraught with such grave dangers that it can scarcely be doubted that it would be a mistake of the first magnitude.
It would involve a loss of prestige which in present circumstances might be almost calamitous.
Upon the minds of the native populations of the Oriental countries and upon the minds of neutral nations it would unquestionably have a distinctly serious effect.
Politically, it seems inconceivable that the enterprise upon which the Allies deliberately entered in their attempt to open the Dardanelles should be abandoned.
From the military point of view the operations have an unquestionable value in the fact that they pin a considerable portion of the Turkish army down on the Gallipoli Peninsula.
The people of Australia and New Zealand, who have submitted to very heavy sacrifices in the fighting at the Dardanelles, would have viewed with deep concern any proposal by the military authorities of the Empire to abandon in toto the operations that have been conducted there.
The severity of their sufferings represents the measure of their desire to see the attack on the peninsula carried to a successful termination.
• The Bank of New Zealand, with a total of 260 men from its entire staff enrolled for active service, was the first in Auckland to break away from ancient tradition, when, in July, eight girls were installed.
"Their work has been most satisfactory,'' Mr H. Buckleton, local manager, stated recently, "and we will shortly have added four more to the number. There is ample opportunity for a girl to rise to a high position in this work. There is at present no intention of bringing women into direct contact with the customers, but there is plenty of other work for which the female clerk is very well fitted, and which offers far more scope for her individual talents than ordinary stenography.'' That the girl in the bank has come to stay was also the opinion of Mr W. H. Galway, Manager of the Auckland branch of the Bank of New South Wales. ‘‘We have had three girls here for several months now, and more will be added shortly. Out of a staff of 25 men, nine have enlisted. We are holding their positions open for them, and our staff is now practically composed of girls, married men, and cadets.''
The girls are employed on routine work, such as scheduling remittances, on exchanges, adding machines, and typing.
All the other Auckland banks, are coming into line with the two mentioned, and the inclusion of women on their staffs is only a matter of a few weeks' time. - ODT, 22.12.1915.
• COPIES OF PICTURE AVAILABLE FROM ODT FRONT OFFICE, LOWER STUART ST, OR WWW.OTAGOIMAGES.CO.NZ
