MANY UNHERALDED.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 217, 12 September 1940, Page 10

MANY UNHERALDED.

!■ BRITISH CHILDREN. i I LIGHT MADE OF AIR RAIDS. WELLINGTON, this day. Many of the 170 British children who arrived at Wellington yesterday came quite unheralded, and the first intimation friends in New Zealand received of their safe arrival was by a surprise telephone call last evening. Although one or two were anxiouslooking, most of the party were cheerful and gay, and showed no outward signs of whatever ordeals they might have undergone iu the war zone. They were loath to speak of what they had seen i of warfare; indeed, it seemed almost a point Of honour to make light of air laid experiences. One woman, who accompanied the party, however, said that between the time when she left home and that of the liner's departure from England her home was destroyed by an enemy bomb. Another said she had no idea where her husband was or what he Mas doing. She had expected to find a cablegram waiting her on arrival, but no such cablegram had been delivered. Small boys described proudly, almost boastfully, how they had jumped out of bed on the screaming of sirens and had seen the flash of anti-aircraft shells bursting against the sky as they raced for shelters. The voyage out, they said, had been almost wholly free from anxiety. After some delay in getting away from the. British coast they spent three uneventful days in a convoy, and thereafter the voyage was a rest-cure for them all. A week out from New Zealand they were told there wae a raider at large in the Pacific, but they were not worried. There was no sicknees or trouble of any kind on the ship. The officers and staff arranged entertainments and kept an eye on the youngsters to see that they did not clamber up the maets or tumble overboard. As they came aehore it was seen that many of the mothers had exercised considerable ingenuity in arranging simple methods of transporting their families. A young baby was carried in a canvas box open at the top and with a handle. Another was slung in a 6pecial chair from its mother's shoulder, so that her hands we.re free for carrying luggage and shepherding other children. A third infant was carried in a sort of laundrybasket by two women, each holding a separate handle. The children were remarkably healthylooking, browned with the. sun of the tropics, but distinguished by English mannerisms and politeness. They showed remarkable diversity of dress, ranging from a party of kilted young Scots to a toddler in brown battle-drees with an airman's helmet. The children and their parent* are of all classes and walks of life and are predominantly middle-class. A very large proportion were travelling in the tourist class.—(Press Assn.)