IN SHORE ROLE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 6, Issue 97, 10 August 1943, Page 3

IN SHORE ROLE

THE LEANDER'S FLAG

NOW IN NEW CALEDONIA

Fluttering over the headquarters of a New Zealand Heavy Regiment oil a Pacific island is a Hag which at one time graced, the mainmast of H.M.S. Leander in battle. The story of its transfer from sea to land is an intriguing one of "which perhaps to this day the officers of the New Zealand cruiser are not fully cognisant. lit happened that the Leander was in a Pacific port of which part of the coastal defences were the responsibility of a New Zealand regiment. In an exchange of visits, the regimental officers, enjoying hospitality in the "wardroom, and inspecting the. cruiser's ensigns, jokingly asked for the gift of one of them. In like manner the request was granted, but though even now the the regiment's officers are not certain whether the Navy really expected the flag to be taken, the bunting nevertheless found its Avay ashore. Its removal in quasi-secret manner was no mean feat, for it measured 18 feet long. The landlubbers arc proud enough of that part of the proceedings, but for them the climax came when the Leander, passing their headquarters on her way to sea again,, acknowledged the dipping of a flag on the regimental llagpole. Unanswered is the question: "Do the Leander's officers } T et know that the Hag dipped by the regiment was in fact their own?"