LEAVING COLOGNE

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 18659, 7 April 1926, Page 10

LEAVING COLOGNE

—♦- A SIMPLE CEREMONY. TRIBUTE TO BRITISH JUSTICE. (from oua ow» correspondent.) LONDON, February 4. Last Saturday afternoon the last sign and symbol of the British occupation of Cologne'disappeared, the British flag at headquarters was hauled down, and then the last soldiers went. Nothing could have been more dignified or impressive in its simplicity than the final scene marking, the end of the seven years' occupation. The flag flying from tho roof the Excelsior Hotel had been moved, and only the national emblem above the entrance door had to be taken down. It was the work of a few seconds, yet the operation was significant of much.

The brief ceremony was not without its picturesque note. It was timed for three p.m., but shortly after two there was a seething human mass'on the Cathedral steps and behind the cordon of German police, mounted and foot, while every window of the hotels and shops facing the square was crowded. Order was perfect everywhere. It was a company of the 2nd Batt. King's Shropshire Light Infantry, with a sergeant's guard, which took part m the ceremony. The men marched from the Minden barracks at Riehl along the Rhine, headed by their band, and arrived at the Cathedral square in front of the Excelsior Hotel at ten.minutes to three.- The music stopped, and all was still for a few minutes. Then,the Cathedral clock chimed three, and at the last stroke Captain Eager, commanding the troops, gave the order to present arms. The band struck up the National Anthem, arid the flag wias hauled down by Company Quarter-master-Sergeant Greenwood, of the Lin; colnshire Regiment, and the two sentries, with-fixed bayonets, the same who performed a similar duty when the British troops left Ireland, retired from their post. ■ ■■ •. v When the last' note of the National Anthem had died awav a cheer Was raised on the Cathedral steps, and was renewed when the troops |eft; The crowd remained, for something had yet to be done. By the time the last soldier had entered the station the red and white flag of the City of Cologne) was hoisted on the-Excelsior Hotelf and, as if by magic, flags were brought out and flown at the windows of the hotel? and shops. Midnight Rejoicings. ■•

At midnight the people of Cologne celebrated the ; "freedom" •of- their city. The ceremony, wasikept;tq the;briefest dimensions, and everything was characterised by dignity and order. A. couple of hours before midnight the crowd slowly began to; fill .'the cathedral square, brilliant with lamps, sky-signs, and special electric lights; "Soon the great space and the streets leading into 'it were tightly packed... Patiently the thousands stood, as the last minutes.of the seven years and 59 days of occupation ticked 'away, waiting for' the great St. Peter bell in the south tower of the cathedral—a . wonderfully , toned .bell which, weighs 25 tons, and was placed in position rather" more' than a year ago—to sound the moment when Cor logne became mistress in her own house again. ' "Born in days of disruption I'call for unity," is is p'rt of the motto on the bell. When the.first stroke pounded the people began to cfyeer louder and louder. There was'a short and then came the speech of Herr Adenauer, ' the Chief Burgomaster. After this "Deutschland Über AIM" was sung by> 20,000 people. all Cologne's hells adding their chimes to those of the cathedral, the crcjwd slowly melted, away in the night. Burgomaster's Speech. .

Herr Adenauer's speech, which was broadcast over Europe and America, was short. After expressing pleasure, that the Cologne area "is again united with our fcJtate, our people, and our Fatherland," the Chief Burgomaster said it was their first duty to 'send greetings and a message of hope to their fellowcountrymen in regions still under occupation. *■ , "We have had," he went on, "to endure much by reason of the hard fist of the conqueror during seven years, but to-night in this happy hour let us be silent about that. We must be just, and admit that the departed opponent has played fair with us in. political matters. Let us hope that our sufferings have not been in vain,'and that'a real new spirit will spring up ampng-.the peoples of' Europe." , , , 1 Herr Adenauer made a strong appeal for national unity, and, comparing the two great towers of the cathedral, to two fingers held aloft iu the swearing of an oath, he asked the great crowd once more to take the.o&tb of loyalty to the Fatherland. Colonising in our Hearts. ''The British flag," says the "Koelnische Zeitung," ,'nas stood for justice on the Rhine." '.'The attitude of the English.has always been correct," says tiie "Koelner Tageblatt." "The English troops, and especially their commanders, have been ever considerate." the paper adds: "There is no praise, perhaps. • It- -was their duty and it was wisdom. The English leave behind them no feelings and memories which will not lose their sting for generations. That is not true of other parts of the occupied. area. "The English are the. supreme colonisers. . Calm, sensible, cool-headed, and is their character, and that character, moulds their methods. With.these methods they have perhaps done a. little colonising, in our hearts here in Cologne, and that, will be to the advantage,. of peace and understanding among the nations."