BRITISH TROOPS DEPART

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2266, 28 September 1914, Page 7

BRITISH TROOPS DEPART

) AGILENT LEAVE-TAKING., . . ('-'Manchester Guardian;"). . - ;-,' London, August 18. 'To-night' what everyone has been .saying may now,be said in print--the. Expeditionary Force has been safely-land-ed. People, here had seen a week last Sunday tbe.l*aris "New' York Herald" with photograplis of.the in. Paris and had read the notes in tlie foreign Press: of - this' and -that disembarkation. \Ve, had heard bow transports wero-pusse'd off Southampton, how great liners' were met unexpectedly in tho Channel arid tho North Seai and of guns at Tilbury Docks in the first-days of the war. Postcards from Guardsmen in Belgium were seen here a.week ago., ■Passengers have found.' the train ser- ; vice, held up for nearly;a day on the Southampton and Portsmouth arid-Holy-headilines..; Travellers at: dawn on the j Surrey roads have, stood, astounded to see .'a Iraiu :'of London vmo tor-' buses,! .plunging,by,,laden witli troops. About] '■»'■■ sixth' of the motor-drivers,of. London j are said to be working temporarily, .with tho force. First we heard that, the Colchester division 'had.gone.-': Then ''.the I reserve Guardsmen, who were housed in i thousands '.at South.- ; Kensington,:.'went;' and Aldersbotwas empty, .and.;' 'heir j .there was': news of the , Curragh \ camp j passing. .-. On Saturday it was whispered that our vanished army.had: material- j ised .again in , another land,and'that the' | drums of-the Guards and the pipes of. •the Highlanders were sounding again in a land .where they .had always meant British glory.,. ..;..'!'•■ ■■..' ITje-strangest thing of all abOut.the. :twelve-days'-departure has been the absence of farewell. It has been almost unhiiman. -Everyone..; remembers the. spectacular departures "to; South Africa,; the-' thronged;' stations, . the' .cheering crowds: at, 'the .docks'..'. time, on inofe; deadly business, our men have gone without, a word.. ,In Aldersbot, ;where.'there are so. many.'young wives, the tension was piteous,,>and-.the-brave, staccato note with which it was carried made one think one evening in a''house where .'many :were gathered'of that truth-of science-'that:a sound may be so piercing,that it'-'cannot be heard..There were, -.of- .cmifse,. farewells, but;in .the, secret'atmosphere it. seemed impossible to acknowledge' what'' everyone v-knew. ■So it was.with the.mehyAnd.there were reservists, who bad only, told-their wives that it wasa trip to London to report. Wo -sawithe Frenchmen go,.'and', their... leave-takings at Charing Cross, that wero beautifully ,terrible,,.'.and. at.the,' same place: the, German _ reservists exultantlv shouting' "Aiif 'Wiedersch'n" -to their friends.. . But bur men Jiave gone' to master their fate in the- hush of England. ■', ■.-;'■ -;.'-:- -.-'••■':',.

THE DISEMBARKATION. 'A FRENCH OBSERVER'S IMPRESSIONS. -'■■ :' Paris, August 20. - -Writing in the "Echo dePans,"" M. Gustavo de Laf rete gives his impression of the landing of some of the English -.troops. ■''■': ■■•:■.'■■'."' ' "When war was declared (he says) I Was ,'at a post on the Channel coast which T will-call X, arid was there able to witness'the stage of our mobilisation, arid one phase of special interest, which was the landing of English troops. This disembarkation : was so long in coming .that we had .begun to think that ; our port was'.'not' tb.be' used. "■. !-•' "But'ohe evening, from a steamerentering the harbour,, there ; came a 'shout from hundreds of throats, 'Hip,"' hip,': hurrah'for France,' There could be no dpiibt that it was the English, and from the piers where the- people were taking tho air there was an'answering shout. of.-'Vive PAngleterre.!,; - ' - "From this moment the troops'were constantly arriving. There were always' two. or three steamers in the harbour, each bringing 1200 or .1500 men. ; ; With field glasses one could obserye the-meiv as' the steamers; approached, and could see how closely they ■ were packed upon the boatsl Within "an hour or'two of thoi arrival of.the vessel the men were marching away, along the promenade to' the sound of fife's; and tkums. In spite of fatigue—for they had had no rcn! rest.for 48hours—they breasted the hill, in a way which surprised the-popula-' tion, andit.is, perhaps,' needless to say that the latter, was'not slow to express its welcome. Most of them were young and tall, and they were all dressed in the celebrated khaki uniform." ; : After clescribuig this uniform in detail the -writer comments on . the fine chargers of tho officers .and on the horses -employed for transport; the 'lattor especially!aroused tlw admiration of the spectator,;!',' The soldiers only remained for a. short .time, but a very largo number invaded the bathing establishments. "When'l left," he continues, "I passed onp' of these - regiments already 50 kilometres on their road. The men wore singing a sang which' in its somewhat solemn'air had no resemblance to -the marching songs of our own troops.'.They were in perfect order, and appeared to bo enjoying and admiring the country • through which they worn passing. In conclusion, the British troops have a splendid appearance, and . everything •seems to-strengthen .the conviction that they .will he a most valuahlo help in tho struggle against ,the common enemy."

"All Goes Well." . "Tho Times" Paris, correspondent writes: —Flowery though the progress of the British Force may have bemi, every member of it knows, that genuino tilings await him at Y or 7*. So well has the secret of the British Army's movements been kept that villages only' five miles off the road of advance arc unaware of its presence. At the landing ports a big staff of French military interpreters has been accumulated, ye! Franco' to-day does not know where the men are. Tho''British public may not know for some timo to come. They must be content with the assurance that al' goes well. ■•■-.: :. The :• men aro supplied with a halfBhcot typewritten French-English dictionary, which provides foi most of therequirements of the men in ' the way of food, drink, and geographical direc tion. The staff is accompanied by.corps 'of extremely efficient and equally eager Reservist interpreter officers.. _ Among those I,have, met ivero a Liverpool, cotton broker, a Dunkirk coal merchant, a French master at Blundell's. and several other business men settled in England.