A POPULAR SOLDIER

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 191, 8 May 1919, Page 8

A POPULAR SOLDIER

WELCOME TO BRIGADIER-GENERAL RICHARDSON TRIBUTES TO HIS WAR WORK Brigadier-General G. >S. Riifliardson, lately commanding the New Zealand Expeditionary force in tlio United Kingdom, arrived in Wellington yesterday by tho express train from Auckland, and ho was given a very warm by the returned soldiers and the citizens. Arrangements had been made to givo General Richardson an informal cheer at the station when his train arrived, and a considerable crowd of people assembled for the purpose. There was mi especially strong contingent of returned soldiers. But the arrangements wero upset rather sadly by the fact.that General Richardson did not come by the (rain in which it was understood' lhat lie was travelling, and by the time that he did arrive numbers of the people had had to leave the station to return to business. However, there were still some of them left when he arrived, and they gave him a really hearty cheer wh;n he alighted from- the train. General Richardson spoke a few words to the foldiers, conveying to tlieiu greetings from their comrades not yet returned. The soldiers attached a rope to the General's motor-' car, and drew it away from the station for a short distance.

'Good Service. A civic reception was tendered to General Richardson in the late afternoon, the ceremony being held in tho Town Hall. There was a crowded audience, including a very largo number of returned soldiers, and all the people, but especially the soldiers, gave to the Gene-' rat a very warm reception. Mr. J. P. Luke, Mayor, offered a welcome on behalf of ♦he r-itizens. Be covered in rapid review the career ot General Richardson, mentioning his service in the held in this war. But, said General Richardson was best known as the man who had had most to do with promoting tho interests of our men in tho camps in Enghvid, and at tho front. (Applause.) There was r-o man kindlier, or straighfer, in us dealings' with the boys overseas, and the returned men should recognise that in General Richardson ' they had a very strong friend. (Loud applause.) . Iho war workers also were indebted to General Richardson for his 'riendly co-op-eration with them, and on behalf of the •war • workers of Wellington the Mayor offered thanks for this assistance and cooperation. He offered a welcome : also to Mrs Richardson, who wis returning to "the .*cenes of her childhood, and in passing he mentioned that Mrs. Richardson s mptlier, Mrs. Warren, aged 86, was .on the platform. The audience by loud acclamation gave a most hearty welcome to the two ladies.

\ Minister's Thanks. Sir James Alleni being called upon to speak, tendered a welcome to Genoral Kichardson and Sirs. Richardson. He said that ho remembered the time when General Richardson came first to this -country as an instructor in gunnery. He had been'struck then by the smartness of this young non-commissioned officer, ami,he liad followed his career ever since. He ''believed that the high efficiency of the New Zealand artillery in this war was due in very v large measure to the influence of General Richardson, and at least it was true that the New Zealand artillery had'done credit to' their couritry. General liichardson was at Sa- ; lonika when the New Zealand Government applied to the War Offico to have [him released for important administrative duties. To the great satisfaction of the New Zealand Government, the ■War Office agreed, and General Kichardson had done a .great work for the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in the United Kingdom, An Minister of Defence he wished to thank publicly General .Richardson for ihe servico ho had rendered to the Expeditionary Force, rendered to New Zealand, Tendered to tho Empire. (Applause.) Now more men were'returning to this country, and the centre of gravity from Great britain to New Zealand, i'or this, reason the Government had brought .General Richardson out to- New Zealand, because they wanted to get the best advice possible as to how to do their duty to' the men coming back... The Defence Pepnrtin'ent would be extremely glad of his advice, and he was sure that the soldiers also would have confidence in him as a friend. (Applause.'; The Hon. G. W. Russell was asked to sneak, but ho realised quite well that the crowd wanted General 'Richardson after having already waited some time, and Mr. Russell contented ■ himself with assuring General Richardson that his services had been fully appreciated by all members, of tho Government, and "then speaking' his few words of welcome and good wishes.

Beyond His "Wildest Dreams," When General Richardson rose to acknowledge tho compliment paid to him, tho Mayor called for three cheers, which were given lustily. Then the returned soldiers* broke into "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow," and the rest of the people were only too ready to join in tho song, and in the cheers which followed it.

After thanking the- audience for the honour done to him, he said that it would be vain on his part if he were to accept tho honour' as a personal one. He took it that ho was rather the medium through which the people could express their feelings regarding the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. He was only ono of many, and many had dono splendid work. If tho gathering we're t& be "considered to be in honour of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force he would try to face the music, and to make a few remarks. It was just twenty-eight years since he had come to this country, he said, and with the exception of the time that he had been 1 absent from the country attending the Staff College, and on war service, ho had been a resident of Wellington iill those years. Never in his wildest dreams did he ever think that such an .honour would be none him by tho city. Ho accepted it with a great deal of pleasure, but at the same "time he would be rather glad when it was over. (Laughter.)

A Soldier's Thoughts, The first thoughts of a soldier were for the comrades 'who would never come •back, the men lying still- on the battlefields, and of their relatives in this country. -When- he came to Auckland, and again when ho arrived in Wellington, he thought how very difficult it must have been for the people of this country to realise the horrors of the war. He knew that many 'of them had realised the cruelty of the war, because they had suffered by it. There were few families in New Zealand who had not suffered by it-. Those bereaved ones had the satisfaction of knowing always that their sacrifices had been made in a great cause, and that great cause had been achieved. The thoughts uf returned soldiers were carried /back to the fields of devastation in France and Flanders, and especially to the littlo groups of wooden crosses marking tuo places where their comrades sleep, thoso comrades who had died to save the living from bondage for ever. / His next thoughts were for' the disabled men, He had been particularly interested in the fate of those men, and before ho loft to come to Now Zealand he had visited numbers of them. 110 had found that the desire of all of them was to follow some career of usefulness. They were not looking forward to a career of idleness. He hoped that this same spirit would permeate all returned soldiers. His Work Made Easy. In regard to his work in England, he wished to say how easy everything had been,inudo for him. All the officers of the N.Z.E.F. who had had the opportunity had done their hit, all the medical officers and nurses, all the lady workers. At the very beginning of his term in command in England he wrote to.Sir James Allen suggesting to him that the policy of tho Government should be that no nioncy should be spared, and the reply of Sir .Tames Allen had been to authorise him to incur any expenditure which would bo for the benefit of the wounded soldiers. It was the full knowledge that tho Government would support him in nny expenditure that made his work easy. Another factor in mak-

ing his work easy was tho general excellence of our medical service. A very largo number of the medical officers sent from this country were men who wero highly skilled in their profession, and their names stood high in the medical world and at tlio AVar Office. Not only were tho New Zealand doctors skilful, but they took a personal interest in the Now Zealand soldier.

Another factor was the splendid work of the nurses. (Applause.) Ho would be failing in his duty work he to omit to mention the untiring devotion and the self-sacrifieo of oui nurses in all hospitals and everywhere villi the Expeditionary Force. When speaking of the nurses in Auckland ho ha.d expressed the hope that we might raise in this country a monument to the nurses who hud served in this war, a monument comparable with tho monument erected lo Florence Nightingale, "The Lady with the Lamp," in the Crimea. This might lis done in addition to any memorial which might be of practical use to them. He had been assisted in his work l>y I lie various organisations formed tu help the isick and'wounded soldiers. He had been rather out of touch with the work being done at.this end/but ho had had the best opportunity of seeing tho effect of it. On behalf of'the Expeditionary Force he thanked these organisations for what they had done for the boys. He ought to refer also to t'ho New Zealand Y.M.C.A., the organisation to which the fit soldier owed so much.' Every "digger" knew that tho Y.M.C.A. had been,one of his .best friends. And whr.t the Y.M.C.A. had done for tho fit men, the other organisations had done for the wounded and sick men. A Good Record. '

"As regards Hie New Zealand Expeditionary Force, it is not necessary," he said, "for mo to repeat what an exccl-lei]t]i-eputation the' Expeditionary Force has earned wherever it has served. But I can tell you authoritatively that the highest authorities at General Headquarters in France havo informed me personally that the New Zealand soldier was one of the best soldiers in the great army on the Western front, because ho had tho high fighting quality so characteristic of the colonials, and added to that -the quality of discipline. AVhen the New Zealand* Division "was asked to carry out any operation, the authorities nevjr had any doubt, because it always achieved ite object and also something more. That was the reputation of tho New Zealand Expeditionary Force on tho Western front." But, General Richardson went on, we 'should try here to keep things in right perspective. Tho New Zealand Division was only one of a very large number of brave divisions, who had gone to make up the army which had won the way to victory. New Zealand had done its share, a bigger share proportionately than any other British Dominion, and the War Office and the Tmperial authorities were proud of what New Zealand had done. The Guards Division was one of tho British divisions standing out as having done special service on the Western front. It •had. probably done as much fighting as any division in the Army. The casualtics suffered 'by a division were a pretty sure guide to the amount of fishting done, and the casualties of the Guards Division and of tho Nev Zealand Expeditionary Force were practically equal.

Factors in Success. Tho success' of the. New Zealanders was duo to many factors. In histories of other wars little was ever recorded about the part played, by tho rank and file of the opposing.armies. He hoped that if tho history of the New Zealand Division's fighting wore written it would 6how quite clearly- the part played by the rank and file and by the different units. He hoped that the work of the division would be memorialised in some way, and in addition to any inenidi-i.il of practical use there should bo some monument on one or othor of the battlefields on which they had fought. He hoped that the monument might be of such sort that on top of it there might stand tlio figure of a* simple "Digger." lie referred briefly to the problems of rec'onstniction facing the country, and the problem of reabsorbing the soldiers returning to this country so rapidly. Ho said that he was coming back to work again as an officer of the Def'enco Department, and he would try to do his duty to his country and to his fellowman. (Applause.) , i

. "ALWAYS A GUNNER" ARTILLERY OFFICERS WELCOME THEIR FORMER INSTRUCTOR. Special welcome greetings were offered to General Richardson at tho civic reception .yesterday by the officers past and present of the Volunteer and Territorial Artillery, with which service many years ago Brigadier-General Richardson, beforo lie became a Brigadier, had much to do. On behalf of these officers Colonel G. F. C. Campbell presentee! General Richardson with an illuminated address. Tho text of the address was «s follows;— To Brigadier-General George Spafford Richardson, C.8., C.M.G.,

New Zealand Staff Corps. Dear General Richardson,—Welcome to you, Mrs. v Richardson, and your family from the volunteer and Territorial Artillery, past and present. Twenty-eight years ago, after meritori-. ous service as a non-commissioned'officer in the Royal Artillery, you came here as gunnery instructor, to the New Zealand' Forces.. For twenty years, first as "master gunner/' and subsequently "as chief instructor,of artillery, you. wore responsible for the training of the men of the. Permanent Force, the R.N.Z.A., and- the Volunteer and Territorial Artillery. Insisting on efficiency, you were, particularly successful in cultivating enthusiasm. Your work (luring that period is gratefully remembered, for your influence was always for good, and through your unselfish and untiring endeavours and thoughtful consideration and fairness, you held the affectionate esteem of all ranks.

Ou leaving for England three years be fore the war, you passed through the Staff College., Camberley, with distinction, and afterwards were appointed New Zealand representative at the War Office in succession to General Sir Alfred Robin, K.C.M.G., C.B. -

Attached to tho Admiralty Staff early in. tho war, you were an active service at Antwerp with the Royal Naval Division as Assistant-Adjutaiit-General and Quar-termaster-General. You served with distinction on the Gallipoli Peninsula,, and subsequently at Salonika with the rank of Brigadier-General. For tho last three most strenuous years of the Great War yor. have been Commandant _ in London of the New Zealand Expeditionary Forces, and devoted your life to the New Zealand soldiers, and specially to the wounded ami sick, ami assisting our workers in the United Kingdom.

Your services to the Empire have been recognised by the {sovereign and by V'-nnce. In the high office you hold (he Dominion will have the benefit of your great administrative experience and your unique knowledge of the requirements. You have the thanks ot all of us. and a warm welcome home.

General Richardson had already made one long speech, and ho excused himself from making another. He expressed appreciation of this welcome from his old friends of the artillery. "I am," lie said, "no longer an Artillery officer, but I shall always bo a gunner."

GENERAL RICHARDSON'S STANDING AT ME As an indication of Brigadier-General Richardson's standing at" the British War Office and General Headquarters, Colonel R. If. Rhodes, in a letter from London, says:—"l havo myself been privileged on sovcral occasions to accompany tho General both to tho War Oflico and to General Headquarters in' France, and at all times I. noticed that ho received a warm welcome from whatever'- general lie was interviewing. . This was particularly noticeable at General Headquarters, wlnn'6 ho went from office to office, apparently being on friendly terms with all Stalf officers, and they on their part scpiuod anxious to- give him all assistance in their powqr and to do what they could for the New Zealand Division. He is well known in New Zealand, and t feel sure alter the experience he has gained in this country his services will bc'bf still greater value." Lord Slunhopo, in a recent speech in fhe House of Lords, referred h, General Richardson's great ability, and piwsed for him to lie made General Director over Education in the British Army.

The rat population of large cities is probably equal to Hie human population, while in the'country districts there aro at 1 least 10 rate for overy person.