ARRIVAL OF THE ARAWA

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 200, 19 May 1919, Page 4

ARRIVAL OF THE ARAWA

IG2 SOLDIERS AND C 5 WIVES,

More than usual interest attached to the arrival here of the transport Arawa from England via Lyttelton on Saturday forenoon, as the • soldiers on board included the Officer Commanding the New Zealand Division, Sir Andrew Russell, K.C.8.. K.C.M.G., of Hawke'e Bay. There was a very large crowd of the public to witness the arrival of tho liner at the wharf, and the General was heartilv cheored as he left the ship, both by the men who had travelled to .New Zealand by the Arawa, and by whom tho General is beloved, as well as those on shore. As the big vessel berthed those on tho wharf were surprised to hear the strains of a band on board playing "Home, Sweet Home." It was the first occasion on which a transport has eported its own band. The effect was very nppealing both to thoso who hail 'Wellington as their home and to the relatives waiting their loved ones on the quay. Host of the Arawa's complement was for the South Island. There were only 162 soldiers to be landed here, but in addition to theso there were 65 English and French wives of soldiers who had become benedicts whilst under arms in Europe. On the wharf the band of the Patriotic Society played suitable music, under the baton of Bandmaster Jupp, and subsequently the band played on the balcony of the Returned Soldiers' Club on Lambton Quay, whilst the soldiers and eoine of their newly-acquired wives partook of morning tea in the congenial atmosphere of the club's social hall, whew a number of Wellington ladies assisted in making matters very pleasant for tho new arrivals.

Captain Prictor was in charge of the disembarkation arrangements, which proceded satisfactorily, though, the transport arrived a couple uf honrs later than expected (owing to tho thick weather experienced along the coast). , Valuablo assistance was, rendered by the members of tho Wellington Volunteer Motor Corps, under Captain Pryor, who conveved the men and the soldiers' wives to their various destinations.