FETE DISASTER

Hokitika Guardian, 19 July 1929, Page 1

FETE DISASTER

FUNERAL OF VICTIMS

United Press Association.—By Electric ieiegrapn.—Copyright.;

LONDON, July 17

The fifteen victims of the Fire Brigade fete disaster a,t Gillingham, in Kent, were blind in a lung line of graves. The whole town of Gillingham surrendered itself to the solemnity of the service.. Every street, except those along the line of the funeral route, was deserted. Tile, shops were all closed, and one hundred thousand persons watched the funeral procession throughout its journey of two miles. Police lined the route. A draped fire engine led the way. There was a naval firing party, and a band from the Naval Barracks. Five gun carriages, drawn by sailors, followed. On the carriages were the coffins of the naval cadet victims. They looked pathetically small beneath the folds of the covering flags. Officers and nluejaokets, the band, and white-robed clergy came next. Then, one behind the other, there followed ten fire engines, each bearing a coffin. After these came hundreds of helmeted firemen, boy scouts, schoolboys and town officials, making the procession one mile long. The mourners were estimated at four thousand, and a dozen people fainted at the gravesides, being overcome by the excessive heat., Twelve sailors fired a volley, and flowers, which had been brought in special cars, were piled up in a huge mound.