AN ARMY LANDS

Hokitika Guardian, 29 August 1932, Page 3

AN ARMY LANDS

CONTE-VIPTIBLES BREACH FRANCE.

18 YEAR OLD EPI'SODE

The eighteenth anniversary .of the * accomplishment of one of the most brilliant achievemeiiLs in the annals of the British Army, when three British Army Corps were transported to the FrancO-Belgian frontier' without the loss of a single man, • ).tie feat is de 'cribed- in the cable news published on August .20, 1914, a few days after the war started. Tne nu.n----1 .n..ry of the news is as follows:

“To-day’s cable .messages from ; fhe theatres of the Great European War dispel all doubts about tile movements of .the British Expeditionary Force, lhe transportsiion of three ', British' Army Corps to the Fira nco-Be■ gi; i n frontier was completed last Friday and Saturday. The week-end saw ‘the finest troops that England has ever sent across the seas’ encamped on the Erench hills inland from Boulogne and other points of debarkation. . . . Nobody but Kitchener could have performed, as he has just performed, the feat of transporting in this grim and silent way an entire arrhy from England to France in perfect order and , machine-'.ike dispatch, . and kept the whole Empire in comparative ignorance of the fact for .nearly a, week. “The embarkation, transportation, and debarkation of men and stores were carried out with: the greatest precision, and without,, a single casualty. The embarkation .'. was a grim, solemn business, there 'being no. farewells ,on the piers. Long lines of khaki-clad men marched to the docks, and in the early morning the troopships slipped qujetly away. The captains of the transports did not know their destination until they opened their sealed orders three mile-s out. Some of the" troopships were not even aware that they were being escorted until a submarine was suddenly seen passing partially submerged. “ ‘Duty must be your watchword’ «aid the King in his message read to the troops before embarkation. Each mm also carried a little slip of paper .signed ‘Kitchener,’ with 200 words of soldierly advice, telling them to ‘Fear God and honour the King. Remember that you are fighting on the soil of a friendly nation.' Abstain from liquor and; looting. Be courteous, to women ; but not more than courteous. You cannot do yOur country better service-, than by showing yourself -in' Franco and Belgium in the true character of a British soldier. Be sure your conduct justifies the welcome and the trust awaiting you.’ ”