GREAT WELCOME TO TROOPS

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 52, Issue 3288, 14 July 1943, Page 5

GREAT WELCOME TO TROOPS

ENTHUSIASM SHOWN AT THE TRAIN ', / I FITTING TRIBUTE TO GREAT WARRIORS WARM RECEPTION ON TUESDAY MORNING WELCOME BY MAYOR AND THE MEMBER If only weather conditions had been more congenial, nothing would have been wanting to perfect the welcome home given yesterday ( Tuesday), by a crowd of more than 2500 people ' of Paeroa and District, to the contingent of some 33 service men returning on their happy and well-earned leave from various theatres of war in north Africa and the Middle East. Necessarily arranged at somewhat short notice, the occasion was an eloquent testimony to the spontaneity and enthusiasm of the community’s tribute to the men who have served so long and strenuously in several arduous and dangerous campaigns of the war. The Warmth of the reception to the returning service men must certainly have compensated to some extent for the sombre skies, threatening rainclquds and chilly atmosphere that greeted them on their arrival at their destination. THE TRAIN APPROACHES Parents; grandparents, wives, sweethearts, brothers, sisters, children and friends were naturally prominent amid the throng waiting on the railway station platform and evidencing > symptoms of restrained excitement as the time drew near to greet this or that man restored, for the time being, to his family circle. There were present, too, some whose glad feelings ' would be tinged with sorrow for those who will not return again. A sort of electric thrill vibrated through the tense atmosphere of the scene as a succession of warning whistles indicated the approach some 40 minutes after scheduled time, of the train with its Hving freight of approximately 200-odd soldiers. Some of the men were bound o? other than Paeroa, their destinations including Whakatane, Tauranga, Waihi, Thames, Hauraki Plains, but they shared to some extent in the welcome accorded to the 101 l men, ere proceeding, after an opportunity for refreshment, on their several journeys. It was 10 19 a.m. when the train eventually drew up at the platform, to the accompaniment of cheers, fluttering flags and handkerchiefs and personal greetings from individuals m the waiting throng. “THERE’S BOB” “ There’s Bob’ I must shake hands with Bob!” was the ejaculation of quite a number of the welcomers—“Bob,” a well-set-up and genial member of the contingent, being evidently a well-known and popular figure in the community. More affectionate exchanges, naturally were observed among those greeting, or greeted by, long-sundered folks m the more intimate relationship of members of families or of affianced young folk. Not all the returning men were so unlined in feature as the aforesaid “Bob,” numbers of them showing tracesJ of thl cares, toil, and perils through which they had passed during years of campaigning. One of these was pointed out to the reporter, by a woman acquaintance of The soldTr’a! a man who went away a youth without a line on his face, but was now carrying thereon marked traces of the prematurely ageing effect of war on some men. Carried in the arms of their mothers were some young children in the crowd—in- . fants or little more—who had never until now looked upon ‘ daddy s face, and who shrank A from being caressed by a seeming stranger. Amonff the welcoming party on the station platform were the Mayor, Mr Edwin Edwards Ind representing thf headquarters of No. 2 Military Area, Lt.-Col. T. R. Dawe, Major C Murray and Lt J. Sullivan (transport officer). Members of the Paeroa Borough Council, the Ohinemuri Couniy Council and of the Paeroa District Patriotic Committee were also present. Ljn the approaches to the station were scores of motor vehicles. On the further side of the street was a beflagged detachment of children from both the Paeroa District High School and St Joseph’s Convent School.' Near the entrance to the station was located the Paeroa Municipal Band, under the baton of Mr E. Beilby. After the contingent of the returningtroops had been regaled with tea, sandwiches, cakes at the railway refreshment room, under the auspices of a ladies’ patriotic committee headed by the Mayoress, Mrs E. Edwards, they joined the crowd now drawn up outside the station and listened to brief but cordial words of welcome spoken through a loud-speaker by the Mayor and the Member of Parliament for the Thames electorate, Mr J. Thorn. The speeches were prefaced, at the call of the Mayor, by ringing cheers from the crowd, and the singing of “For They Are Jolly Good Fellows,” led by the band. ADDRESS OF WELCOME f “We are not going to detain you men with long speeches of welcome,” said the Mayor, “but we just want to tell you how very pleased we are to welcome you and to express our sincere and deep gratitude to you for what you have dared and done and endured for us in these years of your war experience.” The Mayor then intimated the arrangements that had been made for an official civic welcome to the men that afternoon and stated that they would, of course, excuse from attendance any of the men who, living outside Paeroa, felt that their first duty was to be with their Mr Thorn, remarking that it would be almost criminal on his part to detain the men more than thirty seconds from their waiting dear ones, said he would content himself at this juncture by expressing, on his own and the electorate’s behalf, his appreciation and admiration of the courage, constancy and fortitude of the returned men, whether in defeat or victory, and the .community’s debt to the forces that had stood and were standing between civilisation and the influences and powers that aimed at its destruction. Waiting cars then bore away the men to their homes.