UNION JACK LOWERED

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 846, 14 December 1929, Page 11

UNION JACK LOWERED

LONG RHINE OCCUPATION ENDS GERMANS PRAISE TROOPS British Official Wireless RUGBY, Thursday. At two o’clock this afternoon the Union Jack was lowered at the Hohenzollern Hotel, Wiesbaden, announcing the end of the 11 years of the British occupation of the Rhine territory. The ceremony of departure took place in the presence of the British commander-in-chief, General Sir William Thwaites, and General Guillaumat, after a general parade, at which music was provided by military bands. The last body of British troops later left for England, travelling via Saarbrucken. General Thwaites, speaking in German from the steps of the town hall, bade farewell to the citizens of Wiesbaden. General Thwaites said:-—“Since we came to this zone you Germans and we English have worked together in delicate circumstances. It has not been a pleasure to you, and it has not been easy for us. “But 1 feel that we can congratulate each othef on our behaviour to each other. The memory of our long sojourn in your wonderful Rhineland will always remain with us. Our life here has helped us to understand the German people better. You, on your part, have learned to understand the sterling qualities of the British soldier.” Dr. Erler, representative at Wiesbaden of the German Government, declared that there could not be the slightest complaint regarding the attitude and conduct of the British soldiers.