PROMISE FULFILLED

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 847, 16 December 1929, Page 9

PROMISE FULFILLED

ALL RHINELAND TROOPS RECALLED HAPPY SCENES AT HOME British Official Wireless Reed. 11.30 a.m. RUGBY, Sunday. The last 400 men of the British Army of the Rhine have arrived home. The British undertaking to complete the evacuation of the Rhineland within 90 days from September 14 has therefore been fulfilled to the letter. rpHE last troops to leave Germany were under Lieutenant-General Sir William Thwaites, /who has commanded the Army of the Rhine since April, 1927. His staff consisted of nine officers and 26S other ranks of the Second Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers, and about 100 details belonging to other units which have served in the Army of Occupation. The troops crossed yesterday morning from Ostend to Dover, and left Dover in two trains. In one train the Royal Fusiliers went direct to Colchester to rejoin their battalion, and the remainder of the troops proceeded on another train to London. From Victoria Station details of this party dispersed to rejoin their units. The welcome home of the soldiers was of a domestic, rather than national character. They were greeted at Colchester and Victoria Station by their wives and children, the only public demonstration taking the form of enthusiastic cheering.