RAWLINSON'S MARCH TO THE RHINE.

Taihape Daily Times, 3 January 1919, Page 5

RAWLINSON'S MARCH TO THE RHINE.

DISCIPLINE AND CHIVALRY IN HOUR OF VICTORY.

Sir Henry Bawlinson's order of the day to all ranks of the British Fourth Army, which formed part of the army of occupation on the Rhine states:—

The British Army through over four years of almost conlinuous and bitter fighting has proved that it has lost none of that fighting spirit and dogged determination which has charaeteried British armies in the past. It has maintained the highest standard of discipline both in advance and retreat. It has proved that British discipline, based on mutual confidence between officers and men, can stand the hard test of war far better than Prussian discipline based on fear of punishment.

This is not all. The British Army has, during the last four years, on foreign soil, by its behaviour in billets, by its courtesy to women, by its ever-ready help to the old and weak, and by its kindness to children, earned a reputation in France that no army serving in a foreign land torn by the hororrs of war has ever gained before. Till you reach the frontier of Germany you will be marching through a country that lias suffered grievously from the depredations and exactions of a brutal enemy. Do all that lies in your power by courtesy and consideration to mitigate the hardships of these poor people who will welcome you as deliverers and as friends. I would further ask you when you cross the German frontier to show the world that British soldiers, unlike those of Germany, do not wage war against women and children, and against the old and weak.

I ask you one and ail to ensure that the fair name of the British Army, enhanced by your exertions in lortf years of trial and hardship, shall be fully maintained during the less exacting months that lie before you. I ask you to s.lio\v the world that, as in war. so in peace, British discipline, based on loyalty to our Kino-, respect for authority, care for the' well-being of subordinates, courtesy and consideration for non-combatants, and a true soldierly bearing in carrying out whatever duty wo may be called upon to perform.