BRITISH TROOPS DEPART.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 107, 29 September 1914, Page 5

BRITISH TROOPS DEPART.

A SILENT LEAVE-TAKING. . ("Manchester Guardian.") \ London, August IS, To-night what everyone has been sar- ' ing may now bo said in print—the s£rpeditionary Force has been safely landed. j People here had seen a week last Sut- ' day the Paris New York Herald, witk 1 photographs of the Eng'ish troops iM I Paris, and had read the notes in tit* j foreign Press of this and that digeffl- , barkation. We had h«ard how transi ports were passed off Southampton, how great liners were met unexpectedly in I the Channel and the North Sea/and of ' guns at Tilbury Docks in the first daye of the war. Postcards from Guardsmea in Belgium were seen 'here a week ago. Passengers have found the train Borvice held up for nearly a day on the Southampton and Portsmouth and Holyhead lines. Travellers at dawn on the Surrey roads have stood astounded to 6ce a train of London uiotor-'buses plunging by, laden with troops. About a sixth of the motor-drivers of London are said to be working temporarily with the force. > First we heard that the Colchester division had gone. Then the reserve Guardsmen, who were housed in thousands at South Kensington, went, and Alderahot wag empty, and then there was news of the Curragh camp passing. On Saturday it was whispered that our vanished army had materialised-again in anotkie* land, and that the drums of the Guard! and the pipes of the Highlanders were sounding again in a land where they fca4 always meant British glory. The strangest thing of all about th» 12 days' departure has been the absence of farewell. It has been almost unhuman. Everyone remembers the spectacular departures to South Africa, the thronged stations, the cheering crowjß it the docks. This time, on more deadly business, our men have gone without ft word. In Aldershot, where there are so many young wives, the tension was piteous, and the bravo stnccato note with which it was carried made one think one evening in a house where many wer» gathered of that truth of science, that a sound may be so piercing that it cannot be heard. There were, of course, farewells, but in the secret atmosphere !t seemed impossible to acknowledge what everyone knew. So it was with th« men, and there were reservists who had only told their wives that it was a trip to London to report. We saw th» Frenchmen go, and their leave-takini's 'at Charing Cross that were beautifully terrible, and at the same place the German reservists exultant'y shouting ">Auf WiedcrsehV to their friends. But our men have gone to master their fate, in tho hush of England.

THE DISEMBARKATION. A FRENCH OBSERVER'S IMPRESSIONS. Paris, August 20. Writing in the E'ho do Paris, M, Gustavo de Lafrete gives his impression of the landing of some of tho English troops. "When war was declared (lie says) I was at a post on the Channel coast which I will call X, and was tiiere ab>e to witness the stage of our mobilisation, and one phase of special interest, whick was the landing of English troops. This disembarkation was so long in coming that we had begun to think tha*- our port was not to be used. "But one evening, from a steamer entering the "harbor, there ciime a shout t !tom hundreds of throats, 'liip, hip, hurrah for France!' There could he no doubt that it was the English, and from tho piers where the people were taking the air there was an answering shout of "Vice I'Angletcrre.' "From this moment tho troops were constantly arriving. There wore always two or three steamers in tho harbor, each bringing 1200 or 1500 men. With field glasses one could observe the me» as the steamers approached, and could see how closely they were packed upon t r ne boats. Within an hour or two of tho arrival of the vessel the men were marching away along the promenade to the soared of fifes and drums. Tn spite of fatigue—for they had had no real rest for 48 hours—they breasted the lill' iR a way which surprised the population, and it is, perhaps, needless to say that the latter was not s'ow to express its welcome. Most of them were young and tall, and they were all dressed in the ielebrated khaki uniform." After describing this uniform in detail, tho writer comments on the fine chargers of the officers and on the horses employed for transport; the latter especially aroused the odmiration of the spectators. The soldiers onlv remained fov a short time, but a very large number invaded the bathing establishments. "When I left," he continues, "I passed one of these regiments a'readv 50 kilometres on their road. The men were ringing a Song winch in it. somewhat solemn air had no resemble nee to the marching songs of our own troops. They were in perfect order, ajad ::p-eared to • be enjoying and admiring t'h- countrv through which they were passing. In conclusion, the British troops have a splendid appearance, and everything seems to strengthen the conviction that they will be a most valuable heln in the struggle against the com-non enemy." "ALL GOES 'v■rCLlj." The Times' Paris correspondent write?. Flowery though the progiejs of the British Force may have been, every member of it knows that genuine things await him at Y or Z. So well has the secret of the British Army's movements been k»pt tlat villages only live miles off the road of advance are i-nuwam of its presence. At the landing 1 pert:, a big stall of French military interpreters has been, accumulated, yet Frame So-day does not know where the men an-. The British: public may not know Scr some time to to come. They mint i,c content with the assurance that nil govs well. The men are supplied with a half-sheet-, typewritten French-English dictionary,, which provides for most, of the requirements of the men in the way of food, drink, and geographical direction. Tho staff is accompanied by corps of extremely efficient and equally eager Reservist interpreter officers YOU SHOULD BE DETERMINED ■ . i.e ■:? .illn-yli'c :-'; <t>; .<ut- euntei'ick'. itv tiss-es panted for ti>- -cil" &5 pi pp. :, h\ 'Mist- as •. rh* Y<s • • A 30W V.t F.I rl 1 vl'IM [, H .iol .lectl/"; 1 fXJ.HC! " W tl: :: ..Mi' inedHV'.l : : :*F V- 4 3;: Urtiijllf lbtitl lUli.-,:. ii.-iH** ... i I*l |jt powci' 7. >• v» 1i B. ;' ■ \;. u.'-.C ; >■ l •' Jf. ;-'«i i-.i . #H*< 1-vli. i'.; !j « ■ "li ISsOIK»:l '■ ■■■ ' ij.-; !.'<?: ■jr.. t.ii derive vl.;' I'tW'c'- .'lw M wuxte hwu; reajF'-'.i »iw. ° - -- ) |li tshr.old n , : ' 'i■■ • . vi'-i. l ... '' Si.r-i-ti.Uty sasitiytoi oil* .sac &&&*&