PAGEANT IN LILLE.

Taranaki Daily News, 7 January 1919, Page 6

PAGEANT IN LILLE.

ENTRY OF BRITISH ARMY.

A MEMORABLE SCENJB. ~.i £

Wars pageantry on its chivalrous and entirely grateful side was witnessed in .Lille, when tb,e Fifth Army, under General Sir W. It. Birdwood, made its formal entry into the city. Hundreds of thousands of people were is the streets, writes Mr Philip Gibbs, and crowded in every window and in every high balcony, and only the centre of the Grande Place, round the Statue of Liberty, placed there in the time «f the French revolution, was empty. It was empty because it had been left free for the entry of the British troops in triumphal procession when the city of Lille was to be presented with the flag of our Fifth Army by its commander, General Birdwood, as a souvenir of the men who had liberated it from hostile rule.

There was a glint of sunshine in all the windows' of Lille, and blue sky above the housetops, and a warm, moist wind, from which there fluttered down "patines of bright gold" from the yellowing trees. There seemed a song in the air—the song of peace after these years of war rising'from the hearts of people who were glad after long suffering. For them the worst of war was at an end. and here they were gathered to give praise to the men who had released them from its spell. Stands had been built and draped with British colors in the Grande Place, and were crowded with British generals and staffs from the Fifth Army and other amies, divisions, and corps, and with thousands of citizens of Lille.

GENERAL BIRDWOOD ARRIVES. I stood on the steps of an old building looking down upon the scene, and it seemed as though it had been arranged by some historical pageant-master with a sense of drama. .Some of our aero-' planes came as patrols above the square, with diaphanous wings as they flew in, the sunlight, and they swooped low and turned somersaults above the telegraph wires and did boyish stunts over the heads of the people of Lille, who waved their handkerchiefs and flags, and cheered to them. The Bishop of Lille came into the square, and the tall old prefect and many dignitaries of the town, strange to see in their black coats and tall hats. They grouped themselves round the flag of Lille, which they were to give to the Fifth Army in exchange for the sirmy flag. There was a long wait, and then round the corner of the Rue Rationale came a number of horsemen with pennons fluttering above their mounted escorts. They were spaced as in some pageant, and at the head of them rode General Birdwood—"Birdie" of the Dardanelles and the Australian Corps, now commander of our Fifth Army. Behind him was General Hakin», of the Eleventh Corps, and other, generals and staff officers.

THE "MARCH PAST." C4ieers rose from every window and barony of the Grande Place and from the crowds round the square, and thousands of flags fluttered- Our generals and their officers carried great bouquets of flowers, and they saluted the crowds, looking up to the high balconies and the smiling eyes up there. Then orderlies ran out to their horses' heads,,and they dismounted, and General Birdwood advanced on foot to the Mayor of Lille and his councillors and gave them the fanion of the Fifth Army, speaking in French, and expressing the gladness of the British army at the liberation of Lille, and the admiration of the army for the courage of its citizens. At exchange of ilags the cheers rang out again, and all the Grande Place was twinkling with little flagsThen came the march past of the troops, and that was what went most to the hearts of the crowds in Lille, for these were the men who had fought for tlem through four years of war, in many battles, in dark dayg, through fire and blood. They wore their steel helmets, and their jaws were square in the straps, these boys who never dreamed of soldiering five years ago. They came with their bands at the head of each battalion, and played' Old English march tunes to the people of Lille, and then suddenly, as they passed the statute of Liberty, the "Marseillaise." It was as though some electric spark fired the crowd. They rose and cheered louder than before, with a shrill fervour, and then thousands of voices took up the old hymn, which once sang of revolt, and now sings of liberty, and the love of France, and its music passed down the streets with a passion in it. The soldiers had flags in their belts and rifles, and flowers on their guns ai\d waggons. In Lille it was a day of festival and thanksgiving, and we saw the pride of England in its streets.