THE MARCH INTO GERMANY.

Taranaki Daily News, 10 September 1919, Page 6

THE MARCH INTO GERMANY.

'A PADRE'S IMPRESSIONS, RECORDS IN KISSING. The Rev. E. D. Rice has been giving the Hawke's Bay Herald some reminiscences of the march of the New Zealand Division into Germany, and of their early days in Cologne. Padre Rice was attached to the Division, which was privileged to march right from Cambrai through Belgium to Germany. It was necessary to march, for the Huns had broken every separate rail oil the railways and even blown up every cross road. The. Division, which covered lot) miles of road, got a great reception from the Belgians, which intensified. as they got east. Towns and villages were decorated and texts were everywhere, such aB "Welcomes ye Englisehes," or "Honneur to our Deliverers." Crowds collected to cheer, and schools were lined up on the side of the road and sang our National Anthem in good English. The sides of the road were strewn with broken down German transport; their whole transport was in a fearful state in the last months of the war. There was no doubt that their advance a year ago was their "last kick," but even then all say that if they had gone for the Channel ports instead of Paris nothing could have stopped them. At Verviers, between Liege and the frontier, the reception was superlative, and there were more girls kissed in one hour than almost any other time in history! The inhabitants described how their town was occupied at night while they were asleep, before they knew that war was declared. The Division entrained for Cologne at Herberstal, a huge German entraining station on the Belgian frontier, built not long before the war. At Cologne the inhabitants at first seemed very shy of us "English Colonials," for they had heard that they were barbarians and perhaps cannibals. But soon they got to like the New Zealanders better than anybody, because the digger acted as a gentleman when they expected to be treated as the Huns treated conquered Belgian towns. No one could have treated us more kindly.

Padre Rice was billet ted in a mansion just built by the head of a big German bomb factory, and he has never received more kindness. However, the Hun is naturally a bully to anyone weaker. One saw it in his treatment of the women and children. Women stood for the men in the trams until the. New, Zealanders travelled; and then when the diggers had all given their seats up for women and fund Huns sitting they caught the Hun J)y the ear and lifted. If the Hun hadn't followed his ear he would, have lost it. After a week or two they didn't wait to be lifted up by the ear,! Some of the battalions were billetted in fine German military barracks, of which there seemed to be plenty everywhere. There were forts everywhere filled with ammunition; one of 50 underground rooms was full of aerial bombs, some 15 feet long and weighing a ton anji a half —probably meant for London.

Food for the civilians was very scarce and there was no-doubt that the poor of German had to suffer very badly. But one was struck by their thoroughness, and the way the people worked.