SALUTE AND FAREWELL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 3 January 1940, Page 6

SALUTE AND FAREWELL

PARADE OF FIRST ECHELON IN WELLINGTON People of City and Hutt Valley Turn Out En Masse HEARTFELT BUT LARGELY SILENT TRIBUTE BIG ASSEMBLY OF RETURNED SOLDIERS (By Telegraph.—-Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. An official farewell was extended at Parliament House today, on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand and the citizens of Wellington, to the officers and men of the First Echelon of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. The troops came in from Trentham by train, paraded at the station and marched to Parliament House grounds, where they were addressed by the Governor-General (Viscount Galway), the Prime Minister (Mr Savage), the Mayor of Wellington (Mr T. C. A. Hislop), the ader of the Opposition (Mr Hamilton), and the Hon W. Perry (president of the New Zealand U.S.A., members of which also paraded in very large numbers. Long before the hour of the ceremony, every vantage point open to the public had been occupied, and the addresses were relayed through loud speakers. Practically all the people of Wellington and the Hutt Valley must have been concentrated along the route of march taken by returned soldiers and the Trentham members of the First Echelon of the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force on their march through the city, following the official farewell at Parliament House this morning. The turn-out of returned men was so large that the people were nearly as much impressed as by those in uniform. The returned men took seven minutes to pass a given point, compared with eleven minutes by the troops. Five bands participated in the march and the band of H.M.S. Ramillies was stationed at the Citizens’ War Memorial, which the troops marched past as they left the parade at Parliament House, saluting as they went by. The whole city was at a standstill. Premises were open, but nobody remained inside. In the main it was a silent tribute the soldiers received. There were cheers in places and clappings of hands, but in the main the people’s patriotism was in their faces and not in their throats. Further notable was the fact that there was a complete absence of vulgar jostling to see, thousands being content to stand back on the pavements, leaving the front to those obviously intent on picking out their relatives and friends with a word of cheer as they came along. As in England, so here, there is a serious note to this war that almost totally submerges lip service, but that it is purposeful and intent, the demeanour of the crowd and its completeness leaves no doubt whatever.

LORD GALWAY’S ADDRESS

Addressing the men, the GovernorGeneral, Viscount Galway, said they were about to leave to answer their nation's call for assistance against a powerful enemy which challenged the ..right of other peoples, including the British Empire, to live their own lives. One would have thought the German people might have learned a lesson from the last war, but apparentlj' the gangster Government now in power in that country required to be taught a fresh and salutary lesson. It was because they all appreciated the danger to the Empire and the challenge to that liberty which, as British subjects, they had always enjoyed, that they were leaving their homes and loved ones to assist the Motherland. Loyalty and devotion to the Throne and Empire were characteristics of New Zealand. Many proofs had been given in the past and in its maintenance lay the surest safeguard of the peace and prosperity of that Empire to which we were all so proud to belong. After a reference to the traditions built up by the New Zealand Division in the last war, Lord Galway expressed a general hope that hostilities might not be drawn out,' but said the danger which threatened was so real that every fit man in every part of the Empire should be trained with the least possible delay and made ready for service. He paid a tribute to Major-General Freyberg and referred to the fact that the troops’ comfort and wellbeing abroad were being taken in hand. He congratulated most heartily those who had volunteered for service overseas with the First Echelon, wishing them Godspeed.

THE PRIME MINISTER

PROMISE OF EQUALITY OF SACRIFICE. The Prime Minister (Mr Savage) prefaced his speech with an apology for the absence of Sir Andrew Russell, who had returned from, the last war trusted, honoured and indeed loved by the men who served under him. Mr Savage said that if he was a judge of a man and of men, he predicted that the same thing was going to happen on this occasion. It was an occasion historic, not only for New Zealand, but for the British Commonwealth of Nations. Twice within the memory of the present generation New Zealand men had responded to the call of the Empire and for that we had to thank the men who had served in the past and those who were there today ready to serve in future in whatever sphere they might be called upon. Mr Savage spoke of the duty of those who remained at home. It was the job of the Government to organise for war and to organise for peace too.

“Let me say to you officers and men, and citizens assembled here." he said, “that equality of sacrifice is not going to be an empty phrase. Those who are to stay at home are going to do their part. The job does not end with- men in the trenches, great as is their part.” He said he was speaking in the name of the Government and not as an individual. There was only one way to help the Mother Country and the Allies and that was through the Government. The time had come for unity. The day was here to begin a great work of organisation, so that the men going abroad would be able to say that they were not going to be sacrificed in vain. On behalf of the Government and people, he thanked the officers and men on parade. “Our hearts and prayers will bo with you and our hands out-stretched to meet you on your return,” he said.