MEN OF THE HOUR

Wairarapa Times-Age, 2 April 1940, Page 6

MEN OF THE HOUR

WELLINGTON WELCOMES ACHILLES CREW ENTHUSIASM IN DECORATED STREETS. DAY OF ENTERTAINMENT. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON. This Day. Looking fit and well and obviously in the best spirits. 460 officers and rating of H.M.S. Achilles arrived by train today from Auckland to receive the welcome Wellington had prepared for New Zealand’s naval heroes. The party arrived shortly after 7.30 and Captain W. E. Parry and his officers were met by the Mayor (Mr T. C. A. Hislop) and representatives of the Army, Navy and Air Force. Special quarters had been provided for the visitors on the waterfront. After breakfast, the men paraded at 1.30 and

each received a card admitting him to luncheon at the Exhibition Restaurant. I a dinner this evening and a dance at

the Exhibition tonight. A special souvenir pass entitling the bearer to ride free of charge on trams and buses was also presented. Not since the days of the last war has Wellington witnessed such scenes of enthusiasm as those which greeted the men when they marched through the city to Cambridge Terrace, where an official reception was held. Early in the morning, coloured bunting appeared here and there on buildings, but it was not till about an hour before the time of the procession that the city really showed signs of awakening to the significance of the occasion. In that short, time the streets were transformed from useful, everyday thoroughfares to avenues of gaiety and colour. Streamers thrown by watchers at windows and on walls were eagerly grasped by pedestrians lining the route, the streamers thus forming a barrier through which the procession was compelled to pass on its triumphal way. By the time lhe heroes of the River Plate battle had marched into lhe eenfl-al streets, buildings wore connected by hundreds of thousands of tiny links, each designed to add homage and tribute to New Zealand’s men of the hour. As the men marched smartly through the lines of people, thunderous cheering rose from al! sides, and if there was a fleeting thought in Hie minds of some of the grim pin-pose behind this march, it was momentarily overshadowed by the memory of an exploit which signified duly well and noblv done.