ARRIVAL IN FRANCE

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20918, 25 September 1939, Page 7

ARRIVAL IN FRANCE

UNITY WITH FRENCH MEN IN GOOD SPIRITS (United Press Assn.—Elec. Tel. Copyright) LONDON, Sept. 28 / Transports are daily reaching France with British troops, all of whom wear lifebelts during the crossing of the Channel, says the Ministry of Information. British soldiers are fraternising with the French and directing traffic at crossroads. “ Every day troop transports slip inconspicuously into a French harbour bringing fresh instalments of British soldiers ” —thus, says a British official wireless message, begins an account by “ Eyewitness,” who travelled in one such ship. Packed with high-spirited men, the ship left England in company with other transports and escorted by destroyers. All on board soon settled down to the inevitable pastimes of cards, sing-songs and the strong, sweet tea of the British Army. The voyage passed uneventfully, the escorts keeping possible submarines at bay, and this batch of transports, as have all others so far, safely entered a French harbour. Before the destroyers turned for home to collect another batch, “ Eyewitness ” and his fellows disembarked. Every now and then a troop train, crowded with cheering # soldiers, leaves the station, but always the town is full of khaki-clad men, for, as fast as one crowd leaves, other transports have safely docked, and the broad river of men from the coast to “ somewhere in France ” steadily flows in and on.