EXCITING TRIP

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20923, 30 September 1939, Page 12

EXCITING TRIP

PASSPORTS LEFT BEHIND CATCHING THE QUEEN MARY (By Telegraph.—Press Association) AUCKLAND, Friday Arriving at Southampton to join the steamer Queen Mary for America, Mr and Mrs J. B. Bradley, of Feilding. who returned by the Monterey to-day, discovered that their passports had been left in the bureau of a London hotel bedroom. Officials said: “ No passport, no trip.” Mrs Bradley then hit on the idea of having the passports sent by air to Cherbourg, France, the ship’s last Pluropean port of call. The ship’s officers allowed them to travel to Cherbourg after urgent telephone calls to London. At the scheduled time of departure from Cherbourg the passports had not arrived, and the New Zealanders’ luggage was placed close to the gangway, which was raised. After the ship had been delayed some minutes the passports arrived, having been raced from the aerodrome landing to the jetty. The gangway was lowered, and the Bradleys hurried aboard the Queen Mary, which cast off. “It was touch-and-go,” said Mr Bradley; “ it was also expensive.” BRITISH SPIRIT VISITOR'S ADMIRATION PHYSIQUE OF RECRUITS (By Telegraph.—Press Association) AUCKLAND, Friday “ Britain’s preparedness and the spirit of the people on the eve of the war created a tremendous impression on visitors,” said Mr G. Morton Smith, general manager of John Burns and Company, who returned by the Monterey after an eight months’ tour abroad. He said the people from other countries who were in England in August were filled with admiration at the way the situation was handled and the united efforts made. They paid glowing tribute to the women, who were helping in all manner of ways. Mr Smith continued: “ The confidence of the British people before the actual struggle began was wonderfully inspiring. The way the young men accepted conscription showed a determination to pay their part, and I was impressed by their splendid physique. The organisation of the factories for war was a remarkable contrast with 1914, and the strength of the Air Force revealed many fine-equipped aerodromes, which seemed to encircle the country.” Mr Smith added that in France there was a similar spirit.