NAMES AND PLACES

New Zealand Listener, Volume 2, Issue 52, 21 June 1940, Page 2

NAMES AND PLACES

" Evans of the Broke " Admiral Sir Edward Evans, K.CB., C.B., D.S.O. ("Evans of the Broke"), who now has charge of the protection of airplane factories and airdromes in Britain, was second in command of the Scott Antarctic Expedition in 1909. His first wife was a daughter of the late T. G. Russell, of Christchurch. Admiral Evans joined the Royal Navy in 1897. During the last war, he commanded several ships, including H.M.S. Broke, which with H.M.S. Swift, engaged and defeated six German destroyers in 1917. After the war, he commanded the battle cruiser Repulse. He then took over the command of the Royal Australian Navy from 1929 to 1931, and later the African Station. Admiral Evans has been decorated by the Governments of Norway, Belgium, the United States, Italy, France, Portugal, and Hungary. He also wears several gold and silver medals for saving life at sea. As a writer of boys’ books he is well known. Industries of Lille Lille, the last of the large towns of Northern France held by the Allied Army as it retired to the coast, is one of the principal manufacturing towns of France, with a population of over 200,000. Since the last war, the city has been almost rebuilt and, until this war engulfed it, produced great quantities of linen and cotton, damask, tulle, tickings, cloth of all kinds, tobacco, sugar, machinery and paper. Most of its ancient buildings were ruined by bombardment during 1914-1918. Its new town hall, completed in 1932, had a 400ft. tower, and its museum contained the famous Wicar collection of drawings of old masters, and a notable library. Lille takes its name from the castle built in the marshes of Flanders, round which the town slowly grew. It was captured by Marlborough and Prince Eugéne in 1708, and in 1792 successfully resisted the attacks of the Austrians. During the last war, New Zealand soldiers saw the towers of Lille from Hill 63 and Messines. New Vice-Chief of Staff Lieut.-General R. H. Haining, C.B., D.S.O., who has been appointed ViceChief of the Imperial General Staff, commanded the British Forces in Palestine and Trans-Jordania until he was appointed to headquarters in MWLondon. During the last war, he was mentioned in despatches six times, and at the conclusion of hostilities, he passed examinations which made him a barrister, From 1927 onwards, General Haining has held many key positions on the British Headquarters Staff. From 1933 to 1934 he was deputy director of Military Operations and Intelligence at the War Office; a year later he took command of the Imperial Defence College, and then became director of Military Operations and Intelligence before being appointed to the East.

Fathers and Sons Readers have telephoned to tell us that the late Lieut.-Colonel W. Austin’s son is with the Royal New Zealand Air Force, and that Major T. O. Lambie, who is now. in Egypt, also served in the last war, and that he has a son with the Anti-Tank Units. Historical Dunkirk Dunkirk, the final port of embarkation for the retiring Allied armies in Northern France, will become another of the famous places in history. It has been built among sandhills on the Strait of

Dover, close beside the Belgian frontier, and is the principal port of the North of France. Immense amounts of money have been spent on improving the harbour and its facilities, the last grant having been approved in 1919. In the town itself there are large manufacturing enterprises, the principal being for the production of linen, soap, oil, jute, hemp and sugar-beet. Cod and herring fisheries are also actively prosecuted. Dunkirk is said to take its name from the Church of St. Eloi, begun in the 7th Century. Wars and the effect of wars have left their mark on the town. In 1388, Dunkirk was burned; in 1658 it was captured by Oliver Cromwell; in 1662 it was sold to France; the fortifications were destroyed in 1713 under .the Treaty of Utrecht; and in 1793 the town was _ besieged.

During the last war, Dunkirk remained with the Allies, but it was frequently bombed by the Germans. Once a World Centre Bruges, from which the Belgian King capitulated, is one of the most beautiful towns in Belgium, and the joy of artists who paint its bridges and towers and ancient houses. The town, which dates from the 3rd Century, is criss-crossed with canals, the smaller ones linking up with three principal routes to the coast. Here ‘the Germans established a big submarine base during the last war, using the canal outlets via Zeebrugge and Ostend to reach the North Sea. Bruges has many famous old buildings-Les Halles, dating from 1364; the Gothic

Town Hall, dating from 1377 and restored in 1895; the Chapel of the Holy Blood and the Church of Notre Dame, with its 442ft. spire. These buildings house many famous paintings and statues, and a great deal of valuable wood carving. In 1200, Bruges was known as the metropolis of the world’s commerce, but in recent years its population has dwindled. Twenty ministers from foreign Courts once resided in the town, and their mansions are among its architectural treasures. To-day, the city manufactures lace, woollens, cotton, soap, starch, and tobacco. In the 16th Century, its tapestries were the envy of the world. Caxton, the printer, spent most of his life in Bruges; and Jan van Eyck, the artist, spent many years there.

Comforts At Trentham Fireplaces have been built into the mess rooms at Trentham camp: This will add greatly to their comfort. During the evenings, if the men do not wish to go to the canteen or recreational huts, or if they are feeling off colour, they will be able to spend the evenings in front of a warm fire. Another comfort is the provision of waiting rooms in the huts of the medical officers where the men may rest during sick parades. The medical huts are fitted with a constant supply of hot water, which also serves the quarters of the chiropodist next door. Chiropodists are attached to each unit and attend to all foot troubles. William the Conqueror’s Port Dieppe, which the German forces were trying to reach when this was written, is one of the principal watering places of France, and a secondary port. It is 40 miles north of Rouen. William the Conqueror sailed from Dieppe, then a tiny fishing village, on his conquest of England in 1066. During the last war it became one of the Allied bases on the coast, because of the great demands made on wharf space at the ports of Havre, Calais, and Boulogne. Dieppe is famous for its carved articles of bone, horn and ivory. Clocks, lace and tobacco are among the principal manufactures to-day. Shipbuilding yards, distilleries and fisheries give employment to the greater number of the population of 25,000. The Castle of Dieppe, built in 1433, is now a barracks; a fine Gothic church dates from the 13th century. Many of the French expeditions to Canada and West Africa sailed from Dieppe.