AMONG HIS PEOPLE

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 57, Issue 28, 12 November 1936, Page 5

AMONG HIS PEOPLE

AT THE FIELD OF REMEMBRANCE KING WITH MOURNERS IN RAIN. CROSS TO MEMORY OF FATHER. VISIT TO INVALID SOLDIER. (United Press Association —Copyright) (Received This Day, 12.45 a.ru.) LONDON, November 11.' In pouring rain and a few minutes after the Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey had been floodlit, the King arrived unnoticed and unheralded, and planted a plain wooden cross, inscribed “In Memory of His Majesty King George V.,” in the centre of the plot of poppies dedicated to those who died in the service of the Empire. Women who brushed slowly by) were not aware of his identity, and the first discoverers of his Majesty’s presence were children. After standing bareheaded,, the King walked along the pathways by the side of the field, trudging with other mourners through pools of water and bending down with them to examine the “ miniature field” of poppies set in the form of a cross. Then the King entered an ambulance in which Major D. Howson (chairman of the British Legion poppy factory) was lying. Major Howson, who underwent a severe operation in August, had insisted on being brought to the field, as he was prominent in starting it in 1928. The King asked about his health and then chatted with exservicemen who were selling poppies. He bought two and put a bundle of notes in the collection-box.

Before leaving, the King placed a poppy on a tiny cross in the field at the entrance to the Abbey. As he was entering his car the crowd surged round, necessitating police control. Later a notice was placed in front of the King’s cross, indicating that he planted it. Many visitors took poppies from their buttonholes and placed them alongside. PLANTED) IN POURING RAIN. (Received This Day, 11.20 a.m.) LONDON, Nov. 11. As is usual on Armistice Day, the lawns on the north side of Westminster Abbey were set aside as a field of Remembrance, in which miniature crosses, in imitation of Flanders poppies, were planted in pouring rain. The King visited the scene this evening, and planted a cross. The King was also present at the annual British Legion Festival of Remembrance in the Albert Hall, which was crowded with ex-Servicemen.— British Official Wireless.