BRITAIN'S DEAD HERO.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 62, 13 March 1915, Page 13

BRITAIN'S DEAD HERO.

IMPRESSIONS OF A SOLEMN SGEJiKi ' \7'---/ ■ —— ' /' A young: English girl, most of her early'yeans in". Auckland, writing to a.-friend here,-gives:a most interesting account of the funeral of Earl Koberte. She says:'-—-'-',. j;- r . //-'. ' 'Tiast. Wednesday mbrmng. dad-.took all. four of us down through Whitehall past 7 "■ the War Office and Admiralty House, also past the Wellington Barracks and Buckingham Palace. We saw heaps of soldiers and recruits-and others marching along, singing and whistling,/with hands playing. saw them'aH;/drilling —some of them such magnificent looking men. It was awfidly' and-ex-citing. Then on Thursday'we had a thrilling day—it was the day of /Earl/Roberts's funeral. . . We were, fortunate in getting three windows in a hotel just on the Thames Embankment, by Blackfriars Bridge. We left here at 830 -in the morning, so as/to get: there before the crowds; became',„too,. thick,;., there by 9JO, and the procession was not to pass till 11.30. Howev"#lr,-tt -ww not a bit dull, as there were hundreds of- troops.passing "all/tlie-_in:ey'and then "the:. crowds/were land./ill7/l;he/ troops and policemen getting into place .':'. to line the route of the procession. There were 5,000 troops lining the streets. Another great diversion..was/-/the fainting. It was. ia". bitterly .cold, -foggy 7 day/ andsuch a fainted,, •and.:* good-many of the soldiers didi top, poor things. About 11.35 the procession started to pass. It was led by the pipers ot the London .Scottish. One simply cheer .'them"'. all/., you/": know/ Then" came ...Grenadier. Guards, /Irish Guards, ' Scots /Guards,,- and ■/;.many '■■'■- other.?, all marching very. very slowly. '.-. There/.was.-.a- naval detachment, top, also c .a lot of:cayalry, ahd*:ever" sb many colonial. ■_ and . Xew Zealanders. We/ couldn't: resist . waving to the coloiualsj-who; waved-back "/-"7/ to us./.Then came a whole detactftnent of Indians, with mules and guns; ateVa bat- . teiypi/Royal Horse: ATtinefy,/Md-T£B3» -.'•..- ---came the guncarriagew^th-the",coffin. -""/:'" . The gun carriage, was the ;Cdlenso/7;qii«y7 .--!'..: , which Earl Roberts's only/son saved:ii»: ', the then killed, but he '. .got his;Y.C. ,Tt "was so .pathetic/to "secT/ ': thecoffihcfcireredlwith'/the /Union "Ja'cki ' and his sword and service khaki cap lying ■ oa it. -Then came his charger—-riderlesa;: • The gun carriage stopped-right 'in. front " of our window, and so did the carriages following, and from one/of.;them:-out :stap-: ■ped Earl Kitchener and Sir/Evelyn Wood/ We saw them most/beautifully:-.- Kitchener about eight- Indian -Princess.-. 7 Poor Indians; thsy. looked so . sad- : -and cold and miserable. Then Earl Kitchener and E.: Wood took.iheir_places.'/: be-: hind the gun carriage/and toe procession . passed-on to St Paul's Cathedral, /where Earl Roberts was /buried".." :Then heaps of cavalry passed, mostly colonials.. 7_ll the.soldiers were in khaki, and oh!>:it made one so awfully-proud/ of-•: beih* British! There/were 6,000 troops in -the procession. How could anyone dareto.cJiS --..-. the" Britbh Army "General French's-con-temptible little -see aUfc*"those troops patcing made one long to' cheer *"" 7 and cheer. :.We were also/lyery lucky .in seeing all toe : troops returning from St. Paul's.; ITiere were tremendous crowd*. of people/and they, were all "absolutelyquiet. • When the: Indians'paseed'frbm St. Paul's, tha: people, could, not/help show-' • ihgi.lifcUe enthusiasm, and we' all waved '-'"-'• '.. frantically to the colonials agaiat* • 7-,.,- :/, . ," . W - - -V