TROOPS DISPLAY EXCELLENT SPIRIT.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 146, 21 June 1940, Page 5

TROOPS DISPLAY EXCELLENT SPIRIT.

ARRIVAL SCEMS.

Anzacs Sing Their Way . Through Britain. VOYAGE CALM THROUGHOUT. g United Press Association. —-Copyright. a , F t (Received 11 a.m.) o LONDON, June 20. t The contingents came in one of the largest single convoys ever to enter, the port. It was accompanied by a naval escort. The first ship was one of the New a Zealand transports, and shouts ol j "Haeremai!" rolled across the water. Then came a tall ship with an inscrip- j tion chalked on the side, "A.I.F. Aus- e sies. Beware, Hitler," the Australians shouting, "Hitler, here we come." There were other ships astern, all with the same exuberant spirit. The official party, headed by Mr. Geoffrey Shakespeare, Under-Secretary j. of the Dominions, a group of Australian r officers from Palestine, and a New Zea- U land brigadier, went aboard each trans-l ! port in turn. The troops besieged them! for news from home and France, and then assembled for the official welcome. The speeches on the New Zealanders' . ships were given through microphones and loud-speakers donated by the citi- : zens of Dunedin. Shore Leave on the Voyage. The troops said the voyage had been calm throughout. They had regular sports and athletic contests, 'and they produced ships' newspapers. They had shore leave at Capetown, where they received a tumultuous welcome, and also called at Freetown, in Sierra Leone. Thanks to the Navy, they were not molested. They said, "Tell the folks we are fine and well. We will be home some day." Tender after tender later brought the Anzacs ashore to the waiting trains. Debarkation was carried out smoothly. There was no official announcement of their presence until they were safely encamped, but the Anzacs exuberantly announced their own arrival as they sang their way through Britain and waved familiar hats.