KIDDIES ANSWER ROLL OF DRUM

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXIX, Issue 13137, 11 September 1940, Page 7

KIDDIES ANSWER ROLL OF DRUM

Sydney, Aug. 26. A modern Pied Piper, with a khaki uniform and a kettle-drum took more than 100 youngsters on a merry dance through the Eastern Suburbs yesterday afternoon. Whooping and yelling, they surged from park and paddock, backyard and side street. To keep them company, their dogs came, too. It all began as an orthodox route march of 300 A.I.F. “dayboys” from Randwick, shouldering their rifles on the long trail from Queen’s Park to Bondi and back. Before it was over, schoolboys of Waverley and Bondi were voting it an even greater success than the march of the A.I.F. from Ingleburn to Bathurst. It was the first day of the schools’ spring holidays. And when the parade began, bare-footed boys and their curly-haired sisters —free from thoughts of'readin’, writin’, and ’rithmetic—decided to go a-soldier-ing, too. The squad of children attached itself to the long line of marching men. Numbers grew; when Bronte Park was reached, the beat of the drum proved irresistible. Youngsters swarmed from everywhere. Some had'scootersl Some had push-bikes. Some shouldered broomsticks and marched like seasoned veterans. Forming into a vanguard and a rearguard, they went swinging, skipping and hopping along. “Pack up your troubles,” sang the “dayboys,” The youngsters joined in the chorus. “Mademoiselle From Armentieres” bellowed the men in khaki. And the pkids shrilled “Parley-voo! ” Some, footsore and weary, fell by the wayside. But there were always others to fill their .places. Each street produced its qouta. Dozens of dogs joined in the procession. Good-humouredly, the “dayboys” carried on. Their rifles —grim symbols of war’s harsh reality— contrasted strangely with the effervescent happiness of the scampering children. “Hard work —aw, I dunno,” said one tiny marcher. “You’se gotter be tough if you want to be a soldier.”