DEPARTURE FROM N.Z.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXXV, Issue 14431, 1 August 1947, Page 2

DEPARTURE FROM N.Z.

VISIT OF ARMY CHIEF' ENDS

Scene At Whentiapai

Aerodrome

No Signs Of Strain

Shown

(P.A.) Auckland, July 31. Sentries sprang to the salute as Field-Marshal Viscount Montgomery's car passed through the perimeter of the Whenuapai airfield to draw up alongside the administration building before his departure by air for Sydney today. The fieldrmarshal, showing no sign of strain from weeks of incessant travelling; stepped jauivtily on to the tarmac. He greeted Captain C. R. V. Pugh, naval officer in charge at Auckland, with a cheery "Hullo sailor" as the officer commanding the station, Group Captain F. R. Newell, escorted him to an Air Force guard of honour. The more formal farewells were taken alongside the plane, where the Governor-General was represented by one of his honorary aides-de-camp, Wing Commander J. M. de Lange. "Well, I've left my cold behind in New Zealand," Lord Montgomery remarked, as he made the final round of handshakes. Then, turning to the Chief of the New Zealand General Staff, Major-Gen-eral N. W. McD. Weir, he added:' "In fact I think I must have passed it on to you."

The lament of "Now is the Hoiir" and the Maori "Haere Ra," which had been a band background to the farewells, changed to the martial tempo of the general salute. "The small, soldierly figure stood for a few seconds facing the crowd. As the guard ordered arms, he., turned briskly toward the plane. There was a familiar wave, a shouted "Good-bye everyone," a quieter, resigned, "Well, we must be on our way," and the field-marshal disappeared in the fuselage of the big York. Spectators still waved as the engines roared into warmth. The aircraft taxied into the sun. Ten minutes later it was a speck in the western sky. . " .