THIRD FURLOUGH DRAFT

Press, Volume LXXX, Issue 24367, 20 September 1944, Page 6

THIRD FURLOUGH DRAFT

MIDDLE . EAST MEN RETURN COLD WEATHER, BUT WARM WELCOME The third draft of New Zealand troops from the Middle East to return to the Dominion on furlough arrived in the South Island yesterday. Cold rain, driven by a southerly wind that dusted the tops of the hills with snow, failed entirely to damp the enthusiasm of the relatives and friends who met the men at Lyttelton end at the Christchurch railway station, and the warmth of the welcome must have been some compensation to the returning troops for the cheerlessness of the weather. Train whistles and ships’ sirens swelled the cheering of the small group who waited on the wharf at Lyttelton for the inter-island steamer Rangatira to berth. For many relatives, there was a long, cold, and wet wait at the Christchurch railway station. Again trains whistled and motorcar horns blew as the train pulled in, and soon the troops were reunited with members of their families waiting on the zone set aside opposite the station. . A reception committee consisting of the Mayor of Christchurch (Mr E. H. Andrews), the Town Clerk (Mr H. S. Feast), and the president of the Christchurch Returned Services’ Association (Mr D. W; Russell) met the train, and no time was wasted in dispatching the men and their relatives and friends to their homes. ‘