MILITARY FUNERAL

Dominion, Volume 25, Issue 266, 5 August 1932, Page 12

MILITARY FUNERAL

Late Lieut.-Colonel Chesney FULL HONOURS GIVEN Some 200 people assembled at St. James’s Church, Lower Hutt, yesterday to pay their last respects to the late Lieut.-Colonel R. Q. Chesney. The funeral left his late residence at 2 p.m., the body being taken to the church, where, the service was conducted , by Archdeacon A. L. Hansell. The church was taxed to its utmost capacity with relatives and friends. The body was accorded full military honours, and during the service the late colonel's sword and helmet were laid on the casket, which was afterward borne by military men, with officers inarching on either side.

Arriving at the gate, the coflin was placed on a gun carriage and covered with the Union Jack. The cortege proceeded to the Taita cemetery, the lieu-tenant-colonel’s charger being led in l the rear with his late master’s boots reversed in the stirrups, according to military custom.

Preceding the carriage was the firing party. Following them was the gun carriage, the hearse with flowers and wreaths, the chief mourners, military representatives, and some. 40 cars. At the graveside the service was conducted by Archdeacon Hansell, and the firing party, under . Sergeant-Major Bauer,' fired a volley. Following the ceremony, the firing party presented arms with bayonets fixed, and SergeantMajor L. Baker sounded the “Last Post” and Reveille. The chief mourners were the late colonel's wife and daughter, his brother, Mr. N. M. Chesney, Messrs. W. H. and L. C. Rathbone, and A. L. Warburton, brothers-in-law; Messrs. H. S., O. H., A. J., and D. E. Rathbone, and C. E. T. Woods, nephews; Mesdames A. L. Warburton, L. C. Rathbone, Miss Rathbone, Miss J. Rathbone, and Mrs. H. Miller. The pall-bearers were: Major N. W. McD. Weir, Major S. Brown, Captains R. S. Park, G. B. Parkinson, L. W. Andrew, V.C., and W. G. Gentry. Among the mourners present were Lieut.-Colonel I. T. Standish, C.M.G., D. 5.0., representing G.S.C., Mr. F. W. McCourtie, representing the Wellington City Council traffic department; Messrs W. T. Strand, B. S. Knox, and J. Mitchell, representing the Lower Hutt Borough Council; Sir Alexander Roberts, and Messrs. A. D. S. Duncan, W. E. A. Gill, E. Page, J. H. Drake, and G. O. Sutton, representing the council of the New Zealand Golf Association; Colonel A. Cowles, and Messrs. W. H. Hewett and Hainer, representing the Wellington Returned Soldiers’ Association; Mr. C. W. Palmer, world vice-president of Navy League; Brigadier A. , Greene, M. representing the Salvation Army; and 20 members of the Lower Hutt branch of the Returned Soldiers’ Association.