MILITARY LINK WITH NEW ZEALAND

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 113, 6 February 1937, Page 10

MILITARY LINK WITH NEW ZEALAND

English Major-General’s Visit Closely allied through military affairs with the Hawke’s Bay Regiment, Major-General A. Solly-Flood, C. 8., C.M.G., D. 5.0., colonel of rhe Prince of Wales Volunteers (South Lancashire) and the Fourth-Fifth Royal Dragoon Guards, arrived at Wellington yesterday in the Tamaroa from Southamp ton. He was met at the wharf by Major-GeneraL Sir William SinelairBurgess, General Officer Commanding New Zealand Forces, Colonel O. IL Mead, Adjutant-General, and Colonel F. Gambrill, formerly in command of the Hawke’s. Bay Regiment and now commander of the Second Infantry Brigade, of which the Hawke’s Bay Regiment is a part. The Prince of Wales Volunteers used to be the old Fortieth Regiment, which fought during the Maori Wars about New Plymouth and Waikato. This is allied to the Hawke’s Bay Regiment under an alliance which was instituted when the Territorial system was first started, the idea being at that time that New Zealand regiments should be able to share the honours and traditions of the English regiments. The Fortieth Regiment is also allied to regiments in Canada and Australia. Correspondence is maintained regularly, and New Zealanders visiting England are always entertained by the English regiment. This is practically the first occasion the Hawke’s Bay Regiment lias bad the opportunity of doing something in return, and a comprehensive . tour has been planned for Major-General Solly-Flood. Immediately after the Hawke’s Bay earthquake six years ago the English regiment took up subscriptions among its battalions and sent £l3O to New Zealand for the benefit of members of the Hawke's Bay Regiment who suffered as a result of the earthquake. During the Great War 1 Major-Gen-eral Solly-Flood was director of military training to Lord Haig of the whole of the British Army in France, but in 1918 he joined the Forty-second Division, which fought alongside the New Zealand Division. “Hence my affection and admiration for New Zealanders,” he said. “I have never known better soldiers and men than the New Zealanders.” Major-General Solly-Flood will leave Wellington for the south to-night.