GREAT INTEREST

Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 84, 3 January 1940, Page 6

GREAT INTEREST

Visit Of H.M.S. Ramillics

To Wellington

PUBLIC AND PRIVATE ENTERTAINMENT

Intense public interest is being shown in H.M.S. Ramillies, which, as was stated yesterday, is the first British battleship to visit Wellington. Yesterday thousands of people crowded to Pipitea Wharf, at which the ship is lying, and they watched with unflagging interest from outside the barrier the many phases of battleship routine. The Ramillies has steamed thousands of miles since the outbreak of war and has traversed many seas. Three mouths ago she was in a far northern region that has figured frequently in re-' cent cable messages. After her long passage out to Wellington, the great ship presented a somewhat weatherbeaten appearance; but in the brief time since her arrival she has been painted fore-and-aft and is now wearing the smart appearance characteristic of His Majesty’s ships.

The people of 'Wellington have risen to the occasion and are showering hospitality on the ship’s company, for whom numerous public and private entertainments have been arranged. This is deeply appreciated by officers and men, who are now enjoying their first real spell of shore life since the war started. Many Bearded Sailors. Comment has been made on the unusually large number of officers and men in the Ramillies who are wearing beards. So numerous were the requests for permission to grow beards, it is stated, that the commanding officer intimated that wearers would be divided into three classes and tne winner of the prize in each division would have to apply for permission to go cleanshaven again. Tonight the ship’s company will entertain their many new-found friends at a dance. Tomorrow night the citizens of Wellington will give a dance to the ship’s company in the Exhibition Cabaret. Public Visits to Ship. Of special interest is the announcement that the Ramillies will bo open to public inspection tomorrow and on Friday. The visiting hours will be from 2 to (5 p.m. each day. Parents are asked to note that children will not be admitted on Friday. Special arrangements have been made for children during the visiting hours tomorrow. At the special invitation of the mayor and citizens of Wanganui, a party of 15 officers and 385 men will visit that city tomorrow. They will leave_ Wellington in a special train at 7.35 a.m. The party will be the guests of the city at luncheon and a programme of sight-seeing and other entertainments has been arranged. They will depart from Wanganui at 3.26 p.m. and, after dining at Marton, will arrive in Wellington at 10.59 p.m. The ship’s band will accompany the party, who will be able to see a good deal of the countryside during their outing. Another party of two officers and 200 men will be the guests tomorrow of the mayor and people of- Eastbourne. The party will be entertained at luncheon at Day’s Bay, where the tennis courts and other recreational faclliites will be at their disposal. They will return to Wellington at 5 p.m. to enable them to attend the dance at night. A third party of 200 men will be the guests of the mayor and citizens of Wellington tomorrow, when they will be taken on bus trips into the country. On Monday ten officers of the Ramillies were the guests of the Wairarapa Racing Glut) at Tauherenikau. After the races they were entertained by Mrs. Charles Elgar at her home near Featherston, where a very enjoyable time was spent. A large number of officers and men are being entertained privately during their stay in, Wellington. Several golf and tennis clubs have placed their facilities at the disposal of officers, a number of whom are also testing the fishing in Wellington and Wairarapa streams.

The band of H.M.S. Ramillies, which will take part in today’s parade of the Special Force, will play in one of the shells at the Exhibition from 7 to 8 p.m. tomorrow..