REGIMENT PARADES FOR INSPECTION

Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 284, 26 August 1940, Page 6

REGIMENT PARADES FOR INSPECTION

City Of Wellington’s Own MAYOR COMPLIMENTS TERRITORIALS Exercising bis privilege under the charter by which the regiment is “The City of Wellington's Own,” the mayor, Mr. Hislop, inspected and addressed the Ist Battalion, Wellington Regiment, when it paraded in front of the Town Hall on Saturday morning. Reflecting two mouths’ continuous training, the parade was an excellent one, the smart appearance and niardiing of the men, the precision of their manoeuvres and their .steadiness on pat-ado, creating a most favourable impression. Largo crowds witnessed the inarch through the city, and a gathering of prominent citizens attended the principal ceremony at the Town Hall.

Lieutenant-Colonel A. L. George commanded the parade, which numbered 25 officers and 636 other ranks. The battalion paraded for inspection by the Quartermaster-General, Colonel J. 11. Bell, and the Officer Commanding the Central Military District, Colonel R. A. Row, at the Basin Reserve. Colonel Bell congratulated the battalion on the smart turnout. He described the important part played by the territorial forces in the home defence scheme, and expressed confidence that the men would uphold worthily the fine traditions of the regiment.

As the parade marched along Kent Terrace in column of route to the Town Hall, Colonel Bell took the salute at the Queen Victoria memorial. Marching with fixed bayonets and brass buttons glittering in bright sunshine, and with the military band of the regiment and the pipes and drums playing, the column made a fine sight as it swung along Courtenay Place, Manners Street and into Lower Cuba Street, and halted in front of the Town Hall. As the men presented arms in a general salute, the mayor in cocked hat and ermined gown and chain of office appeared on the dais beneath the columned portico. Accompanied by Colonel George, he walked along the lines and inspected also the two bands. He then addressed the parade. This was the third time, he said, that he had exercised his privilege of inspecting the regiment; and it was by far the biggest parade he had inspected. The battalion was the successor of the old 'Wellington Regiment which won a proud name in the Great War. It was its duty to maintain the glorious traditions which had been handed down to it. He complimented the men on their steadiness on parade and general turnout. Their marching was excellent, and all ranks stood steady when he carried out the inspection. That was an indication of their keenness and their response to the period of training they had just completed. Now they were going to Wanganui for a month's further training. At the end of it he was sure every man would be able to say he was equal to any in knowledge of soldiering, keenness and determination to be worthy of the great traditions New Zealand soldiers had established in the past. He wished them the best of luck.

The mayor stood bareheaded on the Town Hall steps to take the salute as the parade marched past on its way back to the Basin Reserve to dismiss.