TROOPS PARADE

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 228, 23 June 1941, Page 6

TROOPS PARADE

Salute Taken By GovernorGeneral MORE THAN 2200 MARCH More than 2200 of all ranks of the 2nd N.Z.E.F. in training at Trentham paraded in Wellington on Saturday morning in conditions ideal for marching and reasonably pleasant for the public. The attendance along the line of the route was not so large as on previous occasions. The men looked fit and marched well. There were flve bands, one pipe and four brass, and there appeared to be lack of synchronization in their march time. Those who did witness the parade took the keenest interest, and many, after seieng it on the first section of the route, went across to have another look as the troops returned by the waterfront road back to the railway station. The salute was taken by the Governor-General, Sir Cyril Newall, from a base at the railway station. There the Government was represented by the Acting-Prime Minister, Mr. Nash, the Minister of Defence, Mr. Jones, the Minister of Internal Affairs, Mr. Parry, the Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Barclay, and the Associate Minister of National Service, Mr. Wilson.

At the saluting base platform was also Lieutenant-General Sir Guy Williams, military adviser to the Government, the Hon. Adam Hamilton of the War Cabinet, representatives of the Navy, Army and Air Force, and the consular corps, and many other official guests. The bands which took part were those of Trentham Camp, 2nd Field Regiment, N.Z.A., pipes and drums of the Ist Battalion, Wellington Regiment, and the military band of the same battalion, and the Port Nicholson Band.

The parade was commanded by Major R. F. Mitchell, M.C., V.D., N.Z.T.S., with Major J. G. C. Leach. Major A. E. Gorton, M.M., N.Z.T.S., and Major R. B. Hollis, M.C., N.Z.T.S., in command of the units into which the parade was divided. (Pictures on Pago 5.)

CHRISTCHURCH PARADE (By Telegraph—Press Association.) ■ CHRISTCHURCH, June 21. With rifles at the slope and bayonets putting flash and sparkle into the sunlight of a winter morning, soldiers from Burnham impressed with their bearing when they paraded in Christchurch today. It was a parade similar to many that have been seen in the city during the past eighteen months, but on this occasion the crowds lining the route of the march were smaller than usual. The men appeared fit and well, their marching and general bearing reflecting the result of efficient training.