THE DIM OF YORK

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 133, 2 December 1926, Page 6

THE DIM OF YORK

STAFF FOR THE TOUR

EARL OF CAVAN'S POPULARITY

INTEEESTING PERSONNEL.

(From Our Own Uorrotpsndsnt.) LONDON, 20th October. The staff of Ihc Du"*.B and IVAess of York ..during their coming visit to Australia and New Zealand will be composed as follows:—The Countea* of Cavan and the Hon. Mrs. John LittleGilmour, Ladies-in-Waiting; the Earl of Cavan, Chief of Stuff; Mr. H. F. Battevbee (of the Dominions Office-), Political Secretary; Mr. P. K. Hodgson, Private Secretary; Lieut.-Commander Colic Buist, H.N., and another to be appointed, Equerries; and' Surgeon-Com-mander H. E. Y. White, Medical Adviser. The following appreciation of the ' Earl of Cavan by a brother officer-of the Irish Guards^ a General well known in New Zealand, will be read, with interest:—"Earl Cavan combines his " well-known military efficiency and po^fer of command with great commonsense, tact, and a very 'human' note which endears him to his subordinates and accounts for his great popularity with all ranks of" tho Army. He 'has always managed to associate sport with his soldiering, and never to the detriment of the latter, as in his younger soldiering days ho was always a most efficient regimental officer and before the Great War commanded a battalion of the Grenadier Guards with conspicuous success. During tho time between the end of his regimental career and the Great War he became Master o£ the Hertfordshire Hounds, a post which. he has twice since resumed-—after the war. until.he was appointed to be Com-niander-in-Chief at Aldershot and now again since he gave up' the appointntent of the Chief 01 the Imperial General Staff. He is a good golfer, a very active lawn tennis player, fond of shooting, an ardent fisherman, and likes a game .of bridge. He has always been extremely keen on deer-atalking, and during all the time of his hard work in the, War Office as C.I.G.S. has looked forward to taking a deer forest in Scotland, which ambition he baa realised this autumn. He is now enjoying good sport there." -Lady Cavan, with her attractive personality and fondness for tennis and dancing, ia a popular figure in London society. She was formerly Lady-in-Waiting to Princess Mary Viscountess Lascelles. ... - Mr. P. K. Hodgson, who it Private Secretary to the Duke of York, and goes to the Dominions in that capacity, began hia career as a clerk in the .House of Lords. He served with the. Suffolk Yeomanry during the war, and wai. attached to the staff of the Third Army,, tinder General Byng. In 1921 he went out to Canada as private secretary to Lord Byng, the Governor-General. He was in the Dominion until 1925, and in 1926 came on to the stall of the Duke.of York. Mr. Hodgson is verjj fond of shooting and fishing. : Lieut.-Commander Colin Buist, 8.N., an equerry, entered the Navy in 1909, and after serving throughout the war retired in 1920. Ho was gazetted Lieut.Commander (retired) in August,- 1925. Commander Buiet was a naval cadet at the same time an the Duke of' York, and has been 4 personal friend for a good many years. He came on to the Duke's staff about three years ago. Among other things he is a very keen fisherman. Surgeon-Commander Henry Ellis Yeo White, M.V.0., 0.8. E., M.8., F.R.C.S. (Edin.), 8.N., is already known ia New Zealand; He graduated at Edinburgh in 1911, and entered the Boyal' Naval Medical Service in 1913. His appointments have been with H.M.B. Ex- ■ eellent. and H.M.B. Commonwealth, During 1916 he was at Chatham Barracks on medical transport duties, and also on H.M.B. Proserpine. After the war he joined the Renown, and went out with the Prince of Wales to.New Zealand and Australia. During the years between the two tours made bjj the Prince of Wales, Surgeon-Com-mander White served on H.M.B. Excellent, H.M.S. Benown, and at Dartmouth College. In 1924 H.E.H. the Prince of Wales "requested that Sur-goon-Commander White be appointed as medical adviser on the tour of South Africa and South' America." For hi» services on this tour ho was made an officer of the Civil Division of the Mosi Excellent Order of the British EmpireMr. H. F. Batterbee, who goes cut as political secretary, is a permanent official of the Dominions Office. He jti now in charge of the Central Bspari-v ment of the Dominions . Office, which deals with international relations and inter-Imperial relations. He if an 11. A. of Oxford. After a few months in the ■Audit Department ho entered the Colonial Office in 1905. He was Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for the Colonies (Mr. Walter H. Long) from 1916 to 1919. In this capacity ho attended the two Imperial War Conferences in 1917 and 1918. On several occasions he has attended the League of Nations with the British "delegation as liaison officer with the Dominions* delegates. This year he has been to the two Geneva conferences. Mr. Batterbee is not a stranger to the Dominions, for he was selected as Political Secretary to Vice-Admiral Sir Frederick Field with .the Special Service. Squadron. During this visit to New Zealand he saw only the North Island under bad weather conditions, and he io naturally looking forward to seeing the whole of the Dominion under favourable conditions. His outside interests are tennis, golf, and motoring. He recalls a game of golf in Wellington* when it rained so hard that the water had to be wrung out of the players* clothes.