BRITISH ON THE RHINE

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 148, 19 December 1929, Page 24

BRITISH ON THE RHINE

AN-EXAMPLE IN CHIVALRY

With the arrival of the Allied armies of occupation ii the Rhineland certain restrictions were placed upon the German inhabitants b^ the authorities of each nation. These varied both in severity and in rigour of administration. In the British zone civilian men had to raise their hats to all British officers, 'though in Cologne this

order was enforced only for a short period, writes ilr. William Walker, in "Chambers's Journal"-for October. The Bel-

gian authorities were more stringent. They demanded that all German men should salute nearly all Belgian soldiers, irrespective of rank. . This regulation was soon relaxed, however, though a similar order was enforced by the Germans during the whole period of their occupation of Bel-

gium. In all zones the inhabitants -were obliged to possess permits, and they were not, allowed to enter or leave an area without ail official pass. At the beginning this precaution was very necessary to proper supervision of the inhabitants, but it was considerably modified later. In the early months, in the British zone, 110 German was allowed out of doors without special leave after 7 o'clock in the evening. Though, this order seems to be severe, it was not as strict as the 6 o'clock housing regulation enforced by the Germans in occupied territory up to the Armistice. Later the British authorities altered the hour .to 9 o'clock, and afterwards to 11 o'clock. Another regulation made it compulsory for the head of his house to attach a card to his front door, giving a list of all the inmates. While at first there were a few unfortunate incidents,' the Germans as a whole conducted themselves well. The conspicuous feature of the British occupation was that from the beginning, despite all official fulminations, the troops could not be prevented from fraternising with the Germans. The men began to make friends with the people, mostly tho women, and regulations - were ineffectual to prevent the practice. An intimation was issued that any man seen walking with a woman would be arrested. But the authorities found that if open fraternising could not be suppressed it was hopeless, to attempt private .meetings.: Consequently, after

an interval, the Army authorities permitted fraternising in private, but they looked askance at its display1 in public, though after the : Peace Treaty was signed the veto was entirely removed. It is greatly to the credit of the Army that the latitude given, the men was not abused. Indeed, it was a. matter of frequent comment that the British soldiers treated the German women with more courtesy than they were used to receiving from their own men. This had a two-fold effect. It

created a pleasing atmosphere among the women, and it compelled the German men to show more respect for their women.

When the British first arrived it was

practically unknown for a German man to give up his seat i:i train or tram to a German woman. The British always did so, and tire Germans were compelled to follow their example, as their disrespect was severely criticised by the women.