ARMY REVIEW

Evening Post, Issue 51, 28 August 1935, Page 16

ARMY REVIEW

KING AT RUSHMOOR

THE NEW AND THE OLD

IMPEESSIYE DISPLAY

{From" "Tho Post's" Representative.) LONDON, July 20. Hushmoor Arena, where amidst mimic battlements and villages, the Tattoo is annually staged, had a more work-a-day appearance when the King reviewed a representative section of his.Army there. The grandstands and the .-. seating accommodation were in place and 70,000 people saw the review. A very plain white pavilion was set for the reception of the King and nis sons. There were no other embellishments, but the flat green expanse nas a-wonaerful setting, with its girdle at woods and vistas 01 country ail forest clad. Thus, there is no distant view of approaching troops. They emerge suddenly from beneath the trees, and they are lost to sight as quickly when they leave the arena. The.weather was a perfect example of .the. English summer, and people arrived in thousands of motor-cars. It was not Ja popular event catered for by excursion trains. Nevertheless, all the seating accommodation was fully occupied. When the review was over several hundred guests of the Government, including the- Empire Parliamentary delegates, were entertained at luncheon in large tents. \ . ■ The great asembly.'gave an affectionate welcome"to the Queen. A few minutes later, the King rode oh to the ground wearing the khaki service uniform of a Field Marshal. The Prince of Wales ■■ and ,his three brothers followed, then Indian Princes, aides-de-camp, and the' Generals of the Army Council. .■■■'■■ ' FORCES LINED UP. Lined up on the ground in; readiness to give .the first of the two Royal Salutes jWas' the First Cavalry Brigade. 1 On the right" of the line.was the Third 1 Brigade, -Royal' Horse . Artillery, the only brigade of this arm which has not been overtaken by mechanisation. When' armed' with its guns, the Horse Artillery takes the right of all units and marches at the head, even of the j Household Cavalry. On the left of the Horse Artillery were three cavalry, regiments, not one ] of them less than 250 years old. There I was the Queen's Bays, once upon a ] time called the Third Regiment of i Horse. It owes its name to its having I been ordered, in 1767, to mount itself jon bay horses with long tails. It is i memorable for having been taken prisoner in Spain in 1707. On its left was the Third-Carabin-eers, deriving its number from the 3rd Dragoon Guards, and its foreign name from the 6th Dragoon Guards, who had that conferred on them for gallantry at the Boyne, in which battle the Bays also fought. The Third carries Marlborough's victories among its battle honours. They fought in the Abyssinian campaign under Lord Napier. On the. extreme left-" was the 4th Hussars, which charged with the Light Brigade at Balaclava. ; THE MARCH PAST. When the Cavalry had passed off the arena the Infantry began to' appear from the trees on the left. They marched past in columns of companies. They were: preceded, however, by the Divisional troops—the Artillery, the Engineers with their collapsible pontoons on motor-lorries, and the Divisional Signals. These last included small motorcars with small wireless masts. • The march past of 9000 troops was a long spectacle. It was the parade of an army modernised and largely mechanised, yet" one in which the Colours were carried in,the. centre of each battalion. The Welsh Regiment escorted in pomp its goat, and the ■ Warwicks their antelope. It was- the' parade of regiments drowned in, the uniformity, of khaki, and only the crimson sashes of colour-sergeants gave'a little colour to the scene. - • . Battalions .were represented only by three companies in line, each battalion being only about 300 in strength. There 1 have.been parades greater in strength since the war, but the review was intended primarily to give the; King and , the people some impression of the I Army as it. is in the present stage of mechanisation. .When-- the march p^ist of the. two divisions . was over the totally mechanised units came on to the arena. ■ . TRAVELLING FORTRESSES. It was an impressive sight. It was also, an impressive sound. The massed bands continued" to play, but very soon the notes of the band, except for the beat of the drums, "were entirely lost. They were' swallowed .up by the roar of machinery. It was like the drone of a swarm of bees a thousand times multiplied. ; There were the heavy guns and howitzers drawn by huge tractors, officers leading in stout little cars, gunners in tlie tractors. : There were anti-aircraft guns mounted on fast-moving steel cars; light tanks, : the land counterpart of a modern ■ destroyer, and the heavy-turreted caterpillar tank, bristlirig' with gunsj travelling fortresses that can break cover more easily than a dozen elephants. . - These monsters looked like clumsy ships, their bows sloping upwards, but their movements were like quicklymoving beetles. The sound that came from each was a loud hum. On the firm ground they kept in line with precision and wheeled in line as smartly and correctly as a company of infantry. They came on, solemn, ovex"whelming, precise, relentless. TWO MECHANIC CASUALTIES. In spite of their apparent relentlessness, the spectators were reminded of the precariousness of motor machinery. One six-wheeled lorry early in the proceedings came to a standstill just as it was about to turn to pass the saluting base. A-minute later a caterpillar tractor raced across the arena arid in thirty seconds the lorry was hauled out of sight. Towards the end of the. proceedings, a small.tank also came to a-standstill at the same'spot, and. there it remained immobile until the very end of the review. These incidents were a reminder that petrol machinery has ' its limitations—limitations which might be still greater on a battlefield of mud. Doubtless, the further development of the small Diesel engine will lead to a still more reliable tank. As it was, they were terrifying and effective b^vond all expectation. At the close of the march past the Brigade of Guards with colour parties from - infantry battalions, preceded by commanders and staff officers, formed up in front of the Royal pavilion, advanced hi review order, presented arms, and gave three cheers for the iKing. The'National'Anthem followed, and then a dozen cars came in procession acroHb the arena, took up thnir ■Royal .passengers and officers, and slowly moved off the gro'ind. For moire than an hour the King had stood at attention, acknowledging every regimental salute. In the intense heat it Was a feat of great endurance.