TWENTY-FIRST BIRTHDAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 18, 19 October 1936, Page 7

TWENTY-FIRST BIRTHDAY

"DINKS" ON PARADE

CEREMONY AND RELAXATION

Twenty-one years ago the black buttons, badges and blazers, and the unusual drill of the men of the New Zealand Rifle Brigade led to their being dubbed "the dinkum soldiers," a name that, shortened to "The Dinks," was accepted as the honourable title of a band of good comrades and good soldiers. About 250 former "Dinks" met on Saturday night to renew old acquaintances. The occasion was of special significance as it marked the twenty-first "birthday" of the brigade. Former members met at the National War Memorial Carillon where the presentation flags of the brigade were handed over to the Carillon Society for safe keeping after a programme, which was broadcast, had been played on the bells. The men then marched through the city led by the band of the Ist Battalion Wellington Regiment, saluted the Wellington Citizens' War Memorial, and passed on for a reunion social in the Masbnic Hall.

The march attracted a large amount of attention.

At 7 o'clock the hour was sounded from the carillon, and the men waiting by the roadside fell in on the battalion markers, about 150 being present. The standard-bearers and their escort marched to the front, and Colonel R. St. J. Beere, D.5.0., V.D., addressed the parade. During the war the Rifle Brigade had its camp at Cannock Chase, in Staffordshire, near the town of Stafford, he said, and as a token of appreciation of the behaviour of the men of the brigade the citizens of Stafford presented the brigade with a'Union Jack and a New Zealand Ensign, which were handed over by the Mayor. It was the wish of the reunion committee of the brigade that the National War Memorial Carillon Society should accept those flags and place them in the carillon' tower for .perpetual Keeping. FLAGS ACCEPTED. The flags .were formally accepted on behalf of the Carillon, Society by its chairman, Lieutenant-Colonel A. Cowles, V.D., and the standard-bearers and escort marched up the steps to the tower while the band played a march. • Colonel Beere and Mrs. Pulton, the widow of Brigadier-General H. T. Fulton, the first commander, of the brigade, who was killed while the brigade was checking the German advance on the Somme in 1918, followed, and when the entrance to the tower was reached the flags were handed over to Colonel Cowles. Lieutenant McKain sounded "Reveille," and the parade moved off to march through the city. The Wellington Citizens' War Memorial' was saluted, and a few minutes later about 250 former members of the brigade filed into the Masonic Hall. The concert programme was opened with the regimental march, played by the Tin Hat Club's orchestra. '* Colonel P. H. Bell, D.5.0., presided at the social and welcomed Mrs. Fulton, Colonel D. Colquhoun, D.5.0., of the Otago Regiment, Mr. S. McDonald, a former member of the British Rifle Brigade, and the hundreds of men who filled the hall. No opening remarks at such a meeting, he said, would be complete without reference to' the man who made the brigade-^ Brigadier-General Fulton. Colonel Bell referred to the excellent qualities General Fulton had always displayed and said that members of the Rifle Brigade looked upon . it as the best brigade in the New Zealand Forces. Because of the leadership of General Fulton the men-had an-excellent brigade spirit. He then introduced Mrs. Fulton and the men rose and sang "For She's a Jolly Good Fellow." . MRS. FULTON'S REMARKS. Mrs. Fulton said she was very pleased to be present ;to meet the men of her late husband's brigade; the men that,she had taken an interest in during the : years of the war. Last year a photograph of the: dawn parade of former members of the brigade had been sent to her in England and she had wished she might have attended it. This year that wish had come true and she had been able to join them both at the dawn parade and in the opening of their reunion social. She thanked them for allowing her to be the only woman present. Mrs. Fulton was again accorded musical honours, and as she left the hall all present stood to bid her farewell. Colonel Beere went to the stage a few minutes later with a bandmaster's baton and said it was the baton thai, had been given to the band of the Ist Battalion, N.Z.R.8., by the honorary Colonel of the brigade, the Earl of Liverpool, before they left New Zealand. It was the wish of the Ist Battalion that it should be handed over to Bandmaster Pat Cole, who was conducting the Tin Hat Club Orchestra. Mr. Cole thanked Colonel Beere and the Ist Battalion for such a valuable memento. He was glad |p be well enough to be present and he hoped to be with them again after another twenty-one years.

After the loyal • toast had been hono-ired, Colonel Colquhoun proposed "The New Zealand Rifle Brigade." He referred briefly to the achievements of the brigade and to the way the war had taught them all the value of peace. Colonel Beere replied.

Other toasts honoured were "Fallen Comrades," Stevenson's "Requiem" being sung by Lieutenant K. E. Luke and the "Last Post" sounded by Lieutenant McKain; and "The Defence Forces of New Zealand," proposed by Colonel Cowles and responded to by Wing-Commander T. M. Wilkes. During the evening the orchestra played several items, songs were sung by Messrs. G. Gray and J. Osborne, Mr. J. Roger played a flute solo, and Mr. Ross Williams provided a little humour.