FAREWELL MARCH

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 134, 4 December 1944, Page 5

FAREWELL MARCH

BRITISH HOME GUARD

SERVICE WELL DONE

<By Telegraph—Press Association— Copyright.) Rec. 10 a.m. LONDON, Dec. 3. Seven thousand officers and men representing every Home Guard unit in Britain marched past the.\King, their Colonel-in-Chief, ,at a ceremony in Hyde Park today which marked the Home Guard's stand-down. His Majesty, in the uniform of a fieldmarshal, with the Queen and the Princesses at his side, took the farewell salute amidst cheers-and applause from one of the biggest wartime crowds London has seen. .

Broadcasting his thanks tonight to the Home Guard, the King said that the comradeship which this great citizen army had developed would doubtless help to solve the problems of peace. "The hope that this comradeship would long endure was strong in me this • afternoon while many thousands of you marched past in one of the most memorable and impressive parades I have ever seen," he said. Referring to the help the Home Guard had given to the country's defences, he said: "I am Very proud of what the Home Guard has done, and I give my heartfelt thanks to you all. You have served your country with steadfast devotion. I know that your country will not forget that devotion." Field-Marshal Alexander, in a message to the Home Guard, said: "I send you greetings from Italy and the Mediterranean on behalf of all here. It is indeed a token of coming victory that you are.now able to 'stand at ease.'"