TRIUMPHAL PROCESSION

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIX, Issue 122, 25 May 1945, Page 4

TRIUMPHAL PROCESSION

"MONTY" VISITS PARIS Rec. 12.30 p.m. RUGBY, May 24. Field-Marshal Montgomery flew to Paris this evening. During his stay he will reside at the British Embassy. His visit will officially commence tomorrow, when he will be awarded the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour by General de Gaulle, and following the presentation he will attend a lunch at the Ministry of War. which will be attended also by numerous generals. Field-Marshal Montgomery will deposit a wreath on the grave of the Unknown Soldier, and later he will be received at the Hotel de Ville by M Trocquer, president of the Municipal Council. Many ex-Ministers, including MM. Blum and Herriot, will be present. Thousands of people at Le Bourget and lining the streets of Paris cheered Field-Marshal Montgomery, who wore battle-dress and a black beret. Mr. Duff Cooper and General Koenig, military governor of Paris, greeted him at the aerodrome, where a military band played as he stepped from a Dakota. The Garde Republicaine formed a guard of honour at the airport, and "Monty" had a special handshake for the captain of the guard. It was a triumphal procession all along the ten-mile route from the airport to Paris. Cafes, shops, and factories were emptied, people lining the roads ten deep, waving and cheering wildly as Field-Marshal Montgomery, in a closed car, waved his acknowledgments through the windows. A stream of official cars followed. Field-Marshal Montgomery is assured of a tremendous welcome from Paris tomorrow.