H.M.S. DUNEDIN’S DEPARTURE

Evening Star, Issue 21881, 19 November 1934, Page 8

H.M.S. DUNEDIN’S DEPARTURE

MESSAGE TO THE CITY RETIREMENT OF REAR-ADMIRAL Appreciation of the welcome extended to the officers and crew of H.M.S. Dunedin has been received in a letter written by Rear-Admiral Burges Watson to the deputy-mayor (Cr J. J. Marlow) . “ On this, the final departure from Dunedin of the present officers and ship’s company of H.M.S. Dunedin, and on their behalf and my own, 1 wish to thank you most sincerely for the great hospitality which we have always received at the hands of yourself and the citizens of your city,” states RearAdmiral Burges Watson. “We have all made friendships which I know will last, and we leave with warm feelings of regard and a regret tempered with the hope that we may not be saying ‘ goodbye,’ but merely ‘au revoir.’ I shall impress upon my successor the fact that the ships of the New Zealand Squadron are always made very ■welcome in Dunedin and Otago. I wish you and all Dunedin every possible happiness and prosperity in the future.” On behalf of the city, a farewell visit to the ship was paid on Saturday by the deputy-mayor (Cr J. J. Marlow) and the town clerk (Mr G. A. Lewin), who thanked the officers and men for all they had done to give Thursday’s large gathering of school children a wonderful treat. As this was Rear-Admiral Burges Watson’s last visit to Dunedin prior to his retirement, he was the recipient of the visitors’ hearty wishes that he should enjoy years of happiness and rest.