ENTHUSIASTIC WELCOME

Evening Star, Issue 25700, 25 January 1946, Page 4

ENTHUSIASTIC WELCOME

DOMINION MONARCH DRAFT ARRIVAL LAST NIGHT An enthusiastic welcome was last night accorded the 140 servicemen for Dunedin and Central Otago who arrived by special troop train last night. The men were members of the Dominion Monarch draft which disembarked from the vessel in Lyttelton Harbour yesterday morning. < The mild, still night made conditions pleasant for the large crowd which gathered in Anzac Square to welcome the men, and though'the meetings were in some cases highspirited the majority showed a keen desire to go to their homes with the least possible delay. Also on the train were 180 men for destinations south of Dunedin, and these were served with light refreshments by, the members of the Bed Cross Society while the train was at Dunedin Station. Though the train was an hour behind schedule in reaching Dunedin the transport organisation worked without a hitch, and the station area was clear of troops and their friends in a very short time. The majority of the draft comprised married men of the Tenth Reinforcements, with some of the Ninth Reinforcements and Air Force personnel. On the platform to welcome the men were the Mayor (Mr D. C. Cameron), the Mayor of St. Kilda (Mr N.

D. Anderson) and other represents-, tives of local bodies, including the 1 Returned Services' Association and the Otago Patriotic Council, while the Kaikorai baud played a number of selections in front of the station. When the train pulled out after _9 o'clock there were again_ enthusiastic cheers from the crowd which still filled the platform. The draft travelled from Wellington to Lyttelton aboard the Dominion Monarch on Wednesday night, and yesterday morning the vessel anchored a short distance inside Lyttelton Heads. Disembarkation commenced at 7.40 a.m. and the Dominion Monarch left again for Wellington about 10.15 a.m., four hours after her arrival.