FOCH’S FUNERAL

Greymouth Evening Star, 25 March 1929, Page 5

FOCH’S FUNERAL

THE FINAL PLANS A NATION IN MOURNING (Australian Press Association.) (By Cable—Press Assn.—Copyright.) PARIS, March 23. The French capital will see another March Past of the Allies on Tuesday —not in their full flush of triumph as on July 14, of 1919, but in sad remembrance of their great leader. The full details of the funeral have not yet been announced, but it is understood that the body of Marshal Foch will be transported privately on Sunday morning to the Arc De Triomphe, x where it will remain until Monday evening, when it will be taken to the Cathedral of Notre Dame and there placed in the centre of the nave.

The funeral service will begin at nine o’clock on Tuesday. It will last about an hour, fifter which the cortege will be formed, including the Foreign Legations and contingents and it will proceed to the Invalides, where the Premier of France, M. Poincare, will deliver the' funeral oration. Then the troops will march past. All the regiments in France will be represented. The body will rest, not in the chapel, but in the Rotunda dominating the tomb of Napoleon. All day long, Ruegrenelle, where Marshall Foch’s house is situated, was filled with sympathisers. In the afternoon, the public were admitted, and 20,000 people filed past the body. At the head of the coffin there are the inter-Allied Standard and Marshal Foch’s flag as Generalissimo of the Allied Armies, which was kept beside him throughout his illness. At the foot there are three batons belonging to the offices of the Marshal of France aiid the Field Marshal of Britain. A cushion beside the coffin contains the late Marshal’s French, British and other decorations. The whole city is in mourning, the flags being half-mast, on every building. The funeral day will be an official day of mourning. The Stock Exchange and the State theatres will close.

Thousand® have signed the Register at Marshal Foch’s house. One of those who signed was the mother of eight sons, all of whom were killed during the war. She now mourns with the whole of France for the great Commander, who saved the country. A schoolboy signed on behalf of his mates.

Lady Haig sent a lovely wreath of laurels and poppies, with affectionate respects: “To the comrade of my husband.”

Sir G. Ryrie (Australian High Commissioner) will represent Australia at the funeral of Marshal Foch. Major Owen Mead will represent New Zealand.

TRANSFER OF COFFIN

(Recd. March 25, 10 a.m.) PARIS, March 24.

Immense crowds in the streets reverently witnessed the ceremonial removal of Foch’s remains from his home to I’Arc de Triomphe. As the coffin was carried out from the residence, troops presented arms, the band played the Marseillaise, and the regimental colours were, dipped. A platoon of Cuirassers headed the procession, including officers of the garrison, delegates from servicemen’s organisations, Generals Weygand, Gouraud and Baratier, and Members of the Cabinet.

L’Arc de Triomphe was thronged by spectators, as the coffin was placed beside the tomb of the Unknown Warrior for the lying-in-state.

LONDON REQUIEM MASS.

SCENES AT WESTMINSTER.

LONDON, March 23

The whole British Empire was represented at the Solemn Requiem Mass which was celebrated at Westminster Catholic Cathedral to-day, for the repose of the soul of Marshal Foch. The Prince of Wales was present, wearing his uniform as a Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, and represented His Majesty the King. The Prince knelt alone at one side of the catafalque, on which lay the Tricolour, the late Field Marshal’s plumed hat, baton and sword, recalling the fact that Marshal Foch was a British Field Marshal. Mr Stanley Baldwin occupied a similar position to the Prince of Wales, on the opposite side. The front portion of the nave of the Cathedral, was filled with representatives of the British Navy, including Lord Jellicoe, and of the Army, the Air Force, and all of the Departments of Civil Life. Sir James Pan (High Commissioner) represented New Zealand. The Cathedral was packed, those present including the members of the British Legion, and members of the French ex-servicemen, of whom the disabled ones clustered about the Tricolour and the banners. When Mass was concluded, His Eminence Cardinal Bourne, accompanied by four Roman Catholic bishops and numerous clergy and the choir marched in procession to the catafalque, where Cardinal Bourne recited appropriate portions of the burial service, and then he pronounced Absolution, during which the Prince of Wales remained kneeling within a circle that was formed by the members of the procession about the catafalque. The buglers present then sounded “La Retroite,” which is the French equivalent to “The Last Post.” The organ next played the Dead March from “Saul,” as Cardinal Bourne, the Prince of Wales, and other distinguished mourners went into a procession from the Cathedral.

MESSAGE TO NEW ZEALAND.

INVERCARGILL, March 23.

Sir Joseph Ward, this morning received the following message from M. Poincare, Premier of France, in reply to his message of sympathy in the recent death of Marshal Foch: “Will you kindly accept my keen personal thanks, and those of the Government of the Republic, for the sympathy which your fellow colleagues and fellow citizens have .so sincerely expressed in connection with the great bereavement which has befallen France.”