THE TROOPS' TRIP TO SAMOA.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue LXVIII, 23 September 1914, Page 5

THE TROOPS' TRIP TO SAMOA.

Although no doubt rather late, from a news point of" view, the following extracts from a private letter, to his relatives in Hawera by an officer in one of the troops transports during the expedition to Samoa, will be read with interest, and have value as a record

Getting away from Wellington.—-We had an exciting time getting out of the gates among the crowd, with people shaking hands with us, etc. One old lady bailed us up and kissed v& > *&?- ing she had two sons both going to the war, and if she had more they would go too. The old dame was very excited and tears were running down her cheeks, and she said "God bless ye, boys, and bring our soldiers back sately.» A young lady, ■■ about 20, washable to get on to the wharf owing to the barricades in charge of the police, and as we could not give her. permission, she wrote a farewell; message _on the back of a bill, and gave it_to mentor • her boy, teara Btreatfiing down her cheeks. There were many more touching scenes, 6ueh thatohedoes not want to witness often. One thipg very Tioticeable was !the usefulness of the Boy Scouts. They. were here, there, and everywhere, running messages, carrying, parcels, and at anybody.'s beck and^call while we were 'alongside the wharr. They truly did their share of useful ~work, and deserve to get a medal, if anybody does. At Noumea (Wednesday, August 18) —This morning we were picked up. by the French Dreadnought Montcalm, and she accompanied us to this place. . . The reception we got I will never lorIget as long as I live. . . On coming [alongside the wharf the scene became impossible to describe. Cheers and cheers from all the population, and enough singing and national airs to raise emotion in a stone. The population consists of all sorts—niggers* Chrnese, Japs, and of course French, lne whole town turned out to receive us. The women went mad with delight and excitement, and were throwing all sorts of trinkets, etc., 4>oard as souvenirs, while our fellows were throwing badges, buttons, etc., in return. ~ .No leave was given to the troops.. .. . I_nad a run ashore with some of the officers; we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly, and most of us came aboardrminus buttons. My own uniform bore half company buttons, and half French buttons of various arms of the service. It was a. scene never to be forgotten, the good feeling between the two nations. Friday, 20th. —We are still here, and to-day was very eventful —the biggest day in the history of New Caledonia. The first event'was the arrival of the Australia and the Melbourne, both very powerful and effective ships. At 9.30 our tToops had a route march for' a couple of hours, without arms, of cxmrse, being on foreign soil. The whole march ; was simply a tremendous display of 'enthusiasm, such as English peopV are-; incapable of—cheering, flags dipoing/ and waving, men singing the Marsellaise. men and women throwinc; all sorts of trinkets, fruit, etc.. to the n<en %vhen standing fit ease for a sr>ell, neonle breaking into the ranks embracing the men. I must s;ive credit to our men far 1 their steadiness in th* ranks "nder the • circumstances. . - W^en the troops " o-ot aboard .pgnin fhe wharf was lined I by the crowd and the me?, were lower- > their hats fastenj»d on to rows, and the people were filling them with all sorts of things, photos, postcards, . .

We are to sail soon' and our fleet now consists of tne Australia, Melbourne,' iViontcaim, Psyche, Pyramus, Pmioinel, and tne transports isus. i aim 2 (Moeralu and Monowai).

.Navy Keenness—After describing the grounumg and refloating ol tne luonoy&i, already duly reported, reference is maae to the entrance on the danger Ziona towards Suva, the writer says: lhe great danger so tar has been floating james, and the Psyche has been well ahead of us scouting. For this purpose volunteers were called for, and every man Jack in the fleet volunteered. ±$ut the Psyche's crew were very indignant that volunteers had been called tor; so they were allowed to proceed without the crew being altered lius is only one incident that goea to show the stuff we have in the British navy. . The efficiency is also there, as we have seen lately by the way we were floated off the reef, and whit Zl have observed in our convoy. I suppose we have seen lately more than any outsider has seen of the working of the stS #• w<s?^ that they do spells Efficiency (with a big E). I can tell you it is a most interesting and stirring sight to see six warships (three <rf them the Dreadnought class) a3 cleared for action, manoeuvring round S*wl P1r + C + ? dJ n Sl ngle file after dark, with the little Psyche well ahead sooutl t™ *vTT' aL ld the others at ab<>ut two ship's length, apart, with the two troopships bringing up the rear, and the Pyramus as rearguard. At Samoa (Apia, August 30).—We are here at last, and the German ■■flag no longer flies over Samoa. The PsychS w« 'Well anead and sailed in straight ««*«.* ?PP° sltloli; We expected to: imd the German Pacific fleet, or part Thlh> T' ? uf they P^ed'an alibi, ihe Psyche had a, good lookvibtihd for mines, etc., and then signalled .t^ ; the Gwernor to surrender the*pla«e Tricon.' ditionally, but received noVHply. In the meantime the rest of '^ the deb and transports arrived and anchored inside frj£*\* nd ? ver^ira PP«ng spectacle it must have been from the shore. After describing the happenings, much as previously published, thei w?iter saysS We had been looking forward to somft excitement and, found it rather tame.' but after, all it is a good-thing that th^ Place was taken without bloodshed". • The landing was ono of the smartest pieces of work I have seen. The navy of course, took charge of things, and everything was carried out with the precision and thoroughness characteristic only of the navy. Though we were a couple of miles out and a nasty sea "Was running the whole force.was landed in a couple of hours. Each transport had two launches and each launch, in addition to beins full herself, towed a string of several life boats, all full of men