LORD MAYOR'S SHOW.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17988, 3 January 1919, Page 5

LORD MAYOR'S SHOW.

VICTORY PAGEANT, THE LAST WAR-TIME PROCESSION. The procession of the new Lord Mayor of London, Sir Horace Brooks Marshall, which passed through the heart of the British Empire on Saturday, November 9, was at once the story and the explanation of victory (states the " Daily Chronicle "). The crowds who gathered hi the streets were there to bo happy in honest, simple-hearted fashion, but they were there also to give thanksIn the Lord Mayor's Show men and women found slowly opening before them the glorious pages of our war history, the unfolding of the tale of Britain's effort without which there would have been no dawn pf peace, no coming of victory. In all tlie cheers and cries there was heartfelt thanksgiving, and a great pride in those who have defended our shores and our honour for more than four years. First came men of the Navy, who havo kept watch. on our seas. With them marched some of tho noble company of the merchant service, who, braving all danger, have brought food across tho waters. For these captains of the sea voices were raised ,in loud greeting; men and women will not easilv forget the silent Navy or tho men of the merchant ships. A SHIP OF. SILVER. The silver ship, which rode in majesty in the skies, the captured German aeroplanes, men and women of the Royal Air Force in. their blue uniforms, marching to the sound of music, told how the freedom of the air has been kept as surely as the freedom of the seas, and again there were the happy crowds, crying their gratitude. And that long line of men in khaki 1 There were memories of the days when most of them were working quietly in the factories and fields of our land. In their passing on Saturday they brought to the eye the picture of that stirring moment when the garments of peace were thrown off for the armour of war and the manhood of the country roso in a to fight in the holy cause of Liberty. There were Serbian troops in the procession, and Americans, strong and eager, and Italians, proud in their victories, and there were the men of our Dominions, who have thought it a little thing to leave their farms on the veldt and plains to come over and help in the work of our times. ' The South Africans had with them their mascot, a baboon, that has twice been wounded in action- It sat on a gun, dressed in khaki, so solemn and dignified that one was almost afraid to laugh at it, * Mounted horsewomen, "Waacs" peeling potatoes in a field kitchen, "Wrafe" making aeroplane wings as their lorries swayed from side to side, "Wrens" skilled in carpentry, land girls in uniform that reminded one of gay Robin Hood and his merry mates. Women of the forest carrying saws and axes, munition workers welding bombs with flaming gas—what a wonderful story of effort and achievement. There were tanks, big and little, in the procession, and the array of captured German guns, most of which were fresh from the battlefield, aroused unrestrained enthusiasm. TWO MILES LONG PAGEANT.

The procession was two miles long, and it took forty minutes to pass any point. The crowds were, almost everywhere, ten or twelve deep, and they were lined in front with children. It was apparent that parents realised that no history of the war could ever tell the Kplendour of these days so vividly as this last war-time procession. Bells of the City churches rang unendingly, flags hung from every building, the bands of the marching regiments played happy tunes all the while. It was the beginning of the great relief, and there is pleasure and a certain pride in the fact that the London which went to war in honour and in dignity, had made up its mind to go to peace with equal honour, and equal dignity.