GENERAL GODLEY.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LV, Issue 65, 13 February 1935, Page 6

GENERAL GODLEY.

The visit to New Zealand of General Sir Alexander Godley has enabled him to renew friendships he made when General Officer commanding the Forces in this country and, later, the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in the Great War. Nowhere did lie meet with a greater welcome than in Palmerston North where both the Returned Soldiers’ Association and the Officers’ Club were his hosts. General Godley’s connection with the Dominion is interwoven with the Territorial system of training* its young mauliood, of which he laid the foundations in efficient manner; so much so that when the Great War broke out this country had at its command a splendid body of men who were well advanced in their training. Most of them answered the call to arms and were incorporated in the Main Body of the Expeditionary Force, a considerable number of whom were trained in this centre, their camp being on the Awapuni Racecourse. Many residents may still recall the review of this section of the Expeditionary Force by General Godley on the lawn at Awapuni, when he gave unstinted praise to the men under his command, with particular reference to the Artillery Corps. The sterling tributes that have been paid by General Godley to,the troops who served under him are evidence, were it needed, of the high regard he held for the New Zealand troops. The associations of Anzac have forged a bond of comradeship that will long endure, and in renewing his many friendships General Godley has been able’ to recall lo interested audiences phases of that and other campaigns which, illustrate the sincere regard he has for his former soldiers. He has also paid a striking tribute to both the citizen soldier and the men who served abroad by including a New Zealand soldier in his coat of arms. Incidentally, the wisit of General Godley has been of interest from the fact that he has not neglected any opportunity to clear the name of the late Earl Haig’ of the charges made against this distinguished soldier in connection with the Battle of Passcliendaele by Mr Lloyd George. The veteran statesman’s War Memoirs in their reference to this epic struggle have aroused deep resentment among great soldiers who fought with Earl Haig, and among private citizens who had for him the greatest respect and trust in his leadership of the British Army in France. The story of Earl Haig’s career in France in those fateful years will be told soon, and the incidents surrounding Passcliendaele placed in their proper perspective. Meanwhile, the defence of Earl Haig by General Godlev and others is . welcomed by the great mass of soldiers who survived the Great War.