King With Troops

Manawatu Times, Volume 64, Issue 263, 7 November 1939, Page 10

King With Troops

LUNCH BY HAYSTACK LONDON, Oct. 6. Troops training in tke West of England were paid a surprise visit by the King this week. During a long and tiring day, he had his lunch in the corner of a field, sitting on a rug behind a haystack. The King, everywhere, expressed the greatest satisfaction with the morale, spirit and general health of the officers and men. Accompanied by two generals and a party of aides-de-camp, he visited all the units which make up a modern infantry division. He shook hands and chatted with many of the men. The first unit visited was a crack infantry battalion which had been on trench-digging duty throughout the night. Here the battalion’s headquarters were a canvas lean-to against a hedge. Many of the soldiers, who were wearing full battle dress, were sleeping at the bottom of the trenches when the King arrived. The next battalion visited was stationed some miles away in a valley close to an old stone village. Unknown to the villages, the Royal party drew up in a quiet lane, and it was not until the regiment, with their steel helmets held aloft, were giving three cheers, that the villagers became aware that something was astir in the camp. In the field tho King decorated one bf the officers with a Military Cross for gallantry in Palestine. This was the third officer of tho regiment to be so decorated, and His Majesty spoke again to the other two officers whom he had received a few weeks ago at Buckingham Palace. Wherever he went, the King sought out reservists among the regular troops and asked them what occupation they had followed in civil life. ‘‘Everyone I asked, ’ * said the King, ‘ ‘ seemed to have been a postman.”