Moving Scenes At Lyttelton

Northern Advocate, 13 February 1940, Page 5

Moving Scenes At Lyttelton

There were deeply moving scenes at Lyttelton. The ships bristled with khakiclad figures, singing, waving and clutching the flimsy streamers that were the last link with their native shore. Men were on every vantage point, even to the masthead. As they cheered and sang, women on the wharf below smiled up through their tears and did their* best to show a brave front at what was probably the most harrowing moment of their lives. A solitary piper blew lustily at “The Road to the Isles,” the Lyttelton Band played “Auld Lang Syne,” the silvery tones of a cornet were just audible from the boat deck of one of the transports in “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary’’—but above all' this rose the roar of two thousand lusty voices, lifted . in a simple Salvation Army hymn, “He .Careth-For-Me . , Men Everywhere. The men were embarked in remarkably quick time. : : •It did not take them long to establish themselves in their quarters, dis-

card some of their clothing, and scramble on deck. By this time there were men on every vantage point. They were on the decks, in the lifeboats, in the rigging, everywhere. • Cne nonchalant young man was even at the masthead hanging on by one hand as he photographed the scene below. Lyttelton seemed to quiver with noise as the ships slid away from their berths. Every engine-driver in the Lyttelton railway yards reached for his whistle lanyard and tooted his goodbye. Women’s Courage. Gradually, as the bulk of the vessels grew less after they had turned through the moles, the roar of cheering died away, until only a low murmur came across.the water. Tears were not far away, it is true, but not many women gave way to audible grief.' They, too, had a share of that courage which had inspired their men to volunteer in the fight Tor freedom and justice.