PRESENTATION OF COLOURS TO HER MAJESTY'S 50TH REGIMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume I, Issue 3, 18 November 1863, Page 3

PRESENTATION OF COLOURS TO HER MAJESTY'S 50TH REGIMENT.

A psesestatio.v of colours to Iler Majesty's 50tll Regiment—the Fighting 50t-li—was made U'sterduy. Tho event was rendered doubly interesting by tho circumstance- that it occurred 011 board the troop-ship Himalaya on which the regiment is embarked p~a route for active service in New Zealand, and that the day was the ninth anniversary of I lie battle Inkermanii, in which tho corps so highly distinguished itself. " ° Its previous colours had been borne by tin; oOlh throughout the Crimean campaign, and scarce a shred was loft, to flutter from the pole. It received its new colours a few days before leaving Colombo, and a resolution was then come to, to defer the presentation until Melbourne was reached. This was done because, singularly enough, the 50th has more tics with tin's colony than with Ceylon. Lie utenant-Colonel Anderson, oneol our oldest residents, commanded the regiment ; and Colonel Acluud Anderson, the head of our volunteer force ; Mr. W. H'. Wright, seeretars- to the Railway department; and Inspector If ill, of tho police force, all' held commissions in tho corps. \ isitorsnot being admitted to the ship in consequence of the preparations for her immediate departure, there were but tew persons present sit the ceremony. To those who were 011 board, however, the scene -was something more than a spectacle. Thackeray, in his happiest vein, relates how he knew a lady of ancient years, and how, when he took hold of his kind old friend's hand, he could travel back to (he brilliant, Court days of tho early Georges. And so, in company with the Veterans of the 50lh, the visitors were carried back to the scenes in which the regiment had. played a prominent, part—to stubborn baitles in tho Peninsula and in India, and to the Mood-red fields of the Crimea. The latter are retailed the more vividly, for upon them the 50th, under tli.-> command of its present, gallant colonel, did more than its share. It, was with the army at the landing 011 the coast; it, was present at the Alma ; it, covcred itself with glory 011 the heights of Inkermann, and it lost manv of it's bravest and best in the trenches before Sebastopol. Its men, too, were the last of the English army in the Crimea, the Russians resuming possession as they embarked. After these services, the regiment was only allowed a respite of eleven months at Dublin when it. was ordered to Colombo. It arrived there, on the 10th of October, XSS7, and left upon the 10th October, 1S03 ; having been in Ceylon exactly six years. The presentation of the colours was made at t-hveo o'clock, by Sirs. Waddy, the wife of the colonel of the regiment. By this time, the men had becu drawn up aft, in two lines, the otficer's ladies had been provided with' scats in a convenient position, and tho fore part, of the vessel was thronged with the soldiers' families, all eager to witness a scene in which they were so much interested. Among the visiters present were Colonel Anderson, Major Hall, and Captain Snee, of the volunteer stair, and Major Verdon, Capt. Sir Francis Murphy, and Captain Stewart', volunteer otliters. The morning had been sombre, hut in the afternoon the weather and in the bright sunshine the crowded deck presented a striking appvaranee. Mrs. W.umi addressed the regiment as follows:— "Colonel AVu-.ldy, Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers, and I'rivates of the ' Queen's Own,'- —You have conferred upon n:e a very great- compliment, in having requested me to present to you these new colours, and believe me sincere when 1 tell you this is one of the proudest days of my life, and that nothing could afford me a greater gratification than is thus being honoured by the ollicers and men of a regiment which has been commanded by my husband for nearly ten years, and with which I have been connected for nearly twentv-four years.

I "11is mi iidditioiial plcp.snro to mo —a:ul I foci sv.ro you will all participate in it—that'this ceremony' should take place not only in presence of the whole of (lie service companies of the regiment, but on board this noble ship, which has conveyed to dill'erentparts of the world several thousands of Her Majesty's troops with rapidity, safety, and comfort. " The gallant deeds of the oOlh Regiment arc too well known to require from me any eulogy on this occasion. I need only point to you (he seventeen badges on the regimental colour which lnivo been conferred by the Sovereigns of our country, in commemoration of the distinguished conduct of the regiment oil many a hard-fought field. This is the ninth anniversary of one of them, and not the least glorious one ; and 1 am happy to know that many oliicers and men who fought, on the ' Heights of Inkerinanu ' arc still serving in the regiment, and I feel a justpriil-.i in tolling the young soldiers that my husband was your leader in that action. Let. me express a fervc-nl hope that the young oliicers and men will ever act with the same gallantry in fight, and loyalty to their Sovereign, which have hitherto distinguished the regiment, in war as well as in peaco ; and in handing over these colours to your safe-keepug—-which I now do —I feel perfectly confident they will always be conspicuous in action, that, so long as a man is left standing, they will never be without, a defender, and that you will continue to uphold and deserve the name of ' The Fighting 59th.' Melbornc Ar ; jus, Nov. 5.