EAST KENT REGIMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19718, 18 August 1927, Page 9

EAST KENT REGIMENT.

BUFFS HONOUR THEIR DEAD. DAILY CATHEDRAL CEREMONY. (Received August 17, 5.5 p.m.) Sun. LONDON, Aug. IG. The East Kent Regiment, which is known as The Buffs, has arranged to perpetuate the daily custom of saluting former members of the regiment who died in the Great War. It has been tho custom to select a recruit of good behaviour to represent the regiment. The recruit parades before the adjutant and receives from him the colonel's cane, on which are engraved the names of the commanding officers. The orderly then proceeds to Canterbury Cathedral, where the verger solemnly conducts him to St. Michael's Chapel. The recruit replaces his cap on his head, unlocks an iron grille and salutes. He then turns over the next page of the Golden Book, in which every name of those who fell is inscribed, commencing with the privates and ending with the generals. Again he salutes, locks the grille and returns to duty. The Commandant of the Buffs says the custom has a wonderful influence on recruits, who compete amazingly for the daily honour of turning the next page of the Golden Book. The Buffs is an old designation in the British Army; in the reign of Charles 11. there was a regiment of Buff's. The name is now applied to the East Kent Regiment. The Roll of Honour which is deposited in Canterbury Cathedral is called "The Book of Life," and is placed on a lectern. The lectern is decorated with blue and gilding in the manner of the 15th century, so as to harmonise with the architecture of the Cathedral. The practical reason for the daily turning of the pa™ of the Roll of Honour, which contains th'. names of 6000 men, is that the result of exposure to the light may be distributed evenly through the book, which consists of vellum pages, and is beautifully illuminated. The names include those ot the Canadian Buffs who fell in the war, from 11 battalions altogether.