THE KING'S JOURNEY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20217, 30 March 1929, Page 13

THE KING'S JOURNEY.

•removal to the coast. 1 CROWDS AT THE PALACE. : j INCIDENTS ON THE WAY. ARRIVAL at craigwell house. [rrOM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.] LONDON, Feb. 19. A great crowd assembled" outside Buckingham Palace to see the ambulance, if pot the King himself, depart for the south coast. There were family groups; there were men from Ireland who had come over to see the important Rugby match; there were sailors and soldiers; and representatives of all classes of the community. Punctually at 10.30 a large dark green car left the Palace door and drove slowly out through the northern gateway. It was the ambulance containing the King, driven by his chauffeur, Mr. J. 0. Humphreys. Ihe sentries presented arms, policemen came to the salute; the men in the crowd bared their heads. There was a slight murmur among the women. The blinds on each side of the ambnlance were partly drawn, and a3 the vehicle swung round past the Victoria Memorial into Buckingham Gate the waiting people caught a glimpse of the King. They could restrain themselves no longer; they broke into a cheer, and flourished hats and handkerchiefs. Emotion that had been pent up all the morning found expression. To the amazement of all the King was able to respond. He smiled, and slowly .waved his hand. The action was that of a weak man, and it brought renewed sympathetic cheers that persisted until the car was out of sight. The King was attended to in the ambulance by a nurse and lay propped up by pillows. He had been brought down from his bedroom under the superintendance of the Queen, the Duke of Gloucester and Prince George. As his car left the Royal Standard above the Palace was lowered.

The Cavalcade. Behind the .ambulance followed three cars—one with the two doctors, Lord Dawson Of Penn and Sir Stanley Hewett, a second with Sir Derek Keppcl, the Master of the Household, Sir Clive Wigram, Colonel Seymour, and one of the nurses, and a third with the four ambulance men who had carried the King from his bedroom and were to perform a similar office at the end of the journey. There was also a spare ambulance. The procession made its way slowly to Victoria Street. A few minutes later another car came out through 'the gateway. In this was the Queen, with Lady Bertha Dawkins. Unrestrained cheers went up, and Her Majesty bowed repeatedly in response. The Queen arrived at Craigwell House half an hour before the ambulance, and was at the door to greet the King. Her Majesty was delighted to find that the patient had borne the journey so well, and watched with tender interest the removal of the King from the ambulance to the cheerful room in which, it is hoped, he will derive so much good from the sun's rays and the sea air. The King arrived at 1.24, having been exactly two hours and 50 minutes on the journey from London. The crowd at the crossroads waved hats, flags or handkerchiefs, and His Majesty waved his hand in response to the greeting of Sussex. ' Along the Route. The route over which the King had travelled from London was that via Lcutherhood, Dorking, Billingshurst and Pulborough. At Leatherhead, Dorking and near Arundel Castle considerable crowds awaited the passing of the Royal invalid, and as the ambulance went by there were sympathetically restrained cheers, to which the King again responded by a movement of the hand. In view of the fact that the route to be followed had been kept secret until after the departure from London, the number of people who assembled in the villages on the last stages of the journey was remarkable.

People standing along the roadside waved handkerchiefs, while in the open country labourers in the fields raised their caps as they caught a glimpse of the passing ambulance. Hardly a hundred yards of the road was without some person waving a hand and giving a cheer as the King passed by. Twice on the road the ambulance was slowed down to a speed of five miles an hour while the nurse administered food to the King. At every important crossroads officers of the local police forces and special constables kept guard and saw that the roads were open. No car was allowed to pass the Royal procession. Cars coming in the opposite direction were held up and made to park on the extreme left side of the road. St. John Ambulance. The four St. John Ambulance men who moved the King were Superintendent T. S. Appletonj Sergeant E. Howard, Sergeant J. W. Claridge and Corporal W. Puddifoot. 'Superintendent describing their experience, said: "His Majesty was most thoughtful. He smiled and said 'Thank von,' when the journey ended at Craigwell House. Half an hour afterwards the Queen sent for us and shook hands and thanked us. "Of course, the journey was very thoroughly rehearsed We had practised for more {ban a week both at Buckingham Palace and at Bognor, and every inch of the ground was gone over many times. We practised the full journey, carrying a 12stone man on a stretcher, so that we were as familiar with every awkward corner as we were 'with the corners of our own house. The King gave us the utmost assistance." > Perhaps the proudest man in the Metropolitan Police Force is Inspector Hill, resident inspector at Buckingham Palace. The King made a good-natured joke about him on Saturday when the St. John Ambulance men were carrying him on a stretcher. His Majesty, with humour, rerrnrkod : "It would not have been so easy if you had to carry that big policeman outside Burkincrham Palace. T believe he weighs about 20 stone." Inspector Hill modestly tried to pass the honour on to one of his comrades who was on dutv round the palace. But when informed that his men all believed that the King referred to him, Mr. ITill s full moon-like face broke into an expansive *rni!p Inflating his broad chest, he said: "Well, perhaps you are right, but I should think I am nearer 18 stone than 20 stone."