FRENCH TRIBUTE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22975, 1 March 1938, Page 15

FRENCH TRIBUTE

CEREMONY AT CENOTAPH COMMANDER OF WARSHIP In the presence of 200 officers, midshipmen and marines and the band of the French warship Jeanne d'Arc the commander of the ship, Captain P. Auphan, laid a wreath on the Cenotaph at 3..30 p.m. yesterday. Present at the ceremony were Commander C. B. Tinley, of H.M.S: 7 Philomel, and Commander G. N. Loriston-Clarke, of H.M.S. Wellington, Major-General Sir George Richardson. M. Edmond Meyer. French Consul in Auckland, Mr. J. W. Kendall, president, and nine members of the Auckland Returned Soldiers' Association. When Captain Auphan had laid tho wreath on the Cenotaph, two naval buglers sounded a call. The two minutes silence was then observed, at the end of which the band played the "Marseillaise" and "God Save the King." During the ceremony the marines stood with fixed bayonets and tho midshipmen with drawn swords. The white uniforms of the French units, made more conspicuous by the dark uniforms with red and gold facings worn by the marines of H.M.S. Philomel, presented an impressive spectacle. On the invitation of Captain Auphan, the representatives of the Returned Soldiers' Association stood with him while he received the salute during the march past at the end of the ceremony. The units then marched to the city via Parnell Road, and passing up Queen Street returned via Victoria Street West and Albert Street to their ship.