"ON MY NATIVE HEATH”

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20322, 2 February 1928, Page 9

"ON MY NATIVE HEATH”

BURIAL OF EARL HAIG. IN SCOTLAND ON SATURDAY. WISH EXPRESSED IN WILL. (British Official Wireless.) CPresi Association— Telegraph—Copyright-J RUGBY, January 31. It is now authoritatively announced that the remains of Field-Marshal Earl will be buried at Bemersyde, in Scotland, among his ancestors, and not in St. Paul s Cathedral as was expected. This is stated to be in accordance with his own desue as expressed in his will. To-morrow and Thursday the body will lie in state at St. Columba’s Church m Pont street, London, which Earl Haig attended. . On Friday a short service will be herd at this church, and will be attended by members of the family and relatives. This will be followed by a public and military funeral service at some church n London yet to be decided on. f os ® lb jy it will be Westminster Abbey. The body will afterwards be taken to Bemersyde, where the interment will take place on Saturday. . . . , The French Government has appointed Marshals Foch and Petain to represent it at the public and military funeral. M. do Fieuriau French Ambassador in London) will personally represent President Doumergue. The Belgian Government has also appointed a mission ‘o attend. , . T a The French Ambassador in London ooday conveyed to Sir Austen Chamberlain the heartfelt sympathy of the French President and Government on the occasion of Earl Haig’s death. M. de Fieuriau stated that the whole of France regretted deeply the passing of the Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in France. M. Jaspar (Belgian Prime Minister) has telegraphed to Mr Baldwin : ‘‘ I was deeply moved by the death of Earl Haig. I beg your Excellency to accent my sincere condolences. The loss of the illnstrious field-marshal affects ont only the British Empire. It is felt keenly ov all mv compatriots, who treasure the memory of the incomparable rendered by him to our common cause.” The British Prime Minister replied offering his sincere thanks, and adding: “My countrymen will value highly the sympathy of their ally and the generous tribute which your Excellency nays to the services of the late field-marshal. Mr F. B. Kellogg (Secretarv of State for the United States) has telegraphed to Sir Austen Chamberlain: “May I express through von to the beioaved family and the British people the deep sense of loss experienced by the Government and the people of the United States in learning of the death of Field-Marshal Earl Haig. The American people have grateful recollections of the splendid spirit of unity which existed between Earl Haig s forces and the American troops during the World War. and their sympathy is deeply with the British nation at this time.” Sir Austen Chamberlain replied, _ offering the sincere thanks of his Majesty s Government for the condolences of the Government and people of the United States on the irreparable loss sustained by the British Empire, adding: “In this hour of sorrow the British people • join with you in commemorating that splendid spirit of unity which existed between the British forces under Field-Marshal Earl Haig and thp American armv commanded bv General Pershing and prav that to shadow of differences may ever darken the friendship of our two nations.” There has been to-dav a remarkable demand for wreaths nf Flanders nonpies from the factories at Richmond and Edinburgh, which Earl Haig established, and where severelv disabled ex-servicemen are employed. Three thousand wreaths have b°en ordered from the Richmond factory alone, and orders have come from all parts of the Empire. BELGIAN REPRESENTATIVES. ’ OFFICERS AND SOLDIERS. BRUSSELS. January 31. General De Cenningk, two officers, and 12 soldiers will represent the King, the Government, and the army at Earl Haig’s funeral. —A. and N.Z. Cable. THE FLORAL TRIBUTES. DEMAND FOR FLANDERS POPPIES. LONDON. January 31. In the absence of knowledge of the references in the will the interment arrangements proceeded for the funeral in St. Paul’s, but a Scottish solicitor brought the will to London and found in it a request to be buried at Bemersyde, which has been the home of the Haigs for nine centuries. Other arrangements were rapidly made for the body to be taken to St. Columba’s Scottish Church in Pont street, where Earl Haig worshipped. Following the precedent in the case of Thomas Hardy, a suggestion was made that Earl Haig’s heart should be buried in Edinburgh, but the family disapproved of this idea. The Scottish executive of the British Legion is arranging for memorial services throughout Scotland. There was an enormous response to-day to Lady Haig’s request to confine the floral tributes to artificial poppies made in the disabled ex-servicemen’s factories which Earl Haig etsablished.—A. and N.Z. Cable. MILITARY FUNERAL IN LONDON. SERVICE IN THE ABBEY. LONDON, January 31. It is officially announced by the War Office that Earl Haig will receive a military funeral in London on the 3rd inst. The procession will proceed from the Scottish church of St. Colurrsba to Westminster Abbey via Grosvenor rescent, Constitution Hill, the Horse Guards, and Whitehall. After the service in the Abbey the procession will continue to Waterloo via Westminster Bridge for entrainment to Scotland.—Sydney Sun Cable. GERMAN GENERAL’S TRIBUTE. BERLIN, January 28. General von Kluck stated that he had always held Earl Haig in great estimation, both as a corps leader and is an army commander, and he regretted exceedingly that he had not had an opportunity of making his personal acquaintance. He had previously asked Lord P’Abernon to invite Earl Haig to visit him in Berlin.—A. and N.Z. Cable. BODY TO LIE IN STATE. IN SAINT GILES’S CATHEDRAL. LONDON, February 1. (Received Feb. 1, at 5.5 p.m.) Earl .Haig's body will lie in state at Saint Giles’s Cathedral, Edinburgh, from Saturday to Monday.—A. and N.Z. Cable. MESSAGE FROM AMERICAN LEGION. “AN INDOMITABLE LEADER.” LONDON, January 31. (Received Feb. 1, at 5.5 p.m.) The American Legion sent the following message to the British Legion:

“Earl Haig was a great soldier and an indomitable leader: gentle in spirit, tenaciously courageous, and serene in the darkest hours.” —Sydney Sun Cable. SYMPATHY OF DUNEDIN R.S.A. At a special meeting of the Dunedin Returned Soldiers’ Association Executive Committee, held' last evening, the following resolution was passed, members standing in silence ; . “ The Dunedin Returned Soldiers’ Association, as representing the Imperial ar.d colonial ex-servicemen resident in Otago, join with the whole of the British Empire in expressing their deep sense of the loss sustained bv the Empire in the death of Field-Marshal Earl Haig. His qualities as a leader in the field during the late war won him the confidence and respect not onlv of his own troops but of the leaders and troops of our Allies. No less has been his devotion to the cause of the ex-servicemen during the demobilisatiefti period and in the succeeding years, for, as president of the British Empire Service League, he esteemed it a, duty and honour to personally champion the" welfr.re and repatriation of those whom he always looked upon as his comrades.”