BRITISH ON THE RHINE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20917, 6 January 1930, Page 5

BRITISH ON THE RHINE.

AN EXAMPLE IN. CHIVALRY. Withthe arrival of the Allied armies of occupation in the Rhineland certain restrictions were placed upon the German inhabitants by the authorities of each nation. These varied both in severity and in rigour of administration. In the British zone civilian men had to raise their hiits to all British officers, though in Cologne this order was enforced only for a short period, writes Mr William Walker in Chambers's Journal for October. The Belgian authorities were more stringcut They demanded that all German men should salute nearly all Belgian soldiers, irrespective of rank. This regulation was soon relaxed, however, though a similar order was enforced by the Germans during the, whole period of their occupation of Belgium. In all zones the inhabitants weer obliged to possess permits, and they were not allowed to enter or leave an area, without an official pass. At the beginning this precaution was very necessary to proper supervision of the inhabi tants, but it was considerably modified later. In the early months, in the British zone, no German was allowed out of doors without special leave after 7 o'clock in the evening. Though this order seems to bo severe, it was not as strict as the 0 o'clock housing regulation enforced by thu> Germans in occupied territory up to the Armistice. Later the-British authorities altered the hour to 9 o'clock, and afterwards to 11 o'clock. Another regulation made it compulsory for the head'of hi> house to attach a card to his front door, giving a list of all the inmates. While at first there were a few unfortunate incidents, the Germans as a whole conducted themselves well. The conspicuous feature of the Britisb occupation was that from the beginning, despite all official fulminations, the troops could not be prevented from fraternising with the Germans. The men began to make friend's with the people, mostly the women, and regulations were ineffectual to prevent the practice. An intimation was issued that any man seen walking with a woman would be arrested. But the authorities found that if ojjen fraternising could not be_ suppressed it was hopeless to attempt private meetings. Consequently, after an interval, the army authorities permitted fraternising in private, but they looked askance at its display in public, though after the Peace Treaty was signed th-=> veto was entirely removed. It is greatly to the credit of the army that the latitude given the men was not ab'ised. Indeed, it was a matter of iraiuent comment that the British soldiers treated the German women with more courtesy thau they were used to receiving from their own men. This had a two-fold effect. It created a pleasing atmosphere tmong' tho women, and it compelled the German meo to show more respect for their women. When the British first arrived it was practically unknown for a German man tc give up his seat in train or tram to a German woman. The British nlwava did so, and the Germans were cctnrelled to follow their example, as their disrespect was severely criticised by the - nen.