NAVAL INVESTITURE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23511, 27 May 1938, Page 6

NAVAL INVESTITURE

POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE A COLOURFUL CEREMONIAL NEW YEAR HONOURS PRESENTED (Special to Daily Times j AUCKLAND, May 26. For the first time since the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy has been at its present strength, an open-air investiture of two of its officers was held by the GovernorGeneral, Viscount Galway, at the Devonport Naval Base. Commander C. B. Tinley, officer in charge of the base, and Mr G. McCloghrie, base manager, were invested with the Order of the British Empire granted them by King George VI at the New Year. Commander Tinley received the military division of the Order and Mr McCloghrie the civil division of the Order.

A ceremonial rarely seen at the base accompanied the investiture. Some time before Lord Galway arrived the officers of the division and the ratings from the ships in port took their positions in the courtyard in front of the main base office. The officers, wearing frock coats with epauletts, decorations and swords, flanked the red dais, which Lord Galway later occupied, and the ratings were drawn up along one end of the courtyard, and the visitors and workmen from the base were allowed to watch the ceremony from the other end. Presently, into the vacant side, there marched with faultless precision 52 of the Royal Marines from H.M.S. Achilles and H.M.S. Leander in full dress, with glinting bayonets, tall helmets, and red and navy uniforms, to act as the royal guard. They were commanded by Captain Phillips and were played to the courtyard by the Royal Marines’ Band. In the meantime. Commander Tinley and Mr McCloghrie had taken up their position at the end of the courtyard nearest the civil spectators and it needed onlv the arrival of Lord Galway and the senior officers in attendance to complete a most colourful ceremony. The Governor-General was taken across the harbour in a naval pinnance and was piped aboard H.M.S. Achilles. As he approached the courtyard the Vice-Regal salute of 19 guns was fired and, when he mounted the dais, the guard of then inspected the guard before salute. Lord Galway, who was accompanied by the commodore commanding the New Zealand Division, Rear-admiral the Hon. E. R. Drummond, Captain Glennie, and Captain Rivett-Carnac, and was attended by Lieutenant Lombard-Hobson, A.D.C., then inspected the guards before announcing the purpose of his visit and calling upon Lieutenant Lom-bard-Hobson to summon Commander Tinley and Mr McCloghiie to the dais, where Lord Galway invested them with their orders.

The guard then gave another Royal salute while the band played the National Anthem and Lord Galway left the courtyard.