Taking Leave of Old England.

Otago Witness, Issue 2170, 26 September 1895, Page 49

Taking Leave of Old England.

•• When I read in my paper that a detachment of tro-pa leaves Bogland for some distant land, 1 batdly give the matter a second thought ; but whenever I read such a paragraph again, ib will always bring to my mind a vivid picture of the tight I witnessed recently at Alders-hoh" These wore tie words of a civilian who had been to Aldershot quite rec r ntly, and had witnessed the departure of a detachment of troops for abroad. "They were followed" he went on, "by a crowd of people, the majority of whom were females, and there were not many dry eyes among them. The band played such tunes as ' Auld lang syne ' and ' The girl 1 left behind me ' as they marched along, and there was an air of forced cheerfulness about the troops, which, however, ill concealed their feelings of sadne6B on leavirjg old England and those they Toyed. 11 Outside the railway station the officer in command called out— jou could almost see the thick lump in Irs throat—' Ten minutes' freedom, boys ! ' This was the lignal for them all to fall out to kifis their mothers, sisters, and sweethearts, whom they would not see for years, perhaps never again. 11 Theie was pJeutjr of hugging and kissing not unmixed with wailing. It was a touching sight ; and although I had no friend or relative among the eoldiers, I could not behold it unmoved, or fail io be struck with the pathos or the scene. "The officer allowed them a very liberal amount of time over and above the 10 minutes, and yet on the command ' Fall in ! ' they were not half finished. " ' One more ki6S— juat one more,' was heard on every side, as Tommy Atkinß tore himself away. 11 They marched into the train, and when all the carriage doors were closed the people were allowed on to the platform. Then the train moved slowly out of the station, and the troops set up one prolonged rousing cheer. " Amid much waving of handkerchiefs, many shouts of ' God blets you, my darling,' and cheers growing ever fainter with the diitance, the train gradually faded from eight. •• Then the crowd moved sorrowfully away."