SIR ALEXANDER GODLEY.

Otago Witness, Issue 3673, 5 August 1924, Page 55

SIR ALEXANDER GODLEY.

END OE KHINE COMMAND. LONDON, June 19. General Sir Alexander J. Godley has now returned to England to take over the Southern Command Before he reft Cologne Graf Adelmann, Eeigerungsprasident and Burgomaster Dr Matzerath, representing the Chief Burgomaster, who is away from Cologne, called on Sir Alexander Godley and' expressed to him the appreciation of the population for the tactful maimer in which he carried out his delicate task as General Officer Commanding the British Army of the Rhine. A large gathering of British officers and civil officials, including Cord Kilmarnock, ► tlie High Commissioner, Mr Julian Piggott, Commissioner in Cologne,' Mr Dunn, tne Consul-General, and representatives jf the Drench' and Belgian Armies and Departments of the High Commission, was present in Cologne Station. A guard of honour drawn from the Royal Ulster Rifles, of which Sir Alexander is Colonel, was mounted. In a special Older of the Day, issued in farewell, General Sir A. Godley said: “The duties of an army of occupation m a foreign country are far more difficult than those of an ordinary British garrison, and call for qualities of fairness, forbearance, and straight dealing which ire nowhere better exemplified than they have been here in the person of the British soldier of the British Army of the Rhine. The comparative security and contentment of the inhabitants of our zone are a great tribute, not only to the unvarying good conduct and good example of the troops, but also to the efficiency of all our staffs and administrative services. The smartness and soldierly bearing of the troops invariably invokes the admiration of our Allies, of the Germans, and of visitors to our area. I thank you all from my heart. I wish you all the oest of luck for the future.’ 1