WAR DEAD TRIBUTE

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19373, 10 July 1937, Page 4

WAR DEAD TRIBUTE

CONTINGENTERS’ WISH NO FACILITIES GIVEN KEEN DISAPPOINTMENT ’-‘Every member of the Coronation contingent felt that he was lucky to have had the experience, and the hospitality showered on our party was exceptional. Concerning almost everything connected with the tour, we have none but the happiest memories,” said Company SergeantMajor H. R. Heiford, in conversation with a pressman to-day. SergeantMajor Heiford was one of the Gisborne selections for the Coronation Contingent, and returned last evening, having spent a day or two in Hawke’s Bay after being drafted out of the touring party. “The matter of the uniforms was one which gave us some small feeling of discomfort. We felt that they were good enough "for us, as individuals, particularly since they were exactly the type worn by the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in the Great War,” he continued. “To the many people from New Zealand who watched the procession, however, our uniforms ‘conveyed- an- impression of comparative shabbiness. The opinion they held, and freely expressed to us, was that the contingent should have been thoroughly smart for the big occasion, and that the expenditure of a little more in this direction certainly would have won for the Dominion more notice from the immense crowds of people assembled for the Coronation procession. Favoured Australians “The Australians had first-class uniforms, all carefully tailored, and of a more showy material than ours; their appearance was magnificent, and to those who watched the procession the comparison between their uniforms and ours was quite unfavourable to New Zealand. “The point concerning which the contingenters themselves felt most sharply, however, was that of leave during our stay in England. There were many functions to which the contingent went in a body, or in squads when two functions were going on at the same time, and these were most enjoyable, of course. Nevertheless, we were under orders at these times, and there was no question of declining an official invitation which was accepted no behalf of the contingent. Our only free time, so far as visiting friends and relatives in parts of Britain outside the metropolitan area, was a period of four days. No Visit to France “It was a great disappointment to us that no facilities were given for the contingent as a whole, or even for the returned men amongst us, to pay a visit to the battlefields of France. We had gone so far, and another 80 miles of travel would have permitted us to see the country over which the New Zealanders fought in the Passchendaele battle, and the Ypres salient at least. “It seemed a great pity that we could not even go at our own expense, since the official arrangements for the contingent did not include a visit to the Continent. The Australians went to France and Belgium as part of the itinerary laid down for them, and were to connect with their boat for the voyage home at one of the Mediterranean ports. We had to sail direct from Britain for New Zealand, by the route we had taken on the outward voyage.

Representations were made through official channels, said Mr. Heiford, for permission to send even a delegation of the contingenters to France to lay a wreath upon the Ypres Memorial at the Menin Gate, or on one of the New Zealanders' own memorials on the battlefields. It was found that nothing could be done, however, though two men from among the exsoldiers of the contingent could quite well have been sent across, it was considered.

Independence Discouraged

So far as the contingenters’ priyate arrangements were concerned, little consideration seemed to be available through official channels, he added. At the outset, when some of those chosen for the tour had raised the question of securing a discharge in England and returning independently to New Zealand, they received a plain hint that any such suggestions would result in their being discarded in favour of others. There were several who took the hint, and dropped their plans for independent return to New Zealand, but others went on, and eventually were given facilities which were denied to the general body of the contingent. When it was found that there would be no official visit to the Continent, Mr. Heiford and two or three others applied for special permission to come home through Suez, paying the added cost of the passage from their own pockets. Their request was met with a flat rejection, however. These and other incidents provided the grounds for some feeling in the contingent, of course, and the sentiment generally was that the New Zealand Government might have relaxed the regulations a little, and shown a more definite interest in the arrangements. Some of the men had even pointed out that while all the other Dominions’ military units had been inspected by the respective Prime Ministers of their countries, there had been no such honour for the New Zealand draft. On the other hand, the New Zealand High Commissioner, Mr. W. J. Jordan, had done everything in his power to make the troops welcome and to ensure them a good time during their stay in Britain.