POLICE ON PARADE

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 714, 13 July 1929, Page 11

POLICE ON PARADE

MARCH PAST THE PRINCE OF WALES CEREMONY IN LONDON The King sent his congratulations to the London Metropolitan Police Force on the occasion of its centenary, which was celebrated by a parade in Hyde Park and a march-past the Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace. Two hours before the parade of i 3,000 men and inspection by the Prince a vast crowd was in Hyde Park. People lined the main avenue from Marble Arch to Hyde Park Corner, stood in thousands around the parade ground, and packed the roadway and pavement at Hyde Park Corner. The police were drawn up in divisions, a line of blue of which the length was amazing. In front were the regular forces, each with a mounted superintendent before it. Grouped behind in another long line were the special constables. The Prince, who wore his uniform as colonel of the Welsh Guards, was accompanied by Lord Byng, wearing a dark blue uniform and general’s white plume on his hat. Among the “Specials” Just as the Prince was leaving the Broad Walk to enter the parade ground the loud cheering appeared to upset his horse, but Avithin a few seconds the Prince had control of the animal. The Prince rode slowly down the long lines of men. Along the whole length of the front.line he went, and in the opposite direction before the ranks of the “specials.” From Hyde Park the Prince, accompanied by Lieut.-Colonel Laurie, the Deputy Assistant-Commissioner, and four mounted police constables, proceeded to Buckingham Palace, where after being greeted by Sir William Joynson-Hicks, he took up his position at the saluting base opposite the Queen Victoria Statue. The sound of the cheering at the end of Constitution Hill announced that the march past had begun. The procession took three-quarters of an hour to leave the Park. The Policewomen This great march -was not a spectacle that had been carefully rehearsed in the military fashion. Policemen have other things to do. Yet their conduct on parade, the evenness of their marching, and the precision of every movement vrould have done credit to any regiment of the line. Guards watched them outside the Palace with critical eyes, and nodded approval. No wonder the children cheered and waved their flags. Among the 13,000 were many greyhaired veterans. The women police faced the Prince outside the Palace, lined up in the sweltering sun. While men in the crowd around them were fainting, they stood unmoved. Some of the crowd after the marchpast made a wild rush to see the Prince leave. A police cordon was broken, and people following the Prince’s car along the Mall tried to jump on to the footboard.