BACK AGAIN.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume V, Issue 1329, 17 May 1918, Page 4 (Supplement)

BACK AGAIN.

TRANSPORT ARRIVES. MEN AND THEIR RELATIVES. A LACK OF CONSIDERATION. It would appear that to the official mind the success or otherwise of the welcome to returning soldiers depends entirely on the manner in which rules and regulations are carried out. These provide that the public shall not be admitted to the wharf, and an instance of their rigid observance—without, however, any apparent gain in efficiency—occurred this morning. About 200 men were disembarked at Lyttelton, sick in body, most of them hearing wounds, but two hours were spent in entraining them, whilst their wives and relatives waited, separated by a guard with fixed bayonets, and a six-foot paling fence topped with barbed wire.

The vessel in question arrived inside Lyttelton Harbour at !)."),") a.m., and berthed at No. 7 wharf ten minutes later. Here a permanent barricade has been erected. A fairsized crowd gathered outside the fence, but were kept clear of the wharf. Although some women tearfully complained at the restriction, there was no demonstration. A number of soldiers went along to the barricade, however, and conversed with friends at a distance. One wife who was not thus permitted to greet her husband, had journeyed from the Mackenzie country for the purpose, two days having been spent in travelling.

However, when the two hours had elapsed, wives, but no other relatives were permitted to board the special trains, and little delay then resulted in reaching Christchureh, where the men were enthusiastically welcomed by their friends and more distant relatives. , Circumstances did not permit of any official welcome, but large crowds had assembled, both on the south platform, where the train pulled in, admission to which was restricted to ticket-holders, and at the western end of the yard, where the soldiers' cars passed out. Members of the Canterbury Automobile Association had responded well, and there were close on sixty cars available- to convey the men to their homes. There were sixty-one walking cases for Christchureh, and eleven local out of the fifteen cot cases. Other cases were for Timaru, Hanmer, Ashburton and the West Coast.