BACK FROM RHINE.

Colonist, Volume LXI, Issue 15043, 10 April 1919, Page 7

BACK FROM RHINE.

LAST OF NEW ZEALANDERS. 1 1 ' **' I

~ DIVISION CEASES. TO EXIST. |

ITS UNDYING FAME.' \>\

(From Captain Malcolm, Ross, Official - War Correspondent' with the New .Zealand Forces in the Field.) France, March.2s. To-day the last drafb oi: our men m Germany marched back across the Rhine. The last routine order was signed by Colonel Avery, and the New Zealand Division ceased to exist. Form|ed at the beginning of 1916 from the rei mains of the brigades that earned unI dying fame on Gallipoli, and the newly--1 formed Rifle1 Brigade, it crossed the sea! 'to France, where it quickly 'began to earn fame on the battlefields of the I Western front. The Somme, Messines, Passchendaele, Bapaunie, and Le Quesnoy are milestones along its victorious pathway. Through all its fighting | career it has been commanded by the i one general, whose liigh ideals it has al- ' ways endeavoured to achieve.

In all its stirring history the division has never been in retreat. Once onjy has it failed to take an objective, and oven in that failure, which was an attempt at the impossible, it added to its record yet another splendid page of heroism and determination. The small number of prisoners it has lost, as well as the battles it has helped to win, may be taken as some measure of its bravery, while the almost complete absence of serious offences is an indication of the excellence of its conduct in the field.

Even in Germany, where remembrances of the methods adopted by the enemy in warfare might have given cause for breaking the bonds of ordinary discipline, it has-conducted itself in a manner worthy of its best traditions. On the eve of its disbandment the head of one of the great industrial concerns in Germany in and about, which it was ■billeted, has stated that no fault could be found-with the conduct of the New Zealand officers and men.

Demobilisation commenced with Lhe draft that was dispatched from Cologne on January 14th, although odd drafts, numbering 2500, left during the foui preceding weeks. with ihe exception of one week, draics varying from 700 to 1000 of all ranss were dispatched every Tuesday, 'fifteen oiticers. and 600 other ranks proceeded to the base at Rouen, with the horses/and wer.e demobilised from there. In addition the division was allowed to retain its leave allotment during demobilisation, and, as it was arranged that these men should not return, another thousand were disposed of fey that means.1 .Similarly, the majority of the officers who proceeded on leave after the middle pi February were retained in Englandthe number of officers iri ; the division being far m excess of-tlie required to accompany drafts. Periodically, other -officers were sent to England on duty, and did not return. The Pioneer Battalion was dispatched complete with its transport, from Venders to Dunkirk on Christmas Eve, and therefore did not •see Germany. Sixty officers and 900 others were evacuated sick -between December 28th "and.Marcn 25th, and did not return. All the drafts were dispatched from Cologne to Rouen, and the journey averaged from fifty-five to sixty hours. - ■

In order to maintain the division as a nghtmg formation throughout demobilisation, reorganisation from time to time was necessary, and, in addition, the civil administration of the divisional area had to be maintained. Four thousand three hundred horses were disposed df by return to the base, sale to abattoirs, and evacuated sick. The! whole of the vehicles, guns, and ord-j nance equipment of the division is being! used m connection with the equipment | of the new army of the Rhine. The! ordnance and veterinary stores have been handed in. Everything has been carefully checked and receipts obtained. The divisional canteens were recently closed down", and as much-plant as possible was sold and credited to canteenfunds.

SPLENDID DISCIPLINE OF THE ■ TROOPS. The discipline during demobilisation' has been good, only one serious case having occurred. This was the case of a machine-gunner concerned in highway robbery. , He was killed by a German policeman, and a private was killed by some German roughs. The chief culprit unfortunately, escaped, but four others concerned were sentenced to two years' imprisonment. The German representative present commented upon the fairness with which the British Court condiicted the trial. Although those immediately concerned with the demobilisation and the handling of the ordnance deserve great credit for the efficiency with, which they did the work, the V.M.C.A. deserve special credit for the manner in which they provided comforts for all the drafts. General Godley paid a final visit to the division to-day. Divisional Headquarters were closed at noon at Mulheira.

The final draft to-day comprised 29 officers and 680 other ranks. Early in the afternoon tfie-fast'.-, of the infantry ma relied, across the Cologne bridge, past the statues of the Hohenzollerns; still proudly riding their bronze horses, and so on to the station. -At 4 o'clock the long trcfop " train steamed away: for Rouen. Soon the great .Cathedral spires faded in the distance, and the New Zealauders part in .the great war and their watch on the Rhine had already become memories of the past. „