ENCAMPED “SOMEWHERE IN ENGLAND”

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 301, 21 December 1939, Page 7

ENCAMPED “SOMEWHERE IN ENGLAND”

— CANADIAN ACTIVE SERVICE FORCE NO SECRET better kept THAN EMBARKATION LONDON, Dec. 19. The Canadian active service force, | which includes many Red Indians. I commanded by Major-General A. G. L. McNaughton, is already encamped .somewhere in England for final train- | No secret in the whole war was > better kept, than the embarkation of this large and magnificently equipped force from every province of Can..da. Citizens at. the disembarkation port were amazed to see a procession of i transports with a steeng naval escort f entering the harbour through the i mists of a winter day. So well was •the secret kept that they were even I more deeply mystified as the ships slowly approached the shore and they heard bands playing and a vast chorus singing, ”0 Canada.” During a brief ceremony at the quayside, which was thronged with cheering crowds, the general officer commanding the area read a telegram of welcome from the King which concluded: “The British Army will be proud to have as comrades in arms the successors of those from Canada in the last war who fought with a heroism never forgotten.” The troops were in high spirits on arrivai and responded with rousing cheers to the welcome given them. They were greeted by the Dominions Secretary, Mr. Anthony Eden, the Canadian High Commissioner, and 'high naval and military officers, j In a brief speech, Mr. Eden said: I "It may be that the struggle in which |we are engaged will he long. It cerItainly will he tough—we all know that. But in the assurance of the 'unity of the peoples of the British I Commonwealth is the certainty of final victory. We thank you for your journey and wish you good luck and God speed.” News of the arrival of the Canadian forces in the United Kingdom is enthusiastically greeted in the Press as a fresh encouragement to the Allied cause and as convincing proof of the solidarity between the Dominions and Britain.