Wairarapa Daily Times [Established Over 50 Years.] MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1929. AN UNBLEMISHED RECORD.

Wairarapa Daily Times, 14 October 1929, Page 4

Wairarapa Daily Times [Established Over 50 Years.] MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1929. AN UNBLEMISHED RECORD.

With the cabled news of the first move towards the complete evacuation of the British Army came utterances of the unblemished record of our troops during their stay on the Rhine. Pew will question the tributes paid by the Secretary of State for War, and General Sir William Thwaites, to the unfailing consideration and courtesy shown by the soldiers to the civilians amongst whom they were quartered. The whole position was admirably summed up, on the day following the move from W'eisbaden, by Sir Pereival Phillips,!l who asserted that the army had proved to be an efficient propagandist for Britain, and that “many of the old, bad illusions concerning the British troops, which survived after the war, have been entirely banished.” This fully bears out the impression that unbiassed investigators have-brought away with Throughout the war the British soldier proved that he had a genius for making friends with the civilian population wherever they came : into contact, and it is not surprising that he was able to leave the impress of his genial personality even on the citizens of an ex-enemy nation during eleven years of occupation. A just army policy insisted that there should be no fraternisation between civilians and soldiers, and the military organisation was made as self-cbntained and inconspicuous as possible. But it was inevitable that in the small communities upon which the troops were superimthe German citizens should

quickly become aware of the demeanour and general conduct of the troops. The fact that unpleasant “incidents” were avoided, and that an ovation was accorded the departing detachments at Weisbaden is an indication of the orderly behaviour of the men.