DOMINION TROOPS ABROAD

Waikato Times, Volume 126, Issue 21037, 13 February 1940, Page 6

DOMINION TROOPS ABROAD

FIRST ECHELON’S DEPARTURE MEMORIES OF FAREWELL SCENES VOYAGE TO EGYPT UNDER STRONG ESCORT News that the first echelon troops of the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force have arrived safely in Egypt sends the memories of thousands of Waikato people fleeting back a month to scenes of farewells. For the safety of the force, the Government decided that the news of departure should not be published at the time; but that in no way prevented the soldiers being given a rousing farewell, which, as the first volunteers from New Zealand to leave to fight the menace of totalitarian aggression, they deserved. With a mighty battleship from the British Navy, H.M.S. Ramillies, and two fast cruisers, H.M.A.S. Canberra, and H.M.S. Leander, to guard them, the troops left Wellington early on a summer’s morning, aboard comfortable and fast luxury liners. Although the destination of the first echelon was unknown to all but a chosen few, the approximate time of departure spread rapidly and thousands of people lined the waterfront at Wellington to watch the troopships sail away. Again, after only 2 1 years of peace in Europe, the manhood of New Zealand had left to fight for their own independence and for the preservation of the Motherland and the Empire.