NEW ZEALAND AIRMEN

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21184, 6 August 1940, Page 3

NEW ZEALAND AIRMEN

MEETING WITH THE QUEEN CHAT IN COCKTAIL BAR An informal chat with the Queen at the cocktail bar at Overseas House will long be remembered by New Zealand airmen as the highlight of their first leave after arriving in England. The Queen, sipping orangeade, talked with them for about ten minutes, and the New Zealanders returned to their station thoroughly elated. The New Zealanders were a party of pilots and aircraftsmen from the latest draft of 50. They arrived in England after an uneventful trip ; “except,” as one of the pilots said, “we did see three depth-charges go off as we neared the English coast.’ A number of them were invited to Overseas House when it was known that the Queen was to pay a visit. They included Pilo't Officers C. Raymond (Waipukurau), G. E. Langdon (Hawera), L. E. Parry (Wellington), N. R. Mansfield (Christchurch), A. Ashworth (Alexandra), W. G. C. Gasquoine (Nelson), E. Bethridge Topp (Wellington), W. Shann (Auckland), H. Wright Morgan (Christchurch), and H. A. : Stratton (Hastings). They gathered in the Ulster Room, the New Zealanders’ special room at Overseas House, and were received by Lieutenant-Colonel E. ff. W. Lascelles, chairman of the New Zealand group of the league, and Mrs Lascelles, and Miss J. Evans (Hawke’s Bay), the receptionist at New Zealand House. The Queen was accompanied by Sir Evelyn Wrench. She shook hands with everyone, and spent some time chatting. “Lady With the Blue Eyes” Pilot Officer Raymond was introduced to the Queen as “an airman who met your Majesty when he was a small boy in Waipukurau.” “How very interesting,” said the Queen, smiling at Pilot Officer Raymond as she shook hands with him. “This is really delightful. And do you remember this occasion?” “No, I’m afraid I don’t your Majesty,” he replied to the Queen’s very great amusement. Sir Evelyn added, however, that as a small boy Pilot Officer Raymond had frequently talked about “the lady with the blue eyes” for a long time. After the Queen left the New Zealanders she visited other rooms in Overseas House. Just before she was about to leave she was shown the cocktail bar, where a number of New Zealanders had congregated, and several Canadian soldiers. Pilot Officer Morgan, as a latecomer, was introduced to her, and the Queen talked to him for several minutes. When she heard that he came from Christchurch, she observed that it was the general opinion that Christchurch and Vancouver were the two “most English : cities in the Empire outside Britain. One of the soldiers present had taken part in the evacuation of Dunkirk, when he was wounded. The Queen was most sympathetic, and 1 observed that he had earned a “nice, 1 long leave.” » As she was leaving, the New Zea- ’ landers called for three cheers, ■ which were given very heartily. “Oh. boy!” one of them was heard 5 to remark after her Majesty had left. I “It was worth coming to England * lor that alone.”