EAGER FACES

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21216, 12 September 1940, Page 2

EAGER FACES

YOUNG EVACUEES AIR RAID EXPERIENCES TRIP FREE FROM ANXIETY I (Bv Telegraph. — Press Association) | WELLINGTON, Wednesday j The 170 British children who ar- : rived at Wellington today were met , at the wharf by the High Commissioner for Britain, Sir Harry Batter- ; bee, and bv representatives of the i British Children Reception Commit- ; tee, who gave advice as to transport ! and accommodation facilities and. { when necessary, assisted the arrivals \ to establish contact with their | friends or relatives ashore. After some hours in the stream ; the vessel berthed and the rails j were crowded with eager young ; faces, bright-eyed with excitement at first impressions of their new homeland. The crowd gazing down from the liner’s rail was predominantly composed of women, young mothers and uniformed “•nannies,” and children between the ages of five months and 15 years. On the wharf stood a knot of expectant relatives and friends who had learned of the impending arrival of the party. Most, however, saw no familiar faces smiling at them from the wharf, and there were one or two who wept at finding themselves left out of emotional scenes of welcome and reunion when the gangway was let down. Some Surprise Arrivals Many arrived quite unheralded and the first intimation friends in New Zealand received of their safe arrival was a surprise telephone call this evening. Although one or two were anxiouslooking. most of the party were cheerful and gay and showed no outward signs of whatever ordeals they might have undergone in the war zone. They were loath to speak of what they had seen of warfare; indeed, it seemed almost a point of honour to make light of air raid experiences. One woman, however, said that between the time when she left home and that of the liner’s departure from England her home was destroyed by an enemy bomb. Another said she had no idea where her husband was or what he was doing. She had expected to find a cablegram waiting her on arrival, but no such cablegram had been delivered.

Small boys described proudly, almost boastfully, how they had jumped out of bed on the screaming of sirens and had seen the flash of anti-aircraft shells bursting against the sky as they raced for shelters. The voyage out, they said had been almost wholly free from anxiety. After some delay in getting away from the British coast they spent three uneventful days in a convoy and thereafter the voyage was a rest-cure for them all. A week out from New Zealand they were told there was a raider at large rn the Pacific, but they were not worried. Watching the Young Folk There was no sickness or trouble of any kind on the ship. The officers and staff arranged entertainments and kept a-n eye on the youngsters to see that they did not clamber up the masts or tumble overboard. As they came ashore it was seen that many of the mothers had exercised considerable ingenuity in arranging simple methods of transporting their families. A young baby was carried in a canvas box open at the top and with a handle. Another was slung in a special chair from its mother’s shoulder, so that her hands were free for carrying luggage and shepherding other children. A third infant was carried

in a sort of laundry basket by two women, each holding a separate handle. The children were remarkably healthy-looking, browned with the sun of the tropics, but distinguished by English mannerisms and politeness. They showed remarkable diversity of dress, ranging from a party of kilted young Scots to a toddler in brown battle-dress with an airman’s helmet. The children and their parents are of all classes t>f life and are predominantly middle-class. A very large proportion were travelling in the tourist class.