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TOLD OF A VISITTO FIRING LINEHon. R. K. Bishop Makes InspiringAddress At Gower St. .THE CCWER STREET EPWORTHLEAGUE held a patriotic meeting in the Sunday School room last evening to celebrate Empire Day.The Hon. R. K. Bishop, one of thedelegates representing Newfoundland in connection with the Empire Parliamentary Association from Overseas Dominions, was the speaker. Addressing the audience for nearly two hours, Mr.Bishcp gave an interesting view of the workings of the Empire ami its doings j ing in this great war, coupled with sights j da; of interest intermingled with pathos and BalasRe']kinfored.Tpatriotism. _ ^ £rlt;Leaving New \ork on June 23rd. sei1916, bound for Liverpool, there werebesides the speaker* some sixteen members from the Overseas Dominions, nine j 'J'lfrom Canada, four from New Zealand,one from Australia, and two from Nfld.; the remainder of the delegation from“GAustralia and South Africa had goneso ca;direct to England.The S.S. Baltic arrived at Liverpoolthiset(C't Saturday. July 1st. the delegationbeing me at Liverpool by an officialj “T and taken by special train to London, sh The obiect of the meeting was to af-j scford the delegates an opjwtuni'ty of po witnessing in ?. number of the larger co d more important cities of Great]80 Britain, the rnormous outturn of munitions m;ns. bat'V'-hips, etc.. and other njarvc 2us works brought to bear to c~r,-. ,yar to a successful issue.Forming part of the programme were!the addresses'given by Mr. Bonar Law, caHon trade and 'he * r r, and that of muni-Sons of war by IVlr. Lloyd George. E; Bo h addresses were of intense interest E'Fruand the experiments and information given was really surprising.A visit was paid to the War Office, where the delegates were met by Sir j ^ W- h'am Robertson.The speaker was surprised, whenvisiting Buckingham Palace, where the delegates were entertained by their Majesties the King and Queen, to find how intimate the King was with New-thfoundland affairs, his splendid recollection cf our splendid salmon pools.where he‘had-, during his service in the Navv. found such excellent sport, hispride in the valour of our men and his zca! and deep regret that our soldiers had suffered so severely.Following a visit to the Birmingham Email Arms Factory and other places of interest in that citv. the delegatestimwere dined by the Lord Mayor and cor-eeportation. Aft ?r seeing Hadfield Works j at Sheffield and the shipyards at New- dcastle-in-Tyne. the party proceeded to Edinburgh, where our boys were sta-tioned for some time. The inhabitantssisithere, as well as Fort George and Ayr,speak in glowing terms of our Regiment.Crossing from Folkestone to Calais, protected by destroyers, the party find *P-mlt;e!ves in France. The military au-’’orities near the battle line, while seem-ohsicto appreciate their visit, were too ' ehensive of danger to allow the •■'•he— *o get too near the bat)ie-r^indL r ,The sneaker tells of his meeting with the Nfld. Battalion. In command of Col. Hadow, our boys were drawn up for inspection, many of their faces being familiar to Mr. Bishop, having not less than eighteen months before that crossed over with many of the boys on the Dominion.rlt;n!eFHere, then, after the drive of July1st, could be seen a mere handful ofthe gallant nine hundred Newfoundlanders who, by their conspicuous gallantry, their unwavering persistence in attempting to accomplish an impossible task, “thrilled the Empire.”JtfThe pride which unborn generations of Newfoundlanders will feel as they I j learn in this terrible war no subjects of King George from any portion of his Dominions, proved more loyal, gallant, or resourceful on land or sea than themen of the Nfld. Regiment and of the Nfld. Royal Naval Reserve.Visits were paid to hospitals. The wounded and sick were not discouraged even after such hardships passed through, but were anxious to have Nfld.represented at the front.The speaker paid a glowing tribute to the good work done by the doctors, nurses and stretcher bearers, ever alertand anxious, even in giving up of their lives to succour the wounded.Describing the visit to the Grand Fleet, the speaker says surely if any aggregation of ships of war ever deserved being designated a ‘Grand Fleet’ here it was. Stepping from the deck of a destroyer to a battleship, the partywere received by Admiral L-andship’s officers. The bridge of the ship which surrounds the foremast was large enough to accommodate the whcle party, and from that elevation a splendid view was obtained.The ship steamed slowly through the great fleet, comprising battleships, battle cruisers, destroyers, etc., hospital ships and supply ships.The rules of warfare were in a large measure explained, the manipulating of guns and target practice. The impression given as the party steamed away from the Grand Fleet was “That all iswell with the British Navy,” that it is keyed up to the highest state of efficiency, that in the heart of every man and officer is a burning desire to be afforded an opportunity to prove that no Power or combination of Powers canput against it any force which for a fair test of strength and efficiency it cannot success folly contend with.
Newspaper Details
St Johns Daily Star GS
St Johns, Newfoundland, CA
Tue, May 29, 1917
Page 10
Full Page
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Anonymous
CA 28 Dec 2021
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