Back to Album containing 117 photos belonging to Colonel F F Colvin 9L including photos and paper ephemera c1917-1920s
Photographs
Item 0016
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Image details
| Accession number | 912L : 2124/5 |
|---|---|
| Transcription |
133 LJ . COLVIN . on PaLEFACE . C. Syth 9th Lameurs . SPA . Nov 1918 . dn TI SSER KURFURST 9. LANCERS . COLOGNE . DEC 12. 1919. marching to the HOHENZOLLERN Bridge for TRIUMPHAL crossing of the Rhine . BRITISH TROOPS IN COLOGNE . RHINE BRIDGE CROSSED . GRAND CAVALRY PAGEANT . From PHILIP GIBBS . COLOGNE , Thursday . This morning , at ten o'clock , our cavalry passed through the streets of Cologne , crossed the Hohenzollern Bridge , and went beyond the Rhine to take possession of the bridgeheads . For some days not many British soldiers have been seen in the city of Cologne , our troops being camped in the outskirts , and it was only vesterday afternoon that the British Governor made his entry and established his head quarters in one of the hotels which has been taken over for that purpose . Crowds of German people gathered to see the man who will control their way of life during the British occupation , and were kept back in a hollow square by their own police when the covered motor - car drove in with an escort of Lancers , while Scottish pipers played a greeting . The passing of the cavalry over the Rhine this morning was an impressive sight for all the people of Cologne , and for us was another historical episode on the long journey of this war , which has led at last to this river , flow To the German ing now behind our lines . people the Rhine is the very river of their life , and down its tide comes drifting all the ghost memories of their race ; its water is sacred to them as the fount from which their national legends , their , old folk songs , the sentiment that lies deep in their hearts , have come forth in great abundance . In military history the Rhine has been their last line of defence , the moat round the keep of German strength . So to - day , when British troops node across the bridge and passed beyond the Rhine to further outposts , it was the supreme sign of victory for us and of their defeat . They are a proud people , and they did not show by any word of rage or cry of bitterness the emotion they must have felt when our men went over the bridge . 000 112 KÖLN a Rh . COLN a . Rh . Hohenzollernbrücke . PE ER GREN Hohenzollernbrücke THE HOHENZOLLERN BRIDGE . There were not large crowds about . Many people of Cologne did not come out to see the actual crossing , though they were in the streets through which the cavalry rode . But there were lines of people on each side of the way , and groups of them at each end of the Hoher zollern Bridge . Among them were many ex soldiers in uniforms altered to civilian clothes , and these discussed our troopers and their horses in a professional way . The Hohen zollern Bridge is a massive structure of German character , with castellated towers at each end . like those outside a medieval fortress . At the city end , on pedestals below the towers , are enormous equestriar : figures of William I. of Prussia and his son , of the House of Hohen zollern , which has now fallen with a crash that has shaken off the crowns of other German kings . Below one of these statues , on the southern side of the bridge , General Sir Herbert Plumer , commanding the Second Army of the British armies in the field , the Army of Flanders , which has fought so many battles since the first Battle of Ypres , stood in the midst of the gene rals and staff officers of his corps and divisions and brigades , and received the salute of the cavalry as they rode beyond the Rhine . Hardly once during two hours did this gallant old general give his arm any rest as he stood there rigid with his hand to his cap . It was an ordeal for any man , but Sir Herbert Plumer , who has known the sacrifice of his men through bloody years , saluted each of them to - day - colonel , corporal , or trooper , horse - gunner , bugler , or signaller - with all the honour he could give them on this last ride to their journey's end . THE LONG TRAIL ENDED . It was a picture which belongs to history . A guard of honour of Lancers , with red - and - white pennons at the lance - tips , was on one side of the bridge below the statue of William I. , sitting there motionless as though also made of bronze , like that great horseman , except when their beautiful'animals pawed the ground and tossed their heads . A band was close to the army commander's place , and when he came it played the old tune of " Rule , Britannia , " and then , when the cavalry passed , the song of the Long , Long Trail . " There were Lancers in the first escort squadron , and the officers rode with drawn swords , and , as they came near the saluting base , turned in their saddles and shouted in the high , long - drawn voice of the cavalry command , Carry swords " and then Escort squadrou , eyes right ! " Every trooper turned his head sideways , so that there was a gleam of steel helmets down the lines , with that fine stern look of men which gives a thrill to one's spine . 7831 |
