Berkshire and The War: the "Reading Standard" pictorial record. Volume 4. p 925

WELCOME HOME TO THE 1st BERKSHIRES.

GREAT RECEPTION AT READING.

Looking back over the numerous occasions on which the County Borough of Reading has turned out in its thousands in honour of
various historical events, it is indeed hard to call to mind a single occasion marked by such enthusiastic and full-blooded rejoicing as the demonstration of welcome to the 1st Royal Berkshire Regiment to which the town gave vent on April 8th. To say that the gallant troops were given a royal reception is no exaggeration, for the crowds that thronged the streets to greet them equalled, if they did not surpass, numerically the numbers of spectators of visits by Royalty in the past. It was an appeal so intimate, so near to the hearts of all, that none could resist the call; as if moved by a common impulse the town gave itself up entirely to giving the returning soldiers the reception they so richly deserved. When the 1/4th Berks came home the previous week all that could be done in the all too brief hour's notice was done, but on Tuesday adequate warning had been given, and in consequence the scenes in the streets were of such a character as to beggar description. The sirens were sounded, according to plan, at about half­-past ten in the morning, when six strident blasts announced the arrival for half-past four. All the afternoon crowds were collecting, but as time wore on it became known that the time had been postponed to ten minutes to seven. Slowly the would-be spectators dispersed, but only to come back in trebly increased strength in the evening. And now everything was ready. Flags, banners and favours floated from every available window and capped every other building, sightseers came early on the scene to procure favourable coigns of vantage, thronging windows, rooftops, pavements, and every inch of the streets where they could gain a foothold, troops lined the route at all points.

At the Station .

The train bearing the cadre of the 1st Battalion, which consisted of seven officers and fifty-eight other ranks, arrived just before seven o'clock. Amongst those waiting to receive them on the platform were the Lord Lieutenant, Mr. J. H. Benyon, a commanding figure in uniform, Brigadier-General Weston, Colonel J. G. R. Walsh, Colonel A. F. Ewen, Colonel A. F. Poulton, Colonel Whitehead, who commands the 1/4th Berks, Major A. S. Turner, who was captured in November, 1914, and has been a prisoner of war ever since, Major A. G. McDonald, Major M. L. Porter, M.B.E., Colonel F. G. Barker, Colonel Kensington, Captain J. R. West, M.C., Capt. Rutherford, Garrison Adjutant, Captain S. Knight, Captain R. G. H. Norman, Captain Jerwood, Captain W. J. King, Lieut. J. A. Brain, the Deputy Mayor, Mr. F. A. Sarjeant, Mr. F. A. Simonds, the Chief Constable, Captain J. S. Henderson, Mr. C. G. Chambers, the Revs. H. Wardley King, H. Elton Lury, F. J. C. Gillmor, Mr. E. O. Farrer and Mr. Hubert Ferguson. Colonel H. F. Coleridge, D.S.O., O.C. Troops, Reading, was unable to be present owing to ill-health. The band of the Royal Berks Regiment, under Bandmaster C. White, and also the drum and fife band, under Sergt. Trevelyan, struck up a lively air as the train arrived and the crowd broke into vociferous cheering. Sergt. Major Trinder superintended the military arrangements. Mr. J. Noble, the stationmaster, worked hard to ensure the smooth working of the arrangements on the station. The Lord Lieutenant at once shook hands with Colonel Brett, who was in command of the cadre, and the parade then marched out into Station Square.

Outside the Station

... there was pandemonium. As soon as the first column of fours appeared in the street the dense throng gave vent to their feelings with the aid of rattles, tin cans, cheers and noises of every description. Many small boys, unable to secure a view from the streets, and determined not to miss the spectacle, followed the example of Zacharius of old and swarmed up ...

[photo, crowd, exterior] THE MAYOR ADDRESSED THE TROOPS OUTSIDE THE TOWN HALL. AFTERWARDS THEY WERE ENTERTAINED TO REFRESHMENTS INSIDE THE HALL. [Photo by C. E. & A. May.]