Berkshire and The War: the "Reading Standard" pictorial record. Volume 4. p 992

Peace Celebrations in Reading -€” continued.

The Royal County Town of Berkshire played a notable part in the Peace Pageant on Saturday, July 19, and dense crowds participated in the proceedings. In spite of the wretched weather the entire programme was carried through in a manner worthy of the historic occasion, and the great day was one that will long remain memorable. In the morning the bells of the leading churches pealed out a message of peace to a town which was festooned from housetop to basement. Hardly a humble cottage went undecorated, and the bright warmth of the citizens'€™ brave display of bunting was reflected in their thankful hearts.

Bands and concerts made the afternoon and evening swift of passing. The band of the 1st East Lancashire Regiment played attractive music in the Forbury Gardens, while on the Thames Side the Reading Temperance Prize Band discoursed appropriate selections. Concerts by Mr. George Smith's and Mr. Lal Edwards'€™ parties proved popular, and in the evening dancing on the promenade proceeded to the accompaniment of the Temperance Band. Brilliant illuminations were carried out in the evening. A beautifully lit-up tram and an elaborate scheme of lamps in the Electric Light Company's office were the main features. The streets were crowded by a happy throng of revellers up till nearly midnight, who relieved their feelings by forming strings of songsters across Broad Street and executing many surprisingly eccentric dances which have as yet escaped recognition in official terpsichorean quarters.

THE GRAND VICTORY MARCH.

The procession that paraded the streets of the town was, of course, the great sight of sights, and the one impression which no one who was there - and everybody seemed to be on the line of route - ill ever forget. The people went forth to see nothing - yet everything. Pageants we have often seen, much more inspiring, from a military point of view, during the years of the great war, but it was not so much the pageant as what it represented that appealed to the beholders - a pageant of the greatest peace treaty that the world has ever known, even more so that the great peace that followed the Napoleonic wars. The whole route, from the Barracks, in Oxford Road, to the Town Hall, was densely packed by many thousands of spectators, and really it was surprising what a vast crowd Reading can produce when the occasion requires it.

Major A. Scott Turner, secretary Executive Committee, made all preliminary arrangements, sent out notices to all Mayors and Chairmen of Councils, by direction of the Lord Lieutenant, inviting co-operation. They replied stating the general wish was to have celebrations locally. He then made arrangements ...

[photo, crowd, exterior] THE GRAND MARCH PAST AT READING. LORD LIEUTENANT TAKES THE SALUTE. [Photo by C. E. & A. May.]