Hi all, I thought the two following articles might be of interest.
Enjoy
Brent
27th December 1918.
One of our most gallant officers tells me (says a writer in the London Evening News) that an Australian platoon had a gay interlude during the recent operations in which they have so severely drubbed "Jerry."
They rushed a German general's headquarters, and found there, among other souvenirs, a box of brand new iron crosses ready for issue to the Huns. The Anzacs rose to the occasion, and as soon as they got a few minutes "breather," they held an investiture on their own. The men lined up, and each of them had an iron cross solemnly pinned to his breast by an N. C.O.
GERMANS MAKE IRON CROSSES FOR THE BRITISH
(By Percival Phillips. 2nd February 1919)
With the British armies of the Rhine, Cologne. —
After some weeks absence I find a curious change in Cologne. The air of hostility which was apparent during the first days of the British occupation seems to have vanished completely, and merchants and shopkeepers are now bent on profiting as much as possible by the presence oil our troops.
They could not be more eager or painstaking if they were angling for the tourist trade in peace time. They have been characteristically quick to note the trend of British taste, and have tried to satisfy it.
When the army entered there was a great demand for souvenirs. Helmets, officers belts, and badges and other trappings of the beaten army were eagerly sought for, and as difficult to find. Would be purchasers had to visit a dingy little music shop in an obscure street behind the Newmarket, where a password whispered over the counter was necessary in order to inspect a stock of helmets concealed under the second hand accordions in a back room.
As a special attraction an Iron Cross or two would be produced.
As soon as the appetite for spiked helmets and Iron Crosses became known, military, outfitters put their wares on the market, and shopkeepers bought liberally for British consumption.
Today you will find windows in the High street filled with the glittering headdress known as the Pickelhaube, and whole rows of new Iron Crosses with black and white ribbon attached.
It is no exaggeration to say that Iron Crosses are now being manufactured for the British army, and they sell readily at 9s each. Bock shops, cigar shops, and jewellers carry them as a sideline — you can even buy them with your, morning newspaper at some stands.
It is difficult to understand the mentality of a shopkeeper—himself wearing the ribbon off the Iron Cross, which he earned as a soldier, fighting against the British during the March offensive — who sells the decoration over the counter with a bland smile, wraps it in brown paper and then mentions his new stock German shoulder knots and sashes.
British trade is the thing. Window signs in English invite attention to their wares. Such articles of military equipment as can be procured are offered at astonishingly low prices. Attendants who six weeks ago knew no English, and were proud of it, now speak the hateful language quite well enough to do business, and they know a little more every day, for they study it at night.
Cinemas that accepted patrons in khaki with sullen reluctance when we first came to Cologne advertise their films in English. One of the largest in the Horestrasse has a humorist as signwriter, and his flaring placards in slang describing various attractions on the bill always attract and amuse the soldiers.
Another cinema shrieks in large letters "English pictures shown here twice a week: don't miss them."
Guides to Cologne with phrase books for the English soldiers have been hastily compiled to meet the universal want, and are on sale everywhere. Stranger still, the London, newspapers are sold in the streets, and the girls and men who hawk them about can see a prospective purchaser two hundred yards off. They will tell you that the Daily Express is "fourpence, please."
Enjoy
Brent
27th December 1918.
One of our most gallant officers tells me (says a writer in the London Evening News) that an Australian platoon had a gay interlude during the recent operations in which they have so severely drubbed "Jerry."
They rushed a German general's headquarters, and found there, among other souvenirs, a box of brand new iron crosses ready for issue to the Huns. The Anzacs rose to the occasion, and as soon as they got a few minutes "breather," they held an investiture on their own. The men lined up, and each of them had an iron cross solemnly pinned to his breast by an N. C.O.
GERMANS MAKE IRON CROSSES FOR THE BRITISH
(By Percival Phillips. 2nd February 1919)
With the British armies of the Rhine, Cologne. —
After some weeks absence I find a curious change in Cologne. The air of hostility which was apparent during the first days of the British occupation seems to have vanished completely, and merchants and shopkeepers are now bent on profiting as much as possible by the presence oil our troops.
They could not be more eager or painstaking if they were angling for the tourist trade in peace time. They have been characteristically quick to note the trend of British taste, and have tried to satisfy it.
When the army entered there was a great demand for souvenirs. Helmets, officers belts, and badges and other trappings of the beaten army were eagerly sought for, and as difficult to find. Would be purchasers had to visit a dingy little music shop in an obscure street behind the Newmarket, where a password whispered over the counter was necessary in order to inspect a stock of helmets concealed under the second hand accordions in a back room.
As a special attraction an Iron Cross or two would be produced.
As soon as the appetite for spiked helmets and Iron Crosses became known, military, outfitters put their wares on the market, and shopkeepers bought liberally for British consumption.
Today you will find windows in the High street filled with the glittering headdress known as the Pickelhaube, and whole rows of new Iron Crosses with black and white ribbon attached.
It is no exaggeration to say that Iron Crosses are now being manufactured for the British army, and they sell readily at 9s each. Bock shops, cigar shops, and jewellers carry them as a sideline — you can even buy them with your, morning newspaper at some stands.
It is difficult to understand the mentality of a shopkeeper—himself wearing the ribbon off the Iron Cross, which he earned as a soldier, fighting against the British during the March offensive — who sells the decoration over the counter with a bland smile, wraps it in brown paper and then mentions his new stock German shoulder knots and sashes.
British trade is the thing. Window signs in English invite attention to their wares. Such articles of military equipment as can be procured are offered at astonishingly low prices. Attendants who six weeks ago knew no English, and were proud of it, now speak the hateful language quite well enough to do business, and they know a little more every day, for they study it at night.
Cinemas that accepted patrons in khaki with sullen reluctance when we first came to Cologne advertise their films in English. One of the largest in the Horestrasse has a humorist as signwriter, and his flaring placards in slang describing various attractions on the bill always attract and amuse the soldiers.
Another cinema shrieks in large letters "English pictures shown here twice a week: don't miss them."
Guides to Cologne with phrase books for the English soldiers have been hastily compiled to meet the universal want, and are on sale everywhere. Stranger still, the London, newspapers are sold in the streets, and the girls and men who hawk them about can see a prospective purchaser two hundred yards off. They will tell you that the Daily Express is "fourpence, please."
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