Evening star., 1945-06-12
Continued From First Page, :,

| were 1ammed long before the time
of the procession. When the Allied
chief arrived at high noon in q
khaki-hued limousine marked
'SHEAF Car No. l." a semi state
landau with two cockaded coachmen
on the drivers seat was waiting
for him.
The beaming general. his uniform
sparkling with decorations, stepped
quickly into the carriage. He was
followed by Air Chief Marshal Sir
Arthur Tedder, garbed in Raj blue
Crowds Hail General.
Fleet Street had been freshly
sanded for the occasion. Soon the
procession was on It's way. It was
led by a feet of police cars and a
formal police escort mounted on
white and gray horses.
A shout of welcome went up from
the crowd as the procession started
Gen. Eisenhower waved genially
and at times saluted to the happy
crowd, from which shouts of "Gooe
old Ike" went UP frequently.
Lively cheering went up as tn,
crowd spotted Mr.. Churchill in tn,
front seat of his car as 1t rollee
swiftly along the sanded route ir
advance of the procession.
The trip to the Guild Hall re.
quired about Is minutes There the
general was received by the Lore
Mayor, Sir Frank Alexander, ano
the court of the Common Council.
Amid all the colorful tradition oil
historic London, Gen. Eisenhower
was presented with a sword in token
of his victory over Germany. A
weapon used by the Duke of We'll
lington at Waterloo was loaned by
a museum for the occasion, because
a special sword being forged by the
maker of the famous Stalingrad
victory blade Is not yet finished.
Guest at Luncheon.
After the ceremony Gen. Eisen-
hover was guest of the lord mayor
at luncheon in the mansion house
A great crowd waited outside the
old building to greet the general
when he appeared with the Prime
Minister on the balcony.
Gen. Eisenhower flew to London
from his headquarters at Frank
furt-on-the-Main yesterday. With
him were 40 members of his staff
10 British and 81 American officers
Officially Gen. Eisenhower be-
came an honorary freeman of the
city of London" According to Gus
tom only British citizen who has
paid his Scot" an ancient tax
levied by the corporation, can be
made a freeman. So the Allied
commander in chief did not receive
the usual scroll.
The supreme commander is ex-
pected to go to Washington next
Monday. Presumably after that he
will return TO Europe.
As Gen. Eisenhower arrived at the
Guild Hall the guards band played
See the Conquering Hero Comes
and the crowd cheered.
Ceremony Lasts an Hour.
With Mr. Churchill and other
members of the cabinet in attend
ance, the lord mayor stood in his
black and gold robes on the dais
beneath the temporary roof OF the
bomb-damaged building to receive
prominent persons.
This traditional ceremony lasted
half hour. Then the eonferrine
Of honorary freedom began.
The acting city chamberlain. Of
fering, "the right hand of friend
ship" declared:
'London's roll of fame contains
the names of many great men
among them distinguished Amer
lcan citizens like Gen. Ulysses
Grant, Theodore Roosevelt and Gen
John Joseph Pershing.
We are proud to feel that to the
great company has now been added
the name of General of the Army
Dwight David Eisenhower, supreme
commander of the Allied force"
In reply Gen. Eisenhower said his
feeling of humility could not erase
his great pride in being rendered the
freedom of London.
Il am not native of this land !"
he said. Il come from the very
heart of America.
In superficial aspects. by which
we ordinarily recognize family rela-
tionships, the town where I was
born and where I was reared are far
separated from this great city.
Real Treasures Of Free Men,
Abilene, Kans., and Denison.
Tex, would together add in size to
possibly one 500th part of Greater
London. To these people I am
proud to belong, but 1 find myself
today 5000 miles from that country
side. e Hardly would 1t seem
possible for the London Council to
have gone farther afield to find a
man to honor with it's priceless gift
OF token citizenship.
Yet kinship among nations Is
not determined in such measure
ments as proximity, size and age.
Rather, should we turn to those
inner things that are the real
treasures free men possess.
ITO preserve his freedom of
worship, his equality before the law,
his liberty to speak and act as he
sees fit, subject only to the provi-
sion that he trespass not upon SIM
liar rights Of others-Londoners will
fight.
$50 will the citizen of Abilene.
When We consider these things the
Valley Of the Thames draws closer
to the farms of Kansas and the
plains of Texas"
Then Gen. Eisenhower euloxised
the wartime courage of the city of
London and the intelligence and un-
derstanding with which the British
and Americans fought together.
We proved that 1t can always be
done by our two peoples, provided
only that both show the same sood