SHATTERED HEROES.

A WARM WELCOME IN SWITZERLAND.

CHATEAU D’OEX, TUESDAY. The first party of British wounded and invalid prisoners from Germany selected for internment in Switzerland arrived at Château d’Oex at ten o’clock this morning. They numbered between 400 and 500, and were overjoyed to be out of German clutches and in the custody of the kindly Swiss. Most of them were extremely fatigued by the strenuous nature of the journey from captivity to this Swiss mountain village. Leaving Germany by way of Constance yesterday afternoon, when many of them had already had long and weary railway journeys from their respective places of imprisonment, they reached Zurich last evening and Berne an hour after midnight. In both places they met with a great reception. At Berne, where they stayed for two hours, supper was served and additional presents were presented. It was not, however, until the early hours of the morning that they reached the south of Switzerland, where Francophile and pro-Ally sympathies are so intense, and began to feel the real warmth of the feelings with which they are regarded in their new surroundings – a delightful contrast indeed to the gloom of imprisonment in Germany. Between Fribourg and Lausanne, the peasants flocked to the stations and cheered as the train passed through. Lausanne was reached just before five a.m., and there was a rousing reception at the station, which was surrounded by enthusiastic crowds, although admittance had been refused to them. It was here that the invalids had their first breakfast. From Lausanne to Montreux the train ran along the bank of the Lake of Geneva. The early steamers, carrying mostly peasants going to the markets, lowered their flags in salute as the train passed by. The passengers waved and cheered. At each station crowds shouted welcomes. At Montreux another breakfast was waiting, and the officers were taken to two hotels near the station. Here they received more presents from the Swiss inhabitants, who vied with the British colony in demonstrating their enthusiasm. Two special trains were chartered to convey the party along the narrow gauge electric running thence to Château d’Oex. This portion of the journey was a veritable triumphal progress. Everywhere the peasants greeted the war-worn heroes with the strains of “Tipperary,” and in some places the children were marshalled outside the stations to sing “Tipperary” and other airs. The little cars of the train were everywhere bombarded with bouquets and posies of flowers. But all that had happened before was surpassed as the trains drew up in Château d’Oex. The huge crowd appeared to lose all restraint. The men cheered, women sang, and children danced with glee. The station and the whole place was festooned with flags, and on a large board facing the station exit, was the homely inscription “Welcome.” The syndic of the village, Monsieur Boch, with members of the local British and Swiss Committees, entertained the men to a third breakfast, after which speeches were delivered by the British Minister at Berne and the Swiss Deputy M. Favrodcoune. The school children sang songs of welcome and showered flowers upon their visitors. The feeble were then transported to the hotels assigned to them: the stronger ones walked, freely admitting that any further extension of the welcome shown to them en route would certainly have left them as prostrate as their less fortunate comrades. – Wireless Press.