nzef

The clergyman beside General Russell appears to be a Bishop as he is wearing a bishop's rochet (white robe) and chimere. There is another officer in a black cassock, with a white surplice over his arm. That is likely to be the army chaplain, who would have also acted as chaplain to the Bishop during the church parade. Quoting from the Official History of the New Zealand Rifle Brigade, Part 2: "A Brigade Church Parade was held on the 15th [September], Bishop Gwynne, late of Khartoum, conducting the service. His Lordship spoke of the good work done by the New Zealand Division since the commencement of the war, and congratulated the Brigade on its fine record daring the recent operations. General Harper, General Russell and the Brigadier were present at the parade, and took a march past at its conclusion." nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH1-NZRi-t1-body-d1...

so young and so sad. r.i.p. lt. leary

Ernest was the son of Richard & Florence Lucy Leary of Palmerston North as per here He was one of four boys the second eldest of which was Leonard who was born in 1891 and died in 1990 after having served in the New Zealand Army in both the First and Second World Wars as per here He is buried in the St. Pierre Cemetery at Amiens at grave reference V.B.6 as per here It would appear that his mother Florence was a major player in the Women's Suffragette movement in Palmerston North NZ see page 40 onwards of this document a photo of Florence is on page 41

Help piece together the Life Stories of more than 8 million men and women who made a contribution during the First World War at www.livesofthefirstworldwar.org/

Given the French signage this can't be anywhere in the vicinity of the River Rhine since the region of Alsace-Lorraine was not returned to France until 1918 and while it was part of Germany the French language was strenuously suppressed. It seems more likely that this is somewhere in southern Belgium as the NZ troops marched towards Cologne to take up occupation duties in Germany.

Yes, this is Verviers in Belgium, about 30 km east of Liege. Compare the details of this building at approximately 141 Crapaurue, Verviers goo.gl/maps/focXuZNDTVo with the 'Caoutchouc' shop on the left of your picture - especially the banded pillars either side of the doors at street level and the false metal strapping on the walls between the windows on the upper floors.

The proprietor (glacier in French) of the ice cream parlour is called Daelen (variant of Van Daelen as you can tell by the link), a very Belgian (and Dutch) name. On the railing of the balcony over the ice cream parlour, it reads in French: honneur aux Alliés - honour to the Allies. Fabrique de Parapluie[s] is French and means umbrella factory. Caoutchouc articles chirurgie is French for 'rubber prosthetics'. The shop whose sign reads this, can be seen clearly in the Google Maps reference of Fraser Pettigrew. This photo is nowhere near the Rhine.

that man is dead. his arms crossed over his breast, full uniform, helmet on top.