A surprise reception was in store for the soldiers aboard the S. S. Morvada when it came to debarking on foreign soil. As the ship plied the channel waters on the night of July 30th, 1918, but few on board knew what port was its destination; but not so with the people of the British Isles. They knew the plans for the arrival of the American army transports. On July 31st, the people of Barry and Cardiff, in common with Newport, in the province of South Wales, did honor to the American troops. Barry, the urban district and seaport of Glamorganshire, Wales, on the Bristol channel, was the foreign shore that greeted the troops on the Morvada early in the morning of July 31st. It was perfect weather for such a visit, the first ever paid to Barry by a large body of American troops, and Barry's reception was whole-hearted. The citizens turned out in great force. Enthusiasm was manifest on every side, and this, despite the fact that, owing to the unavoidable delay in the ship's arrival, the people had to wait several hours while the Morvada rested at anchor in the harbor until docking could be accomplished at 9 a. m. While preparations to dock were in progress crowds lingered on the piers. The soldiers amused themselves by tossing one-cent pieces to the Welsh children. Immediately a demand for American cigarettes and chewing gum arose among the older Welshmen. The crowds and the town itself were in holiday attire. The vessels in dock were gay with bunting. Flags were displayed from shop-windows, the municipal offices and the fire-brigade station, while from the summit of the Barry Railway Company's offices "Old Glory" was flying to the breeze. As the Morvada docked and the command was given for the troops to debark, loud welcome was sounded by sonorous "hooters," screaming sirens and shrill ship and loco whistles. At 10 o'clock the soldiers were assembled on terra firma once more. Parade formation was ordered in answer to the glad welcome plans of the inhabitants. Headed by the regimental band the 311th Artillery skirted the banks of a small brook named Barri, whose waters encircled an island--the island which in the 7th century is supposed to have contained the cell of the Welsh saint, named Barri, from which the name of the island and the river is derived. British troops, with rifles at present arms and bayonets glistening in the sun, formed a guard of honor that lined both sides of the streets of Barry, through which the American troops passed in royal welcome. The march proceeded until King's square was reached, where official ceremony of welcome to the town was enacted. Here the officers and men formed in the large public square in front of the municipal offices, where Councillor George Wareham, J. P., as chairman of the district council, extended to the Americans a hearty welcome.