THE WAR GRAVES.

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 37, 9 March 1922, Page 8

THE WAR GRAVES.

WHERE OUR SOLDIERS SLEEP. REV. M. MULLIXEUX'S LECTURE. "One of the best known and most beloved of the padres that ministered to | ' the needs of the New Zealanders in I France," was the manner in which the ' Mayor (Mr. J. H. Gunson), who pre- ! sided, referred to the Rev. M. M. Mullineux, who was giving an address last night in the Town Hall concert chamber on the War Cemeteries in France and ' Belgium, in connection with which lie did such splendid work. The address was ' given under the auspices of the British Red Cros.s and Order of St. John. Mr. Mullineux illustrated his lecture with some most interesting lantern elides of the war zones. He knows his subject thoroughly, and has the knack of being able to carry his audience with , him through the scenes where the Xew , Zealand men helped to make history. The lecturer said there had been a , great deal of controversy as to what had been done, and -what had been left undone in regard to the graves in Prance, and the Government and the War Graves Commission had "been criticised . unjustly. The magnitude of the work, cculd be judged from the fact that there were 3500 cemeteries in France in which British soldiers were Iburied. The lecturer spoke of the work of the Directorate of Graves Registration and Inquiries and of the infinite care taken by this branch of the War Office to secure identification. After the fighting I veased the D.G.R., reinforced 'by thousands, hunted up the isolated graves, 'brought in the bodies, and buried them in the cemeteries with-Christian services and military honours. In 1910 it was an exception to find a cemetery tidied up, • !but this "work was undertaken and com. ■pleted by the D.G.R., when the cemeteries were handed over to the Imperial War Graves Commission, a civil organisation, charged with the task of looking aft(*r the graves. The commission now -' J employs 1300 gardeners who are under ! j the charge of horticultural officers; ' there were ten nurseries for growing shrubs and plants for beautifying the ' cemeteries, and the idea was to. as far ' as climate and soil would allow, plant the ehruibs of countries from which the fallen soldiers had come. The commission employed over 800 motor vehicles ! and 600 cycles, and more than 1300 miles per week were covered by the former. 'Each grave had its headstone 2ft Bin a'trove the ground and lft 3in wide, and ' in each cemetery there was a handsome I stone Cross of Sacrifice, and a Stone of , ! Remembrance. France and Belgium had ' both given to the British Government in perpetuity the grounds covered by the cemeteries. The lecturer briefly referred to the work of the St. Barnaibae Hostels, of which he is the organiser, and through , ' which pilgrims to the graves may now find the last resting places of their loved ones. There were such hostels at Boulogne, Amiens, Arrae, and Bethune, and he desired to have a New Zealand one 1 at Ypres. Tt was now possible to travel ! from London to any cemetery in France, 1 except those outside Marseilles, and '• bnck, for under £4, including hostel •! charges. The pilgrims are met in 'i' France by the hostel authorities, who I aTe all voluntary workers, and personn j ally conducted. The padre said he owed 0 1 a great deal to the assistance given him N] (by the Order of St. JoEn and the Red a i Cross Society. * A collection amounting to £25 -was - taken up for the -work of the St. Barnabas Hostels.