VETERANS OF SOUTH AFRICA.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 144, 19 June 1926, Page 11

VETERANS OF SOUTH AFRICA.

ANNUAL REUNION HELD. THE PRESIDENT'S SPEECH. Some 200 members of the Auckland South African War Veterans' Association gathered in the Scots Hall last evening for the seventh annual reunion of the organisation. The president, Colonel E. G. Fraser, presided. In welcoming his comrades, the colonel said that it was indeed a pleasure to see so many members present to honour in their own way the bond of comradeship, a bond forged in the furnace of war and made indissoluble, a bond that united them and linked them with the past. In no other organisation in the Empire was the spirit of comradeship more highly developed than among soldiers, and. as the years rolled on, those friendships, formed on service where joys and sorrows were commonly shared, world be more deeply appreciated. "If your organisation did nothing more than give you an opportunity of coming together once a year, to renew old friendships and talk over old times, I feel from the response you have made to-night that itfl existence would be justified," said Colonel Fraser. "At such meetings as this old memories-rare awakened among old comrades of the veldt, and the mind is able to visualise the past in all its glory." The colonel stated that through the indefatigable efforts of the association some recognition of service by the Government had been obtained, which would ensure that the shadow of want, would be eliminated from the horizon of the old soldier, should he require assistance in the evening of his life. The colonel also strongly recommended those who were not members to join the association, and help the present small but loyal body of comrades. TJie members, in accordance with tradition, stood in silence in honour of departed comrades. Among the guests were Mr. M. A. Carr, president of the Returned Soldiers' Association, and Mr. Taylor, representing the King's Empire Veterans. A long toast list was honoured, and a musical programme was presented by Messrs. J. Calvert, C. Turner, L. Bickerton, A. Bailey, and Marriott. The singing of old soldier choruses by members was one of the most enthusiastic features of the evening.