KING'S COLOURS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 130, 5 June 1933, Page 9

KING'S COLOURS.

AUCKLAND REGIMENT. CONSECRATION CEREMONY. SAFE KEEPING IN MUSEUM. Outward emTjlem of the highest ideals of duty .to God, King and country, the consecrated King's colours of tho Ist, 2nd and 3rd Battalions, the Auckland Regiment, N.Z.E.F., are now in the safe keeping of the Auckland War Memorial Museum authorities, to be held as a sacred trust for the generations to come. A deeply impressive note was struck by the ceremonies associated with the consecration, trooping and deposit of tho colours yesterday afternoon. The Court of Honour in front of the Museum •was the scene of a stirfing spectacle, marred in a physical sense only by intermittent rain showers. The ccreniony was conducted in the presence of his Excellency the Governor-General, Lord Bledisloe, members of the Museum council, naval, military and air force officers, and a large gathering of the public. The military parade was in the command of Lieutenant-Colonel W. C. Sinel, D.S.O. Playing an important part were Colonel Sir Stephen Allen, C.M.<!., D.5.0., Colonel A. Plngge, C.M.G., and Major the lit. Hon. J. G. Coates, M.C., the three officers of the regiment who brought the colours back to New Zealand. On parade and forming the guard were veterans of the Ist, "2nd and 3rd Battalions of the Auckland Regiment, under tin/ command of LieutenantColonel I*. IT. Dawson, and members of the Ist Battalion Auckland Regiment (Territorial Force), under Major J. R. Gray. In support were a detachment from the naval vessels in port under Lieutenant I>. 11. Courage, one from tho visiting French sloop, under Lieutenant Desmonts, and another of cadets from King's College, Auckland Grammar School, and , Seddon Memorial Technical College. Ilis Excellency, on emerging at the front entrance of the Museum, received a Royal Salute, after which the first six bars of tho National Anthcni were played. Following the Vice-Regal inspection of tile guards, flic ceremony of "piling tho drums" and uncasing the colours was proceeded with. The consecration was performed by Archbishop Averill, who was assisted by Archdeacon 1L A. Hawkins and the Revs. W. H. Averill and R. *T. Stanton. Then came the unpiling of the drums and (he handing of the colours to his Excellency for transference to the Museum authorities. A general salute accompanied the unfurling of the colours. After their acceptance by Professor 11. W. Segar, president of the council, the colours were carried into the Museum, at the slow march and to the strains of "Auld Lang Sync," by Messrs. A. G. Limn and A. T. Pveroft, and Captain G. E. Arehey, 0.8. E., director of the Museum. Before following the procession, his Excellency was given a Royal Salute. The proceedings throughout were characterised by the solemnity and reverence ajipropriate to the occasion.

Notable Achievements. "In obedience to His Majesty's command tlio King's colours presented to the Ist, 2nd, and 3rd Battalions of the Auckland Regiment, N.Z.E.F., have now been consecrated and (ire henceforward entitled to all the salutes and compliments authorised to bo paid to Colours belonging to various units in His Majesty's Forces," said his Excellency, in a brief address at tlie ceremony. "Under ordinary circumstances the King's Colour is handed over to officers of a regiment to bo preserved in their custody and used 011 occasions of ceremonial parade. The circumstances today are unusual owing to the battalions to which these colours were presented having been disbanded. In this event, by Army Order, the disposal of the colours rests with the commanding officer, and tlie ofiiecrs of the recipient units, subject to the proviso that they must l>e deposited in some sacred or public building in the locality where the unit was raised and must not become private property. This discretion has been exercised in this case 111 favour of your War Memorial Museum. "Tlie history of the Auckland Regiment is as follows: The Ist Battalion was raised in August, 1014, and disbanded in March, 1019. The 2nd Battalion was formed from reinforcements and returned wounded after the Gallipoli campaign in February, 1910, and was disbanded in June, 1019. The 3rd Battalion was formed in England at tlie urgent request of the War Office from surplus reinforcements in March, 1917, and joined the New Zealand Division in Franco in May of that year. It was disbanded in 1918. The honours and rewards won by officers, n.c.o.'s and men in these three battalions number no less than .TOO, apart from French, Belgian and Italian decorations. They include three Victoria Crosses, of which two of the recipients, Captain Jiulson and Sergeant-Major Crichton, of the Ist Battalion, are with ns on parade to-day. The third, Sergeant Fqj-sytli, of tlie 3rd Battalion, was killed in action on the Somme. _ The number of those who were killed in the war or died of wounds and sickness was 2294, including 108 officers and 218(5 of other ranks. The regiment was allied with tlie Suffolk Regiment of England. His Majesty lias given authority for i emblazonment on the colours of the Ist Battalion Auckland (Territorial) Regiment of 10 out of the 30 engagements in which the Auckland Regiment took part, as being engagements in which they earned conspicuous crcdit and distinction.

Rallying Point. "From time immemorial,** Lord Blcdisloe continued, "the colours of a regiment have been regarded with peculiar honour as embodying the liigli ideals of every soldier's creed, namely, his duty to his God, lus King, and his country. In _ days of old the colours were a rallying point in battle. Men would follow them unhesitatingly in attack, and shod then last drop of blood in their defence. In modern conditions of war their use has altered, but not their meaning. Ihey speak to us all of the loyalty and service which wo owe in carrying out our threefold duty, and remind us_ that such loyalty demands not only in war, but also in our more humdrum daily tasks, tho highest form of self-sacrifice. It was by that self-sacrifice heroically displayed by the Auckland Regiment Gallipoli, "France and Belgium, that its short but eventful and honourable history was built up, and. will be recalled with justifiable pride by posterity in this province; and will, let us hope, always evoke a healthy spirit of emulation and patriotic ambition. Tho high ideals for which the men of these three battalions fouo-ht and died are symbolised in these colours, which are sanctified by their blood and consecrated by their sacrifice. "And so, on behalf of His Majesty the Kin", I transfer these colours into your hands for safe custody within this noble memorial of tho Great War, in the full assurance that they will be guarded and

treasured as a symbol of the honour of a gallant regiment and of the duty which the men and women of this province owe to their God, tiieir King and their country." "A Sacred Trust." "In the name and on behalf of the Council of the War Memorial Museum, we take, as a sacred trust,' into our safe keeping the King's colours of the Ist 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the Auckland Regiment, N.Z.E.F.," said Professor Segar. "They will receive an honoured place in the elirine of the Ilall of Memories. There" they will rest amidst the engraven names of those members of your regiment who gave their lives in tlie Great War. Thus the colours.of the regiment in which these men and you yourselves fought will, from now onwards, both guard and adorn the memory of their sacrifice, as well as the remembrance of the fame and glory which the whole Auckland Regiment won on the field of battle. In leaving tluve valued treasures in our keeping, you may rest assured that all- will bo done that devoted care and science can do to preserve the fabric of the colours. Jt will lie our aim, as it must be your desire, that the King's colours shall not only testify in our own times, but s.hall continue to bear tlicir testimony of sacrifice and achievement even to now distant generations."