IN MEMORIAL.

Auckland Star, Volume LVX, Issue 268, 12 November 1934, Page 7

IN MEMORIAL.

VICTORIA'S DEAD. WAR SACRIFICES. Duke of Gloucester Dedicates Shrine of Remembrance. "A MONUMENT OF BEAUTY." United P.A.-Eleetric Telegraph-Copyright) MELBOURNE, November 11. The weather, which had been so unkind to the Centenary events last week, relented somewhat this morning when the Duke of Gloucester dedicated the Shrine of Remembrance. The sun shone occasionally through heavy clouds upon the most remarkable assembly ever witnessed in Melbourne. Hours before 11 o'clock crowds of people began to arrive until, when the ceremony began, the approaches to the shrine, the lawns at St. Hilda and the domain roads were packed with a throng estimated at more than 300,000 people. Massed bands opened the proceedings with hymns. At 10.45 a.m. the Duke and his party and Lord Huntingfield, Governor of Victoria, arrived and entered the sanctuary. They assembled with bowed heads by the Rock of Remembrance, awaiting the eleventh hour, when the eye of light shone across the stone. Emerging in solemn procession the Royal party proceeded to a dais, where the first address was delivered by General Sir Henry Chauvel, chairman of the Shrine trustees.

"A monument of beauty, not a tomb; a sacrament and a prayer; a house of love that looks beyond the grave; and a memorial to sacrifices which we hone and believe have not been in vain"— these are the descriptions which have been applied to the Shrine of Remembrance.

Service Unequalled in State's History.

The ceremony to-day took the place of the usual Armistice Day service, which is conducted each year at the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. In colour, dignity and sincerity the service was unequalled in the history of the State.

"Let all men know that this is holy ground; this Shrine established in the hearts of men as on the solid earth commemorates a people's fortitude and sacrifice. Ye therefore that come after give remembrance."

This inscription on the western wall of the Inner Shrine beneath the great dome of the imposing building testifies to the people's acknowledgment of the war sacrifices of Victorians. Amid a setting of sculpture "in dark marble, massivo lonic columns and majestic monoliths it is an epitaph which will remind future generations of the great events of 1914-1918. Built at a cost of £200,000 the Shrine stands on an elevation at a bend on the famous tree-lined St. Kilda Road and on the fringe of the Botanical Gardens, in such a position that it dominates the landscape for miles around. Though it is a mile from the city, its great bulk looms imposingly in the view down Swanston Street, one of the main city thoroughfares. Landmark of the City. It is a landmark which can be seen from far out to sea; and from the surrounding hills it stands out conspicuously among the city's architecture. Composed entirely of elaborated stone and marble its walls and base are balustraded with magnificent simplicity. Each parapet commands sweeping panoramic views of the city and the surrounding country. On the walls above the terraces the names of the great battles in which the Australians fought are inscribed. Within the Inner Shrine are housed 42 caskets of bronze which contain the Books of Remembrance, the parchment pages of which are inscribed with manuscript records of the names of the Victorian soldiers and sailors who died during the war. Here also is the "King's Book," inscribed with the special message of His Majesty the King, "Let their names be for ever held in proud remembrance." Significance of the "Eye of Light." A calm religious atmosphere pervades the Inner Shrine. In the centre of the paved marble floor is the Rock of Remembrance, a plain slab of dark marble sunk below the pavement in such a manner that every head must bow to read the inscription it bears: "Greater Love Hath No Man." On to this Rock of Remembrance each Arm.stice Day at 11 a.m. shines the "Eye of Light," a shaft of daylight which gleams through an aperture which has been placed so scientifically in the dome that only on this day at 11 a.m. each year does the "Eye of Light" penetrate to the Rock of Remembrance.

Around the walls of the Inner Shrine space has been provided for eight sculptured sentinels, the Guardians of the Shrine—Love, Peace, Courage, Integrity, Faith, Strength, Brotherhood and Honour. Beneath the floor is a crypt to which two sets of fatone stairs descend and which contains the unit memorials of the Australian Imperial Forces, and the Royal Australian Navy. This, briefly, is the solemn edifice which His Royal Highness dedicated. SYDNEY SERVICES. ARMISTICE DAY OBSERVANCE. SYDNEY, November 11. Armistice Day services were held throughout the day in the city und suburbs. The main service at the Cenotaph this morning was attended by a huge crowd. Those present included the Governor, Sir Philip Game, the Premier, Mr. B. S. Stevens, representative's of the State and Federal Parliaments, Church dignitaries and representatives of the naval, military and air forces. An impressive feature of the service was the playing of ceremonial music by the band of the Grenadier Guards.