ANZAC COMMEMORATION

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume 49, Issue 7678, 26 April 1921, Page 4

ANZAC COMMEMORATION

SERVICE in town hall

Yesterday was the sixth anni,.nrv of' the landing of the Zealand Force, on ,he Gallipoli Peninsula ’ml was as a general holiday. * combined commemorative ser/L was held m the Town Hall. Ihicb was filled with people. At > n c am the Municipal Band, Veterans, Returned Soldiers, St lobnAnbulance Society lerntrials Cadets, and Fire Brigade assembled at the District High School, & with the exception of the Veterans, marched via Cameron tjrvid First Avenue, Devonport Lad the Strand and Wharf K to the Town Hall. Lieu-fenant-Colonel F. A. Wilson '-as „ chaige ot the parade, wttl. fantain W. P. Bell second in command, and Captain J. Chive,-s as adjutant. Sergeant-Major i Invd was in charge of the TernSand Lieutenant R. Meikle commanded the Cadets The Veterans were provided with cars and driven to the Town Had. On arrival of the procession at the ball the Band plaved the Dead March, and the various 'its Hied into the building Hrs iorship the Mayor, Mr-B. Dive s chairman, and associal, d th him on the platform were v E. A. McCutcheon. Rev, J. Smvth, Rev. W. Barnett, .ff-Captain Moore (SA), Col el G A. Ward, C.BE , and Lieutenant-Colonel F A Wilson. A large and beautiful wreath, laid on the Union Jack, occupied a conspicuous place in the cp-rtm of the platform. The service commenced at deven o’clock with the hymn “ O God Our Help.” Rev. J., W. Smyth, 8.A., followed with the Lord’s Prayer, which was recited by all. The hymn “Days and Moments” was then rendered followed by prayer by Staff-Captain Moore.* Rev. E. A. McCutcheom then’read a portion of ScriptureRevelations 21, verses I to/--picturing a new heaven and a new earth, wherein there would be nodeath, no pain, r> sorrow. The “Gloria” from Mozart’s Twelfth Mass was then given by the Orchestral Societv and the massed choir. Lieutenant Colonel F. A. Wilson addressed the assemblage. He said he thought that at a time like this they ought to ask themselves what such a function as the one they were holding meant, ' It meant, first of all, that they were remembering the landing at Gallipoli, which took place on that day in 1QI q It meant that they were remembering their own men, thustra!ians, the Twenty ■ ninth Division, and the naval men. The Twenty-ninth Division comprised Engl i sh m en, Scot s- me n and Irishmen. Later the Canadians and forces from other parts, ■ of the Empire came in, so to day ‘ they were commemorating those ‘ from all over the Empire who < had given their lives in the great ' cause. ‘He asked them also to ■ remember the troops of France, Italy and the other Allied conn- : tries, who had died in order that freedom should be won, Some i ' people urged that the war should 1 be forgotten. It was time to for- ' get the horrors, but it was too s soon to begin forgetting about the i war. If we did i was the pav ing of the way for another war. On an occasion like this ' they could sympathise with those ; who had lost relatives and friends. They were remembering the men who had fallen, but they should also' remember that many ; of theTallen had left depend- ; (pits, and it was up to us to re- « member those people who had ( not only lost their breadwinners, but their guides. There were j also the soldiers who came back < crippled or broken in health, and they should also assist thtse men. i Then there were men who came i back fit, but very few of these ' were in as good health as when : v they went to the front. He urged i that they should suppor,, stand by, and assist these men, too. ■ The returned soldiers were worth y : °[ all the help that could be ; r given them. He wished to express the appreciation of the returned men tor the consideration extended to them by the local press. To the Territorials and Cadets he recommended the niotto: “Defence, not Defiance.” ( They should train, keep fit and • hvestraight, clean lives. Here- , krrtd to the League of Nations , (and the attitude of America towards it. If each one of us thinks , jod acts against war and in , favour oi peace we will eventual)’ get the League of Nations. 1 he said Jo the Territorials and Cadets: “ Peg away and keep , The best defence is to be Prepared for war.”—Applause. The hvmn “ For All! hy Saints” was then rendered Colonel G. A. Ward, C. B, E.. r«endelivered an address. He said ■ |ms was the second occasion that “e had the-privilege and respon jollity of speaking on Anzac . Ay. It was six years ago on Pat day, when, after inspecting Mounted Rifles,on cotnln§ off morning parade a telegram was delivered in camp, a Passage from His Majesty the congratulating New Zealnd upon a magnificent achieveeat by her troops, and saying ow splendidly they had upheld l ne traditions of the race. At 1 j there were congratulations a Pd cheers, but as the day wore Pa it was borne home to many them that no great achieve , vH was ever carried hrough WUIKHU great effort and sacrifice? 50 T n a Rw days it proved ‘ z acDay has been adopted as on which to comJcntorati. every man who Jell in tirl Wa r° n whatev c -i field ot arit J h \ s da >- mx ve.,i> ago, Zealand had entered upon

four years of grief and stress. Last year he spoke on two subjects—discipline and service. To-

day he would follow them up with two others —memory and commemoration. Memoiy, at first fraught with grief, later became a friend, and was mainly a matter for us as individuals. Commemoration had two aspects: The material, whereby we, as a community and even as individuals, made imperishable memorials to our dead in many waysso that the generations tint come after might not forge: their deeds or their mimes. Beyond this there was the spiritual aspect, which refer; m) to alt as individuals. They had gathered ‘hat morning as a Christian community and as such 've must realise that—

Life is real, life is earnest, And ,rhe grave is not. its goal;

Dust thou art 10 dust retunier.t

Was not sunken of the soul

Colonel Ward, continuing, asked: “Do we all believe this?” He said this momentous question is too often shelved in early life. Death seems so fir away, Yet we must all realise at last that the life of our frail bodies is not all, and that when we are each called upon to step out alone into the Great Beyond, as the men we commemo-ate to-day have done, there is all infinity and all eternity befote us. Therefore, if w* would fit 0 mselves so that we cm 1 worthily enter upon that Greet Unknown aml meet there thorn of oik fellows who have already journeyed there by the path of duty and self-sacrifice, we must; see to it that we also devote our lives to the service of others. For the young there was no better lesson than that left by Charles Kingsley in his '‘Farewell” to a little friend:—

Be good sweet child and let who

can be clever, Do noble deeds, not dream them all day long; And so make life, death, and the great forever, One grand 'sweet song. For the young lads and men the speaker said there could be no finer guiding principle than the Scouts’ daily obligation to do one “good turn’’ daily. If consistently carried out they would find that such good turns throng ed upon them more and more frequently. To the returned sold iers be would say that they must not think that because so much was said of the dead, that what they who had been permitted to return had done, was forgfen. They, equally with the dead, had gone forward and offered themselves at the altar of sacrfice, but the call had •ot come to them, and bis message for them to day was to carry cn, to be irue to the consecration of their lives when thev offered them ft.r others on the field of battle, and to see to it that they continued to serve other as long as life lasted Then for all the rest of us there whs this same great duty of commemoration, to commemorate the sacrifice of these others by following their examp'e, seeking opportunities to work for and serve others rtther than ourselves, and thus fit our selves to meet again those who had preceded us to the further shore. If we could lead such a life of selfsacrific and service as this the closing words of Tennyson’s “ Crossing the Bar’’might serve as a fitting requiem : For though from out our bourne of Time and Place, The flood may, bear me far; I hone to see my Pilot face to face When I have cross’d the,bar Kipling’s recessional “ Lest We Forget ” was then sung by all. after which Mr A. Snrrensen sounded the " Last Post.” Benediction, pronounced by the Rev. J. W. Smyth, concluded a very impressive service. The massed choir was controlled by Mr F. W„ Meikle. while the music was played by the Tauranga’ Orchestral society under the baton of Mr H. Crump At the conclusion of the commemorative service the wreath was taken from the hall and placed at the base of the memorial tablet in front of the Town Hall. MESSAGE SENT FROM GALLIPOLI Wellington, April 26 Anzac Day was generally observed throughout the Dominion yesterday as a close holiday. Processions and religious memorial services were held at most places The Defence Department has received the following cable message from General Hunter Weston from Chanak, Gallipoli : “ Please have the following published so as to reach as many of our comrades in New Zealand as possible: To the survivors of those who fought at the Dardanelles on this. the sixth anniversary of the original landing, and in the name of the sailors, sol hers and airmen of the Home Country who fought by vour side 1. the old’ Commander of the 29th ■Division, am participating in a commemoration service held at Anzac Cove. Am lying on the site of your glorious achievement a wreath of wild flowers gathered from the soil made forever sacred to us by bloodshed in the Empire’s cause. May we who have survived do our best to spiead the spirit of cheerfulness and self-sacrifice of devotion to duty and comradeship which they so gloriously exemplified 2nd so gelp to attain the ideals lor which \ve fought.'’ Auckland, April 20

His Excellency the GovernorGeneral sent the following reply to the message from His the Kimr to the people of New Zealand'; “On the occasion of Day, on behalf ot the Government and people <4 New Zealand. I beg to express to Your Majesty grateful appreciation ot

■u-T» «, your sympathy and to renew their assurance that the loyally which the New Zealand soldiers proved on the first Anzac Day remains undiminished throughout the Dominion of New Zealand.” SERVICES IN AUSTRALIA Sydney, April 25 Anzac Day was celebrated hy a special service in the Town Hall. Rec April 26, 9.20 a.in Melbourne. April 26 In connection with the Anzac celebrations Mr Hughes (Federal Premier) unveiled a fine bronz statue erected in front of Parliament House.

SOUTH AFRICAN TRIBUTE

Rec April 26, 940 a.m Capetown, April 25 Mait3 people visited the cemetery and placed wreaths on the graves of the Australian and New Zealand soldiers, uho died here, in memory ot Anzac Day. Sir D. Haig, in dedicating a memorial at Port Elizabeth to dm South African artillery corps, said the British Empire was a real League of Nations and by comin <:r more closely together could hop?' to prevent wars. FUNCTIONS IN OI D COUNTRY Rec April 26, morning ‘ London, Aoril 25 Anzac services were held on Sunday at Plymouth Hoe and at Walton. A banner, bearing the names of the fallen, was carried at die head of tne procession, which deposited flowers on the Anzac s graves. Similar services and pilgrimag-s to graves Were arranged by o'her places for today.

Rec April 26, 9,45 a.m London, April 25 Mr Winston Churchill was the chief guest at the Australian and New Zealand Clubs’ rooms. Sir James Mills presided, and the assembly included Sir James Allen (Agent General for New Zealand), and Generals Godlev and lan Hamilton.