RETURNED SOLDIERS

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXIV, Issue 12007, 27 April 1936, Page 3

RETURNED SOLDIERS

ANNUAL RE-UNION western bay of plenty

] U iGE GATHERING OF J> MEM BEILS

Tht . annual re-union of the WestR v of Plenty Returned Soldiers’ Station was held in The Rivoli on £ld.y evnni.tr. Mr J R. Bongard, Undent, was in the chair. Majorreneral Sir George . Richardson. -itE C. 8., C.M.G., was the guest K ;. b e’<.venlnß illld iis Ue c,lter(:tl tlle 1,1 in company witll the President. ~ present stood to'attention. A l,out two huijflrort returned men ,v e re present, im-luding many from Mount Maiinganni, Pongaka wu, Te p u ke Papam-m. Katikati. and other 'portions of, the Bay of Plenty. Apologies for absence were ret -eived front Messrs A. S. Voss, 0. T. Clinkard. ■lb P- Pit' - James ’ w - Parlane jml E. G. Fox. Messales conveying best wishes for, a ' uc(( .s4u! gathering were received from Matamata. Whakatane, and opo Returned Soldiers’ Associa--1,. t ) ie President had extended jSlia! welcome to the visitors the joyal Toast was honoured. *fiif toast of "Absent Comrades’’ by the Mayor, Lieut. L. fSvilkinsou, who paid a tribute to 1%,. wonderful work which the late '&t -Col. P. A. Wilson had accomSed for the iocai Returned Soldjjfg- Association. Pie also referred Jfthe death of Mr Roy Devon, a reined soldier belonging to the Maori tiff race.

f-ne assemblage stood in silence SljHe Mr W. J. Stevens sang “Reby Robert Louis Stevenson, words of tbe poem being the epi\aph on Stevenson’s tombstone at f> Samoab' The toast of the “Ladies and «vfoes," was proposed by Mr Cook, He Puke, who spoke in high terms Upraise of the noble work of the, the Great War and the sp&ul’ assistance which they renderefm Poppy Day. 11 rDf P. Lloyd l 'thanked Mr Cook [or references to ite work‘'of f the ladies. Thrfres'dent proposed tlie health of Major-General Sir George Richardson Ind ‘expressed the pleasure of all members that Sir George was aide to Send,that evening and also take partfin|the > Anzac services next day, TlnKvork that he had done and ms aoinlf' on, behalf of returned men was*rS*ognised. He mentioned the effective' efforts of the various Associations ■on behalf of returned men, to all to support the local Association in its laudable work. $' , Major-Cleiiefal Sir George Richardson, on vising to reply, was heartily applautfS.’, He said he was impressed and happy assemblage of men that evening. Hejwas pleased to note the entliusiiUtic - singing of the National AntheWl He hoped that the re-unlon fcaintained. There should be a bonk at those gatherings and every mai||who attended should sign it. He gave graphic account of the landing outlie Allied troops at Gallipoli, when ie ‘ battle raged at no less than eight points. The soldiers held on for %6ntha and in the end had to withdraw: They should not look upon Oalliltoli as a failure, but as part of the operations which formed a great pari in bringing about ultimate victory!* Now to-day, alter twenty-one years* fc they saw a Powerful nation attacking a weaker nation, and this showed that sue of Nations was impotent to, stop Wr. To-day war could he started within a few hours, and if the nations did not agree and* co-operate, civilisation would perish. He defended the solemn. observance of Anzac Day so that for one day in tbe year they could:.think of those men who had laid nown their lives ln the Great War. Ho thanked the Association for tjjeir invitation to be present at the reunion and 0 hoped nil would attend hjlie ‘Anzac service ne xt day in “the men who stopped the bullets Tor you and me.” Mr Morton, a! South African veteran, in proposing, the toast'of the Returned Soldiers’ v Association reV er red to Its efforts Oh behelf of returned mfn. Mr C. P. iCarthew, a Vice-Presi-e«t of the Western’ Bay of Plenty 6 urnetl made Bpreciative reference to the line ’or ot the ftPoppy Day. 0 ocal A.ssjjgjaiioii liad aaopted a °tion in favuitisr the’.fittlng obrvance of ThefSvere eased at seeing '■’so many South r can veterans , present that evens' He appealed to all ex-service-to join the Association, not for U they could get nut of it but for *bat they could do i\felp their fel-‘ow-meu. r.

6 108 ca H was answered by all Rav^L * ncdu^e d members of the avj ’ R°yal Air Force, British 0I ’ ces > Australian Forces, Pot- 3 ana Other f ’Dominion Ami*?’ - New Zealarul Mounted Rifles, fantr Infantry ’ Weston InI n , ■[’ Cantel 'bury Infantry; Otago *wV * J ' eW Zealand Rifletßrigade, M “ aaad -Artillery, Nev#Zealand Corps. New Zealand Wt r attal lon, Array Pay, Corps, ■fany, T r6nCh MortSrs ' Com " Zealand.. Zea ’ and Engineers. New » Corps jnif iCal C ° rpS ’ Arrny % ice Vetark. * ary p °l iee . South African France X Me " Who Served 1,1 Poll. M ‘ ea Who served on Gallia »d Ohi n Wh ° Serveci in Palestine, Coutempubles. the Mclntosh, Secretary of ed ;j£ r “ Ba ? Of Plenty Returnthe toast ((^ SSGC * a^on ' proposed and si)efi°ii Kindred Associations,” Alricaa v f mentioued the South Rati kn . p* erans Association, the th! «? rne(l 'Soldiers’ , Asson y° men ’ s Division of the ld!e and l * le Women’s instiworti°* er ■^ ssoc ‘ at ’ioris who klloifj ne * or the good of their \ , llr M. tv ... • ! kindred a„ ‘ , at t> In replying for Mficita y SOciat l°hs, said* the youtli d''eiri(; n eraus ' Association, was ,ar m fo r ( , eStablishme ' l t of a home e that the*home should

he in the Tauranga district and after it was no longer required for South African men it could be utilised as a home for men who had served in the last war.

Mr G. Henry, President of the Katikati Returned Soldiers’ Association, congratulated the Tauranga Association on the great increase in membership, and hoped that all returned men would join up. He extended an invitation to local returned men to attend the Katikati reunion on Thursday next. The health of “The Visitors” was proposed 0 by Mr George, of Te Puke.

Mr L. Hume, in proposing the toast of "The Entertainers.” thanked the artists for their excellent contributions to the evening’s entertainment.

During the evening songs were rendered by Messrs C. Edwards, W. J. Stevens, and Ramson, and balancing feats by Mr S. G. Stanley were very meritorious. Community singing was led by .Mr Harold Stevens, vyho ably presided at the piano,, the largest social gathering of returned men that has yet been held in Tauranga being brought to a close at 11.45 with the singing of Auld Lang Syne, and the National Anthem, followed by three hearty cheers for Major-General Sir George Richard-