MEMORIAL HALL DEDICATED

Press, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 26886, 12 November 1952, Page 3

MEMORIAL HALL DEDICATED

CATHEDRAL GRAMMAR SCHOOL SERVICE

ADDRESS BY CANON PARR “During the 10 years I was headmaster of this school about 300 boys enrolled; of this number some would be too young to go to the last war, but of the rest 200 went overseas and 33 failed to return.” said Canon S. Parr at the dedication service of the memorial hall and sanctuary at the Cathedral Grammar School last evening. It was a formidable list for a school that was so small and so young, but these men had put their school on the map of valour, he said. “The men we now remember played a worthy part in winning the war, and those boys who enter this hall of memories will walk more proudly and work more purposefully because of them.” Making reference to the words of T. S. Eliot, “And the world must be cleaned in the winter, or we shall have only a sour spring, a parched summer, an empty harvest.” in an anthem which members of the Cathedral Choir sang after the unveiling of the panels, Canon Parr said it was true that the world must be cleaned. “But how can this be done?” he asked. “Many things have been tried—scraps of paper, force, and legislation, but they have not brought us peace; they have not cleansed the world of hate, greed, and cruelty.” It had been said that mankind had been afflicted by three scourges—pestilence, famine, and war, Canon Parr continued. Science had rid the world of pestilence, and trade and science had largely removed famine, but science, trade, and education singly or together, had not found a way to outlaw war, because they could not’ affect the cause of war. “The cause of war begins in the hearts of men,’’ he said. “The only way to clean the world of war is by following the example of Christ—by self-sacrifice, living and dying, if need be, in sympathy and love for those against whom we struggle.” “Lives Were Not Wasted” Many people had become cynical and wondered, after two world wars, if what they now had was worth the price paid in lives lost. But those lives were not wasted, he said. “It is possible that we are only half alive, but these men we now remember live. We think of them with their feet more firmly planted than we have ours. We think of their great service to the world and that they left the gates of learning for those of death in order that we, who are still free, may ever work for freedom. That is the bequest to us,” said Canon Parr. The dedication service was conducted by the Bishop of Christchurch (the Rt. Rev. A. K. Warren) and the memorial panels were unveiled by Canon Parr. The Dean of Christchurch (the Very Rev. Martin Sullivan) read the t lesson. Part of the Cathedral Choir led the singing of hymns and gave a short anthem.

Those invited to the service included next-of-kin of scholars and masters who lost their lives on war service, representatives of the Cathedral Chapter, the Cathedral Grammar School Board of Governors and official visitors.

The two memorial panels are placed on either side of the new sanctuary in the memorial hall. One carries the names cf nine old boys who died in the Boer War and in World War I, as well as the name of a former pupil who was killed while serving in . the Royal Air Force early in 1939. On the second panel are the names of 33 old boys and two masters of the school who gave their lives in World War 11.