Dedication Service In Fiji

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31339, 8 April 1967, Page 21

Dedication Service In Fiji

A memorial service was held at Queen Elizabeth Barracks, Suva, Fiji, last Sunday to dedicate a memorial clock tower to the memory of Fijian soldiers who lost their lives in the campaign against Communist terrorists in the Malayan emergency from 1948 to 1960.

Among the men whose

memory is honoured was a New Zealander, Sergeant George Nepia, son of the famous AH Black full-back. The service was conducted and a roll of honour unveiled by the Rev. S. Tuilovoni. At the conclusion of the service a parade of former members of the Ist Fijian Infantry Battalion marched past the saluting dais from which Colonel Ratu E. T. T. Cakobau, Colonel H. J. G. Low and

Lieutenant-Colonel Ratu Penaia Ganiiau, all former commanders of the Ist Fijian Infantry Battalion, reviewed the parade. Colonel Low, a New Zealander, flew to Fiji especially to attend the parade. A notable absentee from the reviewing party was Lieuten-ant-Colonel R. Tinker, of Christchurch, who had also commanded the battalion, but was unable to be present.

During the dedication ceremony an address was given by the Commander of the Fiji Military Forces, Colonel F. Rennie, of New Zealand. The photograph shows the Rev. S. Tuilovoni at the ’ beginning of the dedication service. On the dais, from left, are Lieu-tenant-Colonel Ganiiau, Colonel Low, Colonel Cakobau, and Colonel F. Rennie.