‘Affront9 Removed

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31663, 26 April 1968, Page 1

‘Affront 9 Removed

Policemen asked the youths to remove the wreath, but they refused, and a constable took the wreath to the Central Police Station. Within 30 minutes the wreath was back on the memorial, but without a card. The photograph shows it being replaced. Senior-Sergeant E. S. Tuck . said that the police could not see anything wrong with the wreath, although the words might be offensive to some. Mr J. Green, president of the :

Christchurch Returned Services’ Association, said that Anzac Day had a special significance for New Zealand and returned servicemen. It was an affront to all who cherished Anzac Day to have that day used for anything other than the remembering of New Zealanders who had lost their lives in world wars. “It is a pity that those concerned could not have more respect for the thousands of New Zealand war dead instead of using the day for an

underhand method of furthering their anti-Viet-nam propaganda,” Mr Green said. Mr K. Duffield, president of the Christchurch Citizens’ Vietnam Action Committee, said that his organisation had not been responsible for the placing of the wreath, but it supported the action. About 50 white crosses were put round the statue of Queen Victoria in Victoria Square yesterday morning. This was thought to be a student prank.