EXCHANGE OF FLAGS

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2755, 26 April 1916, Page 7

EXCHANGE OF FLAGS

UNIQUE CELEBRATION AT

PETONE

& RAILWAYMEN'S FUNCTION

A. very interesting ceremony—tho unfurling of an. Australian flag presented py ' railwaymen -of Now South Wales to the railwaymen of New Zealand—took flace at Petone yesterday. This presentation is only half of an exchange transaction, for the New Zealand railwaymen pave returned the compliment by presenting 1 a New Zealand flag to tfio New south Wales railwaymen, and oiir flag ■ Jras to have been unfurled with proper ' \onours on Anzac Day at Hornsby, ■ New South Wales. There was a surprisingly Jarge "muster of townspeople at the leremony, and the local cadets were parWed.. The school children took' active part in the celebrations, and also the I'welfth Reinforcements Band from Ireutham.' Ministers of the Crown present .were the Right Hon. Massey, the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Ward, the Hon. ,W. H. Herries, and the Hon. Sir Francis Dillon Bell. An apology was made by the Mayor of Petone, who presided, on bohalf of the. Hon. A. M, Myerif. . . The Spirit, of the British, . Mr. Massey,. when qalled upon to un-. furl the Australian'flag, thankedthe promoters of the celebrations for the iiontiur dunti liim -m asking liim - to perform iliis very ! pleasaiit tass. He was delighted, he. said, to see such a . huge juchering of the' residents of .Petone present, because, he felt. sure that there p'o'uld be similar big assemblages in every tentre of the Dominion and .the Commonwealth that day. Ho ' thought the exchange of flags an excellent idea, a .very fitting manner of. irmrking Ansae Day, a day by far the most important in the military history of ' our ■ two young antions. Twelve months ago that day the - Bghtiiig men of Australia, and. the fighti ing men of New Zealand, our ■ soldiers, our boys, landed on what had come to be called Anzac Beach; Side 'by side the; mon from the two countries fought, met overwhelming odds, faced such a storm of shot and sheil as British soldiers had seldom - experienced. They were weighed in the balance, and not found wanting. They "made good." Also, they made history, for their deeds would be remembered by generations of < people yet unborn. The deeds of the Anzacs had prompted a British statesman to say; "I take off my hat in all veneration to that branch, of the British stock which has its home in Australasia." Our men had done credit to themselves and their fellow New Zealanders. Now Anzac Day ■was being celebrated all over the British , Empire. Even ' His. Majesty.. the King had/seen fit'to send a message appropriate' to the occasion, to his loyal subjects • in New Zealand, and no doubt in Australia, also!. It made him proud to think that upwards of 55,000 of our men had donned khaki; some were • in the field, some on the way there, : and some in camp. .Many more would yet go, • and all of . thesamo stamp, from tho . same good '" old stock. Of course our industries yrere suffering from lack of men, but , the oalr of the war must come first. The, need of the moment was for fighting men. Some of those left behind, many of.them men in - the sere and yellow leaf, who had looked forward to spending the evening of theii ; days in Testful comfort, were, now working as ha!M'as, ever they did in 1 theii lives. Women, too/-were working," and ■working hard, anxious to take: the place: . of : men in order - that < more lx spared for the fighting line.' This was th( spirit of all the people, throughout th< Empire, and this was the spirit thai would,see ns 'through, to the end, ani bring jis victory. ' The fighting spirit oi

the' British, vac? was aroused as it had never been aroused for many years, Tho events of April 23, 1015, and the months following had united Australia and New -Zealand in a way . that was never before thought possible. Their common ideal now and for all limo was the glory of the British Empire and the uplifting; of humanity, (Applause.). , ' Aa the Hag floated out on the breeze th© band played "Rule Britannia/ 1 and the children, fang and the grown-up* ! sang, all giving three cheors afterwards for tho flag and for the people of New South Railwayman's Roll of Honour. Sir Joseph Ward was nest called upon, ■ his task being to unfurl the New Zea- ; land flag. He was glad, ho said, that tlio i exchange of flags between railwaymen in 1 tho two countries had been made. The unfurling of the two flags together was I a fitting ceremony to commemorate the j acts, of bravery carried? through by the < 'men of. Now Soutll Wales and the men of < New Zealand- fighting together for tho Empire. The railwaymen, of New Zealand i had done their part in the war well. Of tho 12,000 men in the service, 4000 had " come into the Territorial . ariiiy, and 2000 had either gone on active service or : had enlisted. Of those on service, 37 had laid down their lives for their King and 1 country. So the railwaymen wero entitled to a spoial commemoration of Anzao Day. The railwaymen of Petone deserved to be congratulated upon the work they had done in connection with the war. There were but few men who did < not want to bear arms in this fight, and they were entitled to the misery which would attach to them in all their lives for. their failure to respond to the call made upon, the whole British Empire. We. .were not in sight of the end of the war yet, ' but -we wor4 resolved that there should be proper recognition of tie brave exploits of our men on April 25, 1915. He hoped that' •when we were assembled on April 25, 1917, we should;be able to say that we knew of no one who was shirking the grave responsibility devolving upon him. • Sir Joseph Ward then unfurled the New Zealand Flag, and the flag was properly honoured with music and cheers. - Other Speeches. Addresses were delivered also by Mr. T. A[. Wilford, member for the district, Mr. E. H. Hiley,' General Manager of Kailways, and Mr. T. Stone, jun.; representing the New South Wales railwaymen. Mr. Stone is the son of Guard Stone, of the New South Wales Railways, who promoted the exchange of flags idea, and had most to do with carrying .it out. 1 Cheers were given for Guard Stone on the call of Jlr. Wilford. To Mr. Herries, as Minister of Railways, was assigned the office of unfurling the Union Jack. In actual fact the Jack ■was. flying on the topmost peak of the' 1 flagpole throughout the ceremony, but it ■was-dipped for the purpose of the ceremoney, and mast-headed again. He expressed a'wish that the exchange of flags would stimulato the esprit de corps already existing among railwaymen in all countries, and lie said that in this war railwaymen had manfully borne their part—a most, important part—in the war, especially in'the carriage of troops and material. He hoped that, by and by .we might have not only an exchange of flags . with New- South Wales, but an exchange of railway officers for mutual benefit. . The Union ;Jack was saluted, and the . band played the National Anthem. Mr. R. Moivre, tho secretary of the Railwaymon's ' Patriotic Committee, thanked all' the visitors for their presence ana their help in -making the function a success.