RETURNED SOLDIERS

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3063, 26 April 1917, Page 7

RETURNED SOLDIERS

GATHERING OF VETERANS ' (SOME ECHOES OF GALLIPOLI

r- The'members of the Wellington B-e- 6 turned Soldiers' Association celebrat- ■} ed Ariijac Day at a social gathering in ■ the Concert ' Chamber last evening. Borne three hundred men wore present,- 1 'nearly all. of them in uniform. Tho j presidentof tho association (Mr. J. D. .' : Harper) presided, end tho guests, .'of- •' i.the returned soldiers included the Act- ■< jrig-Primo'Minister N (Sir James Allen), < the Attorney-General (Hon. A. 'L. Herdmanj.'Captain Hall-Thouison, the I Mayor of."Wellington (Mr. , J..T. Luke), < and Colonel ; R.W. Tait (Adjutant-Gen- /j eral). '. \ .-. '■.'-'■ '-V ■'■ '.-'•' ■•■ - -, -,' , - ; ■ The toast "Anzac" -was- pr.oposed_ by ■ «ir James Allen. ---The Minister said it 1 : -was■ a 'toast that- any man epiud bo ) Srerr proud.-to propose. He.was sure . -that the-proposer, would...notJiaye tho .! - -entiro sympathy- of a, band of rdtvxaf ' 'soldiers unless he .associated! with;. the and New- Zealand Army Corps the '-29th Division, the na.val imen* and the Indian*.troops, who .sew,. :,ed so well at Cape Holies. (Applause.) -Many of ; the -men present-knew.soine-■■thing of .the work of the J2?th Division »f the work of the Now Zealanders and ■'ifche Australians it-was scarcely..neces- ■■' -sarv to saymuch'before a'lsew. Zeailand audiences "I am sure.that every ■one of you will havo read .wrth; regret (that the-Austral an : . divisions, Rafter ."their splendid deeds in. the fieH, have , ihad to be. withdrawn owing to lack of recruits," saidthe; Minister .Je *U ■regret that-reinforcements ;for the troops arc jiot ■coming ior»aid- at the- rate they shouM.: -I «c----'nress-to • the Australian.'soldiers .the. ■S%ofevery : .NewMarider,and ' acknowledge that they- have won for °heir country a, name as grcat-os New Sound to. be grateful to the^men ,:&6 had enduredand aclueved ..Every :,N ew Zealander.regretted .keenly'the loss 'of themen who had not returned, awl return. -f* ***f^ •ithafthe time was noVfar distant w^en /the sacrifice men had made . would be vindicated.. He would not \ '6av avenged, because the soldier did not talk of vengeance. . The,soldier plajed ■ the'ganie, and sought to win the garne. The Anzacshad;played the game t« the -ifull, and the record' that; they_ had inscribed, in'the history their nation endure for Wur.es'io come IW'had done their duty .and their '" Country was very proud; of ttienu - ■ •■• ■I' Captain" Hall-Thomson replied to the - ■ W Hβ said that it had been -the teen regret of every-officer and inan . obeard the,ship.-. he ' ttey-had -mot been able to he; presort at the, landing-orr Gallipoli. _ They lad Boibeen.very far away. , In fact ■ 'they Had been in contact the New iZealand-troops.in the Suez Canal mm ■to-the landing, and they .had heard or She deeds that 'had redounded so -great. «,. to the creditor the New 'Zealand; There 'was -no doubt that %e conditions in Gallipoli had, been ex- ' faemely difficult. .The . organisation }iad been hurried, and the troops: bad ibeen required- to/Jand ■- under adverse ; -tonditions and remaan there iinaer 'adverse conditions.. Hβ had no_doubt -that in the-end the soldiers^would-have *een the job throughout superior atf'thorities had thought evacuation desirftfile. The landing remained a glorious achievement ;of the New' Zealand, Australian and British regiments. Captain Hall-Thomson added that the -Navy. . 'sometimes envied the Army, ..The-sol-, 'xliers at least had the privilege of heme Se touoh with their enemy. They.could Strike at Eomethijig,.while the,, navy, spent very much of. its time on missions Yhat might he.important but certainly ttere.not exoiting. ■■ . .' ' \ ' . • •f Colonel J. Hughes, D.5.0., also replied to the toast. "■.■••Hβ made a.breejy Epeech-containing .many-references ..to prominent figures in the; Anzac Divt-, tion, and hearty :eheers greetqd such names as Colonel Malone) ,Colonel_Bauthop, Chaplain-Major Grant, and Chap-lain-Major Luxford; "Wβ are very grateful to • yoiusfqr^p.w : »''-.herej to-. , nightfreeh fep^"' ! O'efforts ' to' tho. South Island; 5 ", said ColoiieNiiuglies to Sir James Allen. ?!Some of tho finest ' wen I had in-rny b'aWalion on,Gallipoli •were West Coast miners.. Of course, I ' .thought•niy'battalion-t'he .best: iii the 'Division'. ■. . I;liadajattling...battalion, .and if I Had to:pick out one company .1 think it would ho the 13th IVelling'ton -and , West v - Coast. "Wo thank you for being here tornight, a"nd'wo hope, that we will all remain worthy of being ■'Anzacs and returned .soldiers."

Colonel Esson said .t-liat two."years ago that night he and Colonel Hughes Sad been' in conference aboard a traiisportj'and they bad to give-.a distressing order for the re-oinbarkatton. of the .New Zealand- troops.- Boats were' .sent to the shore for the purpose of 'receiving the men, but fortunately (events took quite another turn, and the tooats were used for another purpose.. Hβ. thanked the. soldiers in New, Zea-. land for all -they had dono, under most difficult conditions) for the men.at.the front. Tho New Zealand Reinforcements had never i failed, to arrfyo promptly-amVat full strength,'and they : had been of tie highest quality. Colonel Esson made a plea for sympathetic con-, siderafcionfdr the returned soldier- ; ■'■ Colonel Hughes, by special request, Bang "On the. Ball." Hβ prefaced the .familiar song with a statement that 'he attributed to the love of games a great deal of the credit-tlint New Zeu3a"nd spldiers had won at the front. The Hon. A. ■L. Herdrnan "Our Allies." Hβ said that if bo had been privileged to choose the period in which he- would lives,,- he thought, ho would have chosen the -twentieth -century and the period of the Groat War. It was a groat thing "to have'played. Rome part, oven as a Minister of tho Grown ill a. distant Dominion of tho iEmpire,.in.the.greatest war of history. He referred appreciatively to Britain's .and Tiarticiilarly to ITrance. He did not - believe that the- close., of the ■present war would banish war Tram tho world,- because the . nature of man seemed' to demand struggle and strife. Bub he did hope that the nest war,' whenever if, came, would be- fought without the honors that had charac-

'terised the present- -war. In that connection lie was strongly of opinion that 'the men responsible for this barbarities .perpetrated-by. the Gorman .arniios Bhoiild be arraigned..hefnrn , a'competent court, and if ■ fonncl • guilty snritenced to execution in some part of tlie terriftdrviiey liadoutraped. • • ;...■• ' Sapper ~Pox replied.- He - .-mentioned ihat he ivas of Slavonic, birth,-and-was proud of the fact. He agreed with Mr. Herdman that the men responsible for the barbarities of' the -Dresent war sliould be, punished..' But ihe'far.fc had t<i he Tecognisetl that the war had its origin in- conditions and influences' ihat bad Seen' working for hundreds of years. On tlie one hand there was the German conception of might' as right. On the other hand there was trie British idea, that jus.tice was right. Those two conceptions had been put to the issue'of--battle, and'the British race and its Allies were jrning to gain the victory. No man could escape his • Bharo of responsibility in,. connection with the struggle, and bo ' would' say that 'the man wlio was not-.-intererted in seouring victory for his had no right to I've in that country. Hβ thanked the 'Acting-Pnz'o Minister for

having averted an industrial trouble that might have encouraged the enemy and hampered British arms. ' Mr. A. S. Bias proposed "The Returned Soldiers' Association." Hβ said .that there wae no doubfc at all about the value of the work that was ; being done by the'returned soldiers' organisations. Some people had hecn'inclined to think early in the war that there was no need for the associations. But experience had shmyn that tho returned soldier, after his discharge; needed the sort of assistance that the associations would giViO. "' ■. . ■ .The chairman, as president of .the Wellington Returned Soldiers' Association,, replied.' ' He said that the constitution of Jho association provided that the body was non-political and .non-sectarian. That point should bo ■emphasised. Tho association had. no connection at all with politics. It had beeii suggested that a Minister should be appointed to tako charge of returned; soldiers' affairs, but' no reflection upon present Ministers had been, intended. The repatriation of 60,000 or 90,000 New Zealaud soldiers was going to .bo an enormous task, and would provide 'plenty, of work for a Minister. The chairinanadded'tliat lie Loped tho Government -wonlet lose no time in purchasing Sapper Moore-Jones's- sketches of Anzac. ■ ..'" , . Mr.- .Seymour, goneral secretary of tbo New-Zealand Returned Soldiers Association, also replied. He referred briefly to the work of tho association. The. first', plank in its platform, > he said; .was the winning of the war. But wheii that duty had' been completed,' the task- of restoring an army of returned'soldiers to civilian life would remain. ' The time of reconstruction after the war would present great I difficulties '' and, great opportunities. Never- again would New Zeai land have such an opportunity to solve some some of its social and industrial problems and settle a big section of its able-bodied manhood' on the land. Tne public men of the Dominion would have much to do, and the returned soldiers ought to help them. They could do that through, the Keturned Soldiers' Associations. ' Plane ■and programmes would not be improvised after the close of- tho; war. -They must, be prepared now. One of thelegsons of history was that after a great wife enthusiasm and patriotism evaporated very quickly. The soldiers could not count upon a continuance of the present war eentiment after the : conclusion of peace, and for that reason they ■must'make their laws known now and lay down clearly and firmly the, lines of their work and the claims that they had to make for. the men who- had fought and the men who were still fighting. "■'■■." Mr. A. Gray, K.C., proposed . the 'toast; "The New Zealand Forces and Boys at the Front." Hβ paid a brief tribute to the men who had won laurels for New Zealand on the battlefields of. Gallipoli and France. ; ■ , •■Colonel E. W. Tait, Adjutant-Gen-eral, replied. He said that the. job of the New Zealand. Staff was to eeb that the men: at the front did not lack reinforcements.' The Staff intended to. 'carry the job through. (Applause.) Sir James Allen proposed the health of the chairman, which was honoured vigorously.."'■'" ■-..••. The gathering closed with the National Anthem. ■