SOLDIERS' MEMORIAL

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 87, 12 April 1923, Page 10

SOLDIERS' MEMORIAL

CEREMONY AT WERAROA The ceremony of opening the Weraroa Memorial Peace Gates, Levin, took place yesterday, the Prime Minister, the Et. Hon. W. F. Massey, turning the key in the presence of a good attendance of settlers and residents of Levin. The gates are at the entrance to the Weraroa Domain, and bear the inscription: "Peace memorial to those who fought in the Great War, 1914-1918." They were bought with the funds raised some time ago by the Weraroa Mardi Gras. Committee. Amongst those present' were- Sir John Luke, Messrs. J. Linklater and J. A. Nash, M.P.'s. In declaring the gates open, Mr. Massey said it was the duty of the.people to remember the sacrifices so many had made' for their country and the Empire during the Groat War. The men and women who had died had perished to save their fellows from a despotism and a tyranny which would have smashed the Empire. Those who had fallen were mourned, but with a sorrow mingled with pride. It was for those who remained to see that the Empire was preserved and made an even greater blessing io humanity than it was to-day. A. gold key, the gift of Mr. L. A. Bowen, of Waipukurau, was presented to the Prime Minister by Mrs. George Banks. After the gates had been opened, a number of trees planted in memory of deceased pioneers of the district were dedicated. ■ The pioneers whose lives are commemorated by these trees were: —James Prou&e, Richard Prouse, Te Aohau Nekitini (Neville Nicholson), Jolm R, M'Donald, J. M'lntyre, Peter Bartholomew, Thomas Walker, Marco, Fosella, F. J. Stuckey, James Malcolm, Hectov M'Donald, B: R. Gardener, and John Davies. Each name is inscribed on a tablet set at the foot of a tree. At lunch the Prime Minister delivered a brief speech in reply to the toast of "Parliament." He afterwards opened a sports meeting at the showground.