WAR CEMETERIES

Evening Star, Issue 19444, 30 December 1926, Page 11

WAR CEMETERIES

FRANCE, BELGIUM, AND GALLIPOLI

During his trip abroad Mr J. Watson, formerly Mayor 6f Port Chalmers, who returned to New Zealand this week by the liner Rotorua, visited a number of war cemeteries in France, Belgium, and Gallipoli. Mr Watson was one of a party-, of nearly 300 who visited Gallipoli in an Italian liner, which had been chartered by the St. Barnabas’ Association, an organisation whose work consists solely of facilitating visits_ to the war cemeteries. The party joined the ship at Marseilles, and landed at Cape Helles, where a memorial service was held. During a stay of two days Mr Watson, together with the other visitors, was able to thoroughly inspect the cemeteries. All the graves, which are cared for by Turks, under the supervision of an officer of the British War Graves Commission, were neatly kept, although considerable difficulty was experienced in securing flowers to suit the soil, and climate. “Gallipoli was just as I had pictured it, with its beach and steep cliffs,” remarked Mr Watson to an Auckland ‘Star’ reporter. In France and Belgium the war graves were beautifully kept. At Tynacot, near Ypres, Mr Watson visited a cemetery containing over 12,000 graves including 9,000 which contained unknown Tieroes. The wooden crosses had been replaced by handsome headstones.

Mr Watson was particularly interested in the scenes about Verdun. In other parts of the country the land had been tilled, and there remained but few signs of battle; but at Verdun much of the war area had been left untouched, 'illustrating the havoc which had been wrought.