ANZACS.

Evening Star, Issue 22720, 6 August 1937, Page 8

ANZACS.

On the other side of the Tasman a movement has been initiated, tho aim of which is to organise a special pilgrimage to the war graves and battlefields in the East and West. New Zealand is asked to join in this venture. Returned soldiers, relatives of the fallen, and others are invited to take part. The first week of the August of twenty-three years ago is a vivid memory to the older generation. A long period of peace so far as major wars were concerned was abruptly ended when Germany declared war on Russia, and the great German military machine, which had been constructed with such assiduous care, was put into action. Other nations were drawn into tho conflict, and all the resources of the British Empire were called on to defend the citadel of freedom. The Allied victory was achieved at bitter cost to the flower of the world’s manhood. Fighting on ill-fated Gallipoli and in France and Flanders and other fields of action took a terrible toll of lives, and many of tho men who survived returned to civic life permanently broken in health. There has been much disillusionment in the postwar years, for the concentrated efforts to put peace on a permanent foundation have resulted in many disappointments. In one respect at any rate, most of the Allied Governments have not failed in an pbvious duty. That is in paying due respect to the fallen. The Imperial War Graves Commission, under the direction of General Sir Fabian Ware, has done particularly good work, and the graves of the men who fell have been tended systematically and regularly with reverent care. The great cemeteries, with their long lines of graves, are an eloquent tribute to the men who gave their lives on the altar of duty and patriotism. Gigantic war memorials have been erected in conspicuous sites and on ground which was the scene of Homeric struggles. Among them is the Canadian war memorial at Arras, which is the most prominent of all, while tho red brick Ulster memorial at Thiopval is another landmark. Though so many years have passed since the hells rang out announcing the armistice, the villages and country districts on the west front still carry marks of the inferno into which they were plunged. Barn doors in faded paint hear initials and numbers, billeting reminders of the occupation of the British Army. At a spot near Amiens underground caves have the walls covered with thousands of signatures of the Empire’s soldiers pencilled on them, complete with regimental numbers and homo towns. There is still much for the visitor to see that will bring to him reality of the epic struggle that at times threatened disaster to the Allies, but which after four tragic years ended in decisive victory for them. Visits by organised bodies are being constantly made from Britain and America and other places, but this is the first time that such a venture has been initiated in the southern dominions. Pilgrimage is the appropriate word to use. The spirit of a pilgrim is the right approach to the battlefields. To tho soldiers who return to them it will awaken many memories of gallant comrades “gone west” in a great cause. To tho older relatives tho visit will be tinged with sorrow, while it should bring home to the young the sufferings and sacrifices of an unnumbered host. Above all, in these lands where freedom still reigns it should inspire the youth with a realisation of their precious heritage, and a determination to hold it unsullied in the face of political manifestations in other countries that have different aims.