The Franklin Times PUBLISHED EVERY MONDAY, WEDNESDAY AND FRIDAY AFTERNOON. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26, 1939. THE SPIRIT OF ANZAC

Franklin Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 45, 26 April 1939, Page 4

The Franklin Times PUBLISHED EVERY MONDAY, WEDNESDAY AND FRIDAY AFTERNOON.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26, 1939. THE SPIRIT OF ANZAC

Office and Works: ROULSTON STREET, PUKEKOHE ’Phone No. 2. P.O. Box 14 “We nothing extenuate nor aught set down in malice.'’

THE undying heroism and idealism of Anzac was honoured yesterday under conditions without precedent during the 21 years of peace following the signing of the Armistice. Recurring crises, which have brought the Empire to the brink of another war, twice within six months, unparalleled peacetime armament expenditure by all nations, periodic naval and military mobilisations, continual breaking of international laws and treaties and the disruption of normal trading relations, have resulted in conditions of chaotic distrust and fear. Meanwhile, the doctrine of the inevitability of war is growing with tragic rapidity as the whole economic structure of many nations is being drastically changed in order to divert their energies to the piling up of armaments, to the regimentation of a growing proportion of their manpower and to the preparing of their civil populations for the horrors of aerial warfare.

It is in the midst of such tragic conditions as these, and with Europe an armed camp as the result of new war fears, that Australia and New Zealand yesterday commemorated the sacrifices made so bravely during the 1914-1918 campaign, first at Gallipoli and later •in France and Palestine.

Anzac Day of last year, it will be recollected, followed closely upon the German occupation of Austria. This year Anzac Day followed the tensest period of unashamed provocation and aggression that is challenging all peace safeguards and threatening again the international conflagration that the post-war world resolved so determinedly to prevent.

So Anzac Day, honoured with a deep feeling of national pride in the heroism of the war years, possesses a note of tragic frustration and a heartfelt sorrow that the sacrifices made so nobly have not brought lasting peace and have not lessened the challenge either to the democratic way of life or to the finer aspirations of civilisation. Yet the message of Anzac Day, dark as the clouds over Europe may be, is one that reaches beyond present frustration, fear and sorrow; it is a message of loyalty, self-sacrifice and devotion to duty that has helped to form the pattern of Australian and New Zealand nationhood. And when dangers press upon these two nations, when their strategic isolation from the Homeland is realised and when their security demands common action the'warmhearted,, comradely message of Anzac is heard loudly and insistently. The sacrifices of the war are not in vain so long as the spirit of Anzac continues to inspire Australia and New Zealand with a mutual loyalty and a mutual pride in achievement in the face of the grimmest and most discouraging diflicul-

Yeslerday, while the people were honouring the sacrifices made during 1911-1918, the speakers were calling attention to the dire necessity of preparing to defend this, our Dominion, from possible invasion. They made an appeal to all to come forward, especially young men, to be trained for the purpose of defending the country which is in danger of an attack from an Eastern power. They were, in other words, supporting the Prime Minister’s appeal for an army of ",0,000. Surely our country is worlh defending and surely if New Zealand could send an expeditionary force of 100,000 overseas during the Great War, we can muster 50,000 volunteers who are prepared lo defend the country from its own soil. Now is the

time, as never before, for the manhood of the Dominion to prove that the spirit of Anzac is not dead. Yes, the spirit of Anzac should ring true in the hearts of every New Zealander today as it did in the war which it was said was fought to end wars. It is the duty of every man, and woman too, to offer their services in the defence of the country we love so much. If an attempt is made to invade New Zealand there will be a job for every one of us to do, and like the Anzacs we will rise to the occasion, hut we must have an army of trained men. To put untrained men in the field is like lee ding lambs to slaughter. The fact of training for defence does not mean we are looking for trouble, or that we are going to cause trouble, but that it someone brings trouble to us we will be ready, like true Britishers, to strike back. We wholeheartedly support the appeal being made for men to volunteer for service. The objective should not be 50,000—the objective should be every able-bodied man in the Dominion between 16 and 60. There will be a job for everyone to do.