The Franklin Times PUBLISHED EVERY MONDAY, WEDNESDAY AND FRIDAY AFTERNOON. MONDAY, APRIL 27, 1942. THE SPIRIT OF ANZAC

Franklin Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 47, 27 April 1942, Page 2

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

MONDAY, APRIL 27, 1942. THE SPIRIT OF ANZAC

Office and Works: ROULSTON STREET, PUKEKC7IE. ’Phone No. 2. P.O. Box 14. “Nothing extenuate, nor set down aught in malice.”

PUKEKOIIE’S Anzac Day service was tlie most impressive held for a long time. Perhaps this was due to tlie presence of two hands, a large number of men and boys in khaki, tlie sounding of tlie Last Post and Reveille at the Memorial Gates by a squad of uniformed trumpeters, or was it due to the fact that the part the Dominion’s Expeditionary Force, its men of the Navy, Merchant Service and Air Force and its doctors and nursing divisions are playing in the second world war has re-awakened the public to a stern realisation of what the original Anzacs really fought for —the preservation of liberty, justice and freedom, or was it due to the proximity of Hie enemy to our shores? The large attendance of the public, many of whom could not obtain a seat in the Strand Theatre, demonstrated conclusively that time 27 years after —does not dim the memory or the heroism and the glory of Anzac, or can it allow' its inspiration to fade. On the shores of Gallipoli New Zealand came to manhood; the spirit that was kindled by Ihose gallant pioneers who had blazed Ihe trail in this far-away land hurst into ilame on those hallowed shores, and the lire still burns fiercely in the hearts of a citizenship which is proud of its heritage, jealous of its tradition, and determined to uphold its democracy. That w'hich glowed on the beaches of Gallipoli shall never he dimmed. The great torch of democracy is still carried high by our manhood today: on the desert sands of North Africa, in the mountain passes of Greece, on the rugged slopes of Crete, and now along the fertile valleys of Syria the same torch is held aloft by the sons of those who gave to Anzac its meaning and its inspiration. And so, on the home front, one day in every year is dedicated a day of remembrance, a day for inspiration, a day for sacred and solemn avowal of purpose and deteimination. This is no mere ceremonial | for parade or spectacle- it strikes deep to the very foundations of popular faith, of human desire, and of citizen purpose. The blood-red emblem of the Flanders poppy is symbolical of the blood-red stream which flows so freely through the citizen community. it expresses everything - memory of gallantry and sacrifice, knowledge of ideals and common put - poses which tire greater than life itself, inspiration to hold the torch aloft and never allow it to become dimmed. And, perhaps, in this year Anzac has a fuller meaning than ever before. War, with the unspeakable horrors of bloody conflict, has come nearer to the shores of this fair land, and serves as a spur to all united puipose. The spirit of Anzac is quickened, and in that spirit there is engendered the thought and the hope for the growth of a wider and truer democracy than has hitherto been known. This is seen in the ceremonial Anzac Day observances which break down all theoretic semblances of creed and class and find a people united in thought, in action, and desire. But the ideal of reconstruction is meaningless unless it is based upon unity. What, be it asked today, can we hope for and plan for within the progressive but empirical limits of the British tradition if not in the neat categories of a revolutionary ideology . Much that was a part of our world of yesterday will have to be re-built and built anew in our world of to-morrow. One of the planners, the late Lionel Hichens, claimed the future responsibility of citizenship to be “a moral one.” This is unquestionably true, for if the citizen has rights he must also have duties. “In the industrial world,” said Hichens, “our duty is clearly to regard our work as the service which we render to the rest of the. community, and it is obvious that we should give, not grudgingly, but in full measure.” Industry, as he visualised it, is a national service, not that it should be nationalised, but rather that there should be behind it all a moral rather than a material impulse. He could have just as truly sensed the political constitution in which the welfare of the State and not the privileges of Party ruled uppermost. In this New Year of Anzac shall we not pause to reflect on the shallowness of party in politics, in industry, in religion? Shall we not carry the torch higher still? Shall we not as a great united Democracy

cast aside those little tilings that have created disruption and disunity in the past. and. instead, allow to burn more fiercely than ever before the torch of unity which will for ever preserve all that Anzac means?

‘We Broke Not Faith With You’ “If ye break faith with us who died, we shall not sleep, Though poppies blow in Flanders Field.” 0 Brothers, sleep in Flanders Field: we broke not faith with you: The torch you flung, we caught it up, and kindled it anew. We kindled it at holy llames from docks and streets and spires That turned the skies your poppies’ red with sacrificial fires.

0 Brothers, look from Flanders Field and shade your dazzled eyes. See where the City of your lo'-e does battle for your prize. Watch England’s honour flame aloft—a splendour and a shield, Where young and old and weak and strong endure hut never yield

Then turn and sleep, 0 Brother. A sound dee].) sleep to you. You cannot dream so great a dream as this which has come true. When English man and maid and wife, and children on the sea Lift up the torch and pass it on !o deathless victory.

D. L. McBIJRNEY