IDEAL UPHELD

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22621, 26 April 1948, Page 4

IDEAL UPHELD

STRENGTH OF FAITH “To land upon the shores of Gal lipoit. in the face of the thicklysown Turkish defences, was manifestly an Impossibility. Yet the men of the Anzac and British forces entrusted with that task 33 years ago today did the impossible,” said the Rev. J Kingsley Fairbairn, speaking at a considerable gathering at the Soldiers' Plot at the Taruheru cemetery yesterday afternoon. “When the greatest crisis of the Second World War forced our brave men of the British Expeditionary Force to fall back upon Dunkirk, their evacuation was manifestly impossible. Yet they were brought off, still undaunted and asking for the tools to fight again. "Men can do the impossible when they have the inspiration of a great faith —just as Peter, on the Sea of Gallilee, walked upon the water at the bidding of Christ. Down through history, men had faced conditions which seemed to hem them in and make their purposes unattainable. Yet time and again they had overcome those conditions and cir cumstances—not by their own strength but by the strength of faith. Belief in Their Cause When the Anzacs faced the forbidding cliffs of Gallipoli and the hazards of a campaign in which all the advantages lay with the enemy, they carried _to their task a belief in their cause which gave them strength beyond that of human hands. The gathering of the little ships for the Dunkirk evacuation, and the completion of their task of bringing off the survivors of the dreadful defeat, symbolised once again the power that lay in those imbued with faith. “This is a day of commemoration and dedication, yet it should not be all sorrowful, since the sacrifices we commemorate were given in the fullest faith; a faith such as would be acceptable to God as an earnest of man’s capacity to serve Him,” said Mr. Fairbairn. “That sacrifice and that faith offers to us all an example. If we do in our daily lives remember it, the men and women we mourn on Anzac Day will not have died in vain.” The Salvation Army band attended the gathering, which was sponsored as in earlier years by the Women’s National Reserve. Buglers from the band played the “Last Post” and “Reveille”, and floral tokens were laid upon the plot by members of the St. John Ambulance Corps.