FALLEN FIREMEN.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 23 June 1923, Page 3

FALLEN FIREMEN.

ROLL OF HONOUR UNVEILED,

Last evening in a brief, but impressive ceremony, there .was unveiled, in the Levin Fire Station, a Roil of Honour to loose members of tbe Brigade who had. served in the iate war, two of whom made the supreme sacrifice. Besides the relatives and next-of-kin of those whom the roll of honour commemorates, there were present the .Mayor (Mr T. Hobson)-and the Mayoress, who performed the ceremony of the unveiling, the members of the Levin Fire Board, and the full membership of the Brigade in uniform. The Roll, which is a handsome oak shield hearing the names lettered in gold, is fixed in the social-room, in which those attending had gathered for the occasion. It contains the following names

W. A. Rose, killed in action R. C. Jones, died of wounds. C. Howe, wounded. F. Musgrove, wounded. D, Chidley, wounded. W. Easthope, wounded. J. H. Coombes, wounded. R. H. Johnson. W. Ransom, A. Walker. CL Allaway. J. Archibald.

At the commencement of the ceremony the members of the .Brigade, under Acting-Superintendent McTaggart, inarched into the room and standing at attention formed an impressive guard of honour, as it. were, to those whom it was desired to commemorate and honour. Mr F. G. Cray, chairman of the Le-

vin Fire Brigade, in addressing the gathering, explained that it was only - at last meeting of the Board that he had heard that there were 12 men from the Brigade who had gone to the war, two of whom had given their lives for their country, and he had immediately taken steps to have the fact commemorated in a fitting manner. He regretted immensely that he had not been informed of the fact before-, but nad -acted as soon as he had been made aware of the lads. Twelve men had gone from the Brigade, two of whom uad not coiue back. These men had nelonged to this volunteer orgomsai tun. and he did not need to tell those present of the splendid, spirit wmcn actuated those who risked their lives tor tne prevention ot lik-s ol life aim the saving ol properly m ihei-r iiiese men nad deveaoped tne volunteer spirit m this Brigade, and when lue call lilaid come nad volunteered lo figut ior King and country. ;T im my nal to-nigin,” sa-id the cnaiuiuai, “iO the spirit which actuated these men, and tne sense ot duty which inspired taeir going.” it was to cumluemoraie their spirit of seil-siacrihce mat they were gathered there aim was tor the same reason that the ium oi-Honour was being unveiled. He always felt like- shaking hands with any of these men who had gone to the ).i out -and risked health and hie m the service of their counry, and lie inought the Fire Board was only doing its duly in erecting the present monument. If there were any present who had lost loved ones, he would like them to know that he and, the people of New Zealand were proud of their fal•ieu heroes, and if there was pride beyond tne gras e, t-iifs mu would nave the consciousness of knowing just how mnch they had done for their country. Before bringing his remarks to a close lie wished to thank those present for their attendance. He was sure that tills night would remain in their memories as a tribute they paid to fellow townsmen who l)ad done well for their town. He fell honoured to be connected with the ceremony which was one more link [or him who always fel > strongly connected with the boys who bad gone to the front. Two of his own hoys had gone and both came back, .ailthough wounded. With respect to those people who had lost sous at the Front he could not saythat they would forget, but in time thev would come to recognise thait it was the will of God that it should, be so .alid would bear if for His sake. They might say that many of those who had gone were now' in their midst and these were, he contended worthy of all honour. They Wad gone when it might, and probably would, mean the sacrifice of their lives, sacrifice was love, and no greater love of co-untrv could be shown, than the willingness to offer life itself in its service. He called upon the Mayor to speak. Mr Hobson, on rising, said he first wished to express his thanks to the Fire Board for the invitation extended to 1 the Mayoress and himself to attend. He was proud to be associated with a movement to'commemorate those who had gone to the Front in defence ol their country and joined with Mr Cray in looking upon such men as heroes, in earlier life they had given their services at the risk of their lives to prevent the loss of life and property hud when the call came had as willingly fought for freedom. Every Britisher loved freedom and was willing to fight lor it. It was the fundamental characteristic of a Britisher that he should do so, but they were a peaceloving people and only when lorced in the.' cause of freedom and justice did they rise as had been done in the present case. Great nations, Greece, Rome, France, under Napoleon, had been founded on force but lacking justice were bound to fall. Germany had attempted to found a world-domin-ion on the same footing and it had also fallen before the sense of justice ami duty of such -men -as they were honouring this night. It had been said that good would come out of the war, but it was hard to find it at present, except that if had united France and England. In conclusion he would s tittle- that at all times, but more particularly on an occasion such as this, Ids heart went out to those who had lost relatives at the war. He spoke feelingly on this subject—the Mayoress ha,(l lost two brothers at the war. He again thanked the Board for the opportunity of paying his tribute to those who had served their country in peace and war.

Mr F. E. Parker, who spoke as a local member of the Fire Board, said they had gathered there to honour those hrigadesmen whose names appeared .on the Roll of Honour, particularly Brigadcsmen Rose and Jones who had made the supreme sacrifice. These were both men who had. been born and bred in Levin. They had gone to school in Levin and spent their early manhood here. That night lliey were there to mourn with those who mourned, hut also to honour them, in that they had given sons to the cause of freedom,. Those men who fell had done their work, and though in some cases their resting places were" known only to Almighty God. and, however hard it might he on those who were left behind, they had the comfort of knowing that Almighty God would ialways he with them. Mr J. C. Milnes said that as an old firemiata ho wished to endor.-(e >Mr Parker’s remarks. No better men and firemen had ever belonged to the brigade than these men, and he was proud to honour them. Mr A. Dempsey said he wished to add Ids personal tribute to those who had gone. There were not many families in New Zealand who had not lost someone, and they could all feel the greatest sympathy for those who had suffered in this way. It Wins a great tiring for a mlnn to leave his country to go to fight as these men had done, especially when, as was often, the case, they felt that they would never come hack. T(. gave him pleasure tonltr.hl 'als ai member of the Board, to add Ids tribute to what had already been said. Mr Cray expressed the wish that