WAR MEMORIAL.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVIII, Issue 18351, 8 March 1920, Page 7

WAR MEMORIAL.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —If the meeting on Monday should decide on a Memorial Hall, it should also settle in -whom it should be vested. It is desirable that it should be controlled by some recognised permanent authority, such, for instance, ns the Christchurch City Council or the Board of Governors of Canterbury College. Either of these bodies would, no doubt, be willing to undertake the trust and set up a Memorial Hall Committee and allow iilie Returaied Soldiers’ Association and the subscribers to the fund to appoint representatives to sit on such committee. Either of the bodies named would be recognised by the Government and by the military as lit custodians of war relios or trophies. Other things being equal, it might be host to select Canterbury College as being a provincial institution, but much must depend on the site selected. (For instance, if the hall were placed in the Domain, it might be advisable to vest the control in the Domains Board.) A good site, if it could be secured, would be the section facing on Itolleston Avenue, immediately north of the Museum; it ooukl be placed in charge of the Museum staff, and visitors to the Museum would naturally pass on to the Memorial Hall and vice versa, so that each would help the other. The hall might be subdivided and contain an inner sanctum to hold the names and records, and an outer vestibule furnished with raised ground plans of the Gallipoli Peninsula and selected sections of the Hindenburg lines, supplemented by maps and photographs to illustrate the story. The vestibule would also contain war relics and trophies. If the Museum site is not available, it might be possible to purchase a site adjoining tho Public Library, and work on similar lines with that institution, the essential point being that the custody of the hall shall be vested in a permanent body who will regard it aa a sacred trust after the present generation has passed awav.—l am, etc-, HENRY E. WIGtRAM. Christchurch, Maroh. 6. TO THE EDITOR.. Sir, —Considering that criticism should be based on common sense and common service, and its aim should be to direct us to truth and sincerity, I think it can ho safely left to the publio to judge for themselves the wisdom or otherwise of Mr Leadley’s letter. His contention that the Main Body did not pass over the Cashel Street bridge as the Main Body is correct ixf fact—but he knows, as we all knoW| that their training as Cadets and Terri* torials was all received at the Barracks, and that tho whole military life of Canterbury has always been centred there. * The Cashel Street bridge is practically the entrance tojhe Barracks, ana it was on and near that bridge that parents, wives and sweethearts waited (sometimes for hours) to say good-bye and God-speed to those that set forth on that first stage of the long journey that led to the battlefields ,pf France, Palestine, or wherever they were destined to be sent—many never to return. What the majority of people is a visible symbol to onshrino memory and express deep gratitude, not only to our returned men, but to the invisible army whoso presence to them hovers near the scene of the farewells, and the feeling and desire to beautify that site and create a “ Bridge of Remembrance ” is heartfelt and sincere, and is the true spirit! that should underlie the erection of a peace memorial. The bridge I have in mind should not cost a vast sum. A solid stone bridge, with an overhead stone arch—the symbol of victory—having the words “Tho Bridge of Remembrance” hemw in relief and embelSsmed: with the insignia of tho Canterbury Regiment. Surmounting the arch, a cross—the highest symbol of all. The arch -to bq approached by curving parapets of stone, inset with seats at intervals ; stone lanterns, lighted by electricity, at the ends of the parapets, or, if preferred, the figure of a soldier holding a .lamp. There could be a strong central light. This is merely an idea of what a bridge could bo, and I think it_ must be recognised that such a memorial on such an historio site could not fail to appeal to tho whole community, and should help us in all our charities to the wounded and maimed soldiers, the widows and parents. If by the daily use of such a bridge by our Cadets and citizens it can he termed a utilitarian structure i I can only quote the words of Ruskin “to help broaden our minds: “ Those things which appeal to our higher nature, those which create noble and pure emotions, are pre-eminently useful to ns.” —I am, etc.,

• LILIAN M. IRWIN. (Our correspondent appears to quite ignore the strong desire of tho Returned Soldiers’ Association for a Hall of Memories.—Ed. “ L-T» 5, A