JOY AND GRATITUDE

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXV, Issue 135, 9 May 1945, Page 5

JOY AND GRATITUDE

PALMERSTON NORTH CEREMONY

CHURCHES FILLED; BIG PARADE

Palinerslon Nforth Was favoured with beautifully fine weather after a frosty night for its A r E-Day celebrations today and a marked feature of the observance was the attendances at the services of thanksgiving in the churches, several of which were packed. Later the people gave vent to their feelings of joy at the big victory procession which paraded rountTthe Square before the official ceremony.

! The city was very quiet in the mornling and" at 9 o'clock, when church J bells were rung, whistles blown and ; sirens sounded the Square was almost 'deserted. There was an entire Absence lof merrymaking, and the few people who were about proceeded on their way sis if the occasion had little significance. From about 9.45 a.m. onwards, however, there was a steady stream of people into the. churches—to give thanks to ' Him from Whom victory and all other blessings flow; thanks that tho long struggle in Europe is over, and that so many of their sons and daughters, are safe, allied to prayers of hope foi* the future. At the same time reverence was paid to the memory of the fallen. The fervour with which the praj'ers were recited left no doubt as to the sincerity of all. A large number of servicemen are in the city on leave, and the khaki and blue uniforms were seen in the churches in large numbers. Throughout all the early part of the observance there prevailed that deep note of obligation, and many doubtless recal'ed as did the vicar of All Saints' (Rev. H. W. Monaghan) the dark days when the British Empire seemed 'to have little but faith to uphold it. Faith prevailed and that faith was. again manifest today in the thanksgiving. VICTORY PROCESSION.

to contribute to the welfare of our fel-low-men. By so doing we can render our truest and best service to society and to the nation, and in a small way show our appreciation to the men who have suffered and died for us. "May I draw your attention to one or two'outstanding events in the war: (. 1) The evacuation at Dunkirk; th,a sea in the Strait of Dover calm for days, something that has not happened before or since. (2) The attack of Germany on Russia and the Japanese on Pearl Harbour. Cannot we sense in these events the unseen hand of the Almighty that the world is being guided through all the chaos and destruction to something higher, something nobler, something better, a new world order ? That is the destiny of the democratic countries: we must live up to it if civilisation is to be saved.

"So ?et us to the task, first to de- ' feat Japan, then to establish a new world order, where personal advantage and selfish gain are banished. Then-4U. Christian Democracy will come into its own. if this be accomplished, the sacrifices of the past five and a half years and the sacrifices still to be made will ■ not be in vain," Mr Mansford concluded.

"This is a day we have been looking .oiwarc: to for hvc and 'a half years and a day which we thought., was an utter impossibility to expert-"" once," said Air J. Hodgens, M.P. "Now we should give thanks to Almighty God for deliverance." All the nations had made a stupendous sacrifice and it behoved all to live up |to the promises made, and also ;to make good the sacrifices. The men of the Dominion had been asked to make a sacrifice, and they had done this. There would be sorrow in the hearts of some. The greatest sacrifice the people left behind could make was to see that all the promises were fulfilled. In the future there was much ' to be done. He suggested that, all should adopt the golden rule of "Do unto others as you would they should do until you." If this rule were ■ adopted by individuals nations would it also—there would be no Hitlers and peace on earth would be preserved. "We must have the same determination to win the war against Japan." Mr Hodgens concluded. Mr W. R. Hopcroft, chairman of the Kairanga County Council, (said he knew there was nothing but a. feeling of thankfulness that we were celebrating this , major step on the way to complete victory. All remembered the dark days of Dunkirk and. the threat of invasion of our own land when we heard the words of that grand old man in England, "Wewill never surrender." Wc must real-* ise also what today meant to the people of Great Britain. Surely the hearts of Uiose people would be upliftedr in; songs of joy and thanksgiving. Evenwhen war was over we would have, to provide foodstuffs for the people-, of Europe, and he was sure New Zea--land would play its part nobly in this ■ respect. ,- • THE MAORI RACE "On this day the Maori people join with you in celebrating this victory," said Hon. W. Motfatt, M.L.C., who represented the Maori race. "This day brings back memories of the day when the forces oT Germany were unleashed upon an unprepared world. Our men were armed and went overseas and fought with determination arid bravery. We must not let those who went overseas think that their efforts were in vain; we should thank! them for making this day possible and for saving us from the horrors of war," continued Mr Moffatt. He paid a tribute to the Maori Battalion, stating that it had shown great courage on the battlefields. All were proud of the efforts of all the l>!ew Zealand servicemen and women. Everyone should offer thanks to Almighty God for deliverance on this day, he added. Mr B. J. Jacobs. Dominion president of the R.S.A., said the men of the present war had been told they had a standard of gallantry to maintain; they hi..! not onlymaintained it but added to it. They had been told they had a tradition to maintain and they had surpassed it. On Palmerston North's war memorial of the 191448 conflict was the inscription, "On Armistice Day their spirits lived and cheered for the victory that has been worth the sacrifice." "What a hollow mockery if you and_ I don't do our duty," said Mr Jacobs. The. speaker then gave his message which was published in the "Alanawaru Standard" ■ luiit evening. "'Cease Fire!' What joy that order has brought to the people of Western Europe and what joy it. will bring to the hearts of many others," said Mr G. M. Rennie. the representative of the Palmerston North biiinch of the R.S.A. New Zealand had taken lrer place as one of the nations of the world on the battlefield and all were proud of the actions of her men and women In the post-war period he, charged the returned men and women to remain together as they did during the war and work to make New Zealand God's own

Long before the victory procession was due to begin at 11 a.m. hundreds of gaily decorated vehicles were densely parked in the Square and adjacent streets, and thousands of people, many of whom wore patriotic emblems and carried miniature flags,-lined the route. Every vantage point on buildings was occu-

pied by spectators. The procession was a fine spectacle aiid one well worthy of the occasion, it was largely attended and took just on a quarter of an hour to pass a given point, providing one of the best sights ever witnessed in the city. Headed by a truck drawing a 144 mm. gun, followed by three fire engines, the procession proceeded around the Square to the accompaniment of cheers and hand-clapping for each unit and then formed up in front of the hand rotunda for the official speeches. Spaced at intervals throughout the procession were the Palmerston North Garrison, City Silver, Highland Pipe and Salvation Army Bands. Units represented tile South African War Veterans, returned servicemen of this war and the last one, former home servicemen, Home Guard. Air Training Corps, Legion of Frontiersmen (who also assisted with the control oi the traffic at the rotunda), secondary and Intermediate School pupils, Manawatu Battalion of the Boys' Brigade, Boy Scouts, W.W.S.A., Women's Land Army. Bed Cross, Voluntary Aid Division, St. John Ambulance. Life Brigades, and a popular and loudly cheered a party of Yugoslavs with their national flag. The procession was excellently controlled and in this -re;/ot great credit is due to Captain K. G. Chamberlain, Sergt.Major H. G. Leng-Ward, Lieut.-Colonel J. H. Mewett, Inspector J. Shearer and the head teachers of the various schools.

Capt Chamberlain broadcast a special message of thanks to all those who had taken part and to the bands for their ( eat assistance in making the proceedings such -an outstanding success.

At the head of the Garrison Band was Captain S. Wilson, who prior to going on service in the Pacific and the Middle East, where he was wounded, was drum-major of the band. SHADOWS RECEDE. The Mayor (Mr Mansford), who presided at the civic ceremony in the Square, said that while the celebra- ! tions were being held to mark the great Allied victory in Europe, this did not mean that they were meeting in any boastful or jingoistic spirit, but one of thankfulness and joy that the awful waste of life and destruction of property had ceased there. "For fh t and a half years we have longed for this day," he added. After recalling the critical days in the early stages of the war, Mr Mansford said that, fortunately for . Great Britain and the nation they found in Mr Churchill a leader with those qualities of leadership which gave strength, courage and confidence and breathed fresh life into the whole nation. Came the day when Great Britain was left alone to carry on the fight for liberty and .freedom. "The spirit in which the people of Britain faced those odds is shown in that memorable speech of Mr Churchill's, when he said: 'Wo will fight on the seas, we'will fight in the air, we will fight on the beaches, in the streets and in the hills; we will never give in.' That year, when Britain stood alone, will prove to be her proudest title to fame in all her history," Mr Mansford said. "As Greece gave to the world culture and art, Home law and discipline, Great Britain gives the greatest gift of all—freedom. She was like the fxme Sentinel at the portal of the Temple of Liberty. When you consider how her people, men and women, young and old, rich and poor, stood shoulder to shoulder to withstand the Nazi onslaught, 'and we know what they did go through, I think we can be excused for feeling a thrill of pride that we are members of that nation." After proceeding to recount the turn in the tide of war after years of being on the defensive, Mr Mansford asked: "Looking back now, do we realise now near the German challenge for world domination came to success—what this would have meant to you and to me aiid to those boys and girls; our freedom gone, our liberty gone, living in constant fear of the Gestapo and the horrors of the concentration camp? From this we have been saved by the courage and devotion of the young men of this and the Allied Nations, a sacrifice we should never forget. We must surely, if we are sincere, be T>repared

country. Colonel J. H. Whyto said all of the men who had gone wav were heroes. He had taken 30,000 of "them away and Lfjd brought many back—unfortunately all had not returned. The war was not finished. The organisations in New Zealand who had worked so hard to look after the men overseas still had a job to do, he said, and the time was not yet ripe for the people to give up the homo front work. He was sure they would not relax. They could not expect to have the men back again too soon on account of shipping difficulties, but they would be here as soon as possible. He hoped citizens would bo sympathetic with the men at first because" they had been under a long strain. They would, however, soon settle down and become the fine citizens they were before they went away.

Rev. H. W. Monagnan said that all throughout the dark days of the war the Churches had stated that victory would be ours and the forces of evil would not predominate. "Today, we see the forces of Germany defeated and all the bestialities of the Nazis put down." He said that, those men who had given their lives would wish that those left behind should celebrate this peace with rejoicing, not with feelings of sadness. In-conclusion. Mr Monaghan said that we • should dedicate ourselves, to what the men had fought and died for.

The Doxology was sung, the accompanivent being played by the City Band. Mr Monaghan pronounced the Benediction and the ceremony concluded with the Salvation Army Band playing the "Hallelujah Chorus." .