A Wonderful Trip

Manawatu Times, Volume 63, Issue 106, 7 May 1938, Page 8

A Wonderful Trip

MR. A. W. COOK’S IMPRESSIONS UNPARALLELED HOSPITALITY OF AUSSIE DIGGERS Mr, A. W. Cook, of Woodville, one of the New Zealand contingent recently returned from Australia and the Anzac celebrations, described the dawn service on Anzac morning as the most impressive scene of his life. “Fifty-two thousand people were at the cenotaph,’’ said Mr. Cook, “standing in reverent silence there in the cool stillness of early morning that the dropping of a pin would have been startling. A slight mist lay over the scene, poignantly reminding returned men of other mists on Flanders fields. Many of the women present,” continued Mr. Cook, ‘ ‘ mothers aud daughters of the fallen, had kept watch there since before midnight. The marching on Anzac Day was very strenuous.” Mr. Cook spoke highly of the generous hospitality of the Australian Diggers, who thronged the wharf with their cars when the boat arrived and conveyed their guests ou trips of interest inland, especially on the {Sunday, when many took the opportunity to attend country memorial services. All arrangements were good, said Mr. Cook, who described the {Sydney city police as one of the finest bodies of men in the world both for their control of the crowds and traffic and for their passing of minor breaches of tho law, which let men taste once more a wartime camaraderie. One incident that he witnessed, Mr. Cook said, affected him deeply. It was the friendly greeting of four Aussies to four of the New Zealanders. The Australians all. seemed to have come down in the world—mere shadows of the men who had earned the crimson ribbon of the Victoria Cross, which they were wearing. * ‘ Many old friendships must have been renewed,” added the speaker, and he described the finding in his cabin of a visiting card of a Sydney business man upon which was quoted a number, which was Mr. Cook’s, and the request, “If you happen to be the man known as ‘ Tiny, ’ please ring me. ’ ’ That was not Mr. Cook’s nickname, but he was able to hazard a guess as to the identity of the Woodville man who used to answer to it.