WALTON MEMORIAL.

Northern Advocate, 27 January 1922, Page 6

WALTON MEMORIAL.

NEW ZEALAND TROOPS,

THE IMPRESSIVE UNVEILING

CEREMONY,

NEW ROAD CONTEMPLATED,

LONDON, Dec. 5. As many as 27,000 New Zealanders passed through the military hospitals of Mount Felix and Oatlands Park at Walton; 17 New Zealanders lie buried in tho cemetery there. The inhabitants of Walton are never likely to forget the years when the sick and wounded of the Dominion found something of a home away from home* in their little town beside the Thames. They have

commemorated the days of the New

Zealand "occupation" by erecting a bronze tablet on the wall at the main entrance to Mount Felix. But this is merely temporary. In due course a new road is to be constructed from Walton Bridge to Walton Village, which will be called "New Zoiland Avenue." The tablet will then be removed to a prominent place in the new road. On Sunday, November 20th, the unveiling of the tablet was carried out with fitting ceremony. Sir James Allen and his two daughters went down in the morning. Boy scouts, girl guides, the ■ fire brigade, and other local organisations were marshalled for the occasion. A platform had been built in the entrance way of Mount Felix, and the Union Jack covered the tablet in such a way that the movement of a lever on the platform released the flag and disclosed the tablet. By 3 o'clock the whole of the roadway was thronged with inhabitants, and the [ official party came down the drive of Mount Felix through the opened ranks of the local and Hersham Boy Scouts and Girl Guides, Oddfellows, Church Lads' Brigade, and the fire brigade. Sir .Tames and his party had already visited the cemetery, where the graves had been beautifully decorated by Mrs Montague Robertson and Mrs George Machin. The former is an Australian lady, and to her is due the decoration of New Zealand graves at Walton and at Welbridgc on Anzac Day.

The High Commissioner first spoke to the local ex-service men who were formed up in front of the platform, and to n little band of Now Zealand-

ers in uniform, who have found a new home in Walton. These are Sergeant T. J. Morgan and Privates H. C. Davis, A. J. Saunders, R. Perry, W. R. Woods, C. J. Mercer, R. G. Reid, R. W. Cooper, P. Howie and H. Francho. DOMINION'S WAR RECORD. They were met, said Sir Godfrey Lagden, in his address to the gathering, to unveil a tablet to*commemorate the fact that at Mount Felix and Oatlands Park many thousands of their comrades from the Dominion of New Zealand, wounded and disabled, and otherwise stricken down in the great war, were received and cared for. The little islands which comprised the Dominion had made a wonderful contribution to the war. Their record would be written on tablets of fame of future historians. They had sent more men in proportion to population than any other outlying portions of the Empire—loo,ooo of them crossed the seas. They served and suffered on nearly every front. Their casualties amounted to one in 10 of the male population. It would be truly a romantic story for the historian to unfold. The act of unveiling would Jpe performed by the High Commissioner for New Zealand, Sir James Allen, a distinguished statesman, who gave splendid service during the war, and who, like so many others, had to mourn a heavy loss. SIR JAMES ALLEN'S SPEECH. Sir James Allen first paid "a tribute to the ex-service men who were present and who fought alongside the New Zealanders throughout the Avar. He had every sympathy with them, and he hoped they would find happiness, employment, and satisfaction in the land of their birth.

"It is difficult to realise," continued Sir Jamos, "the memories which crowd into my mind to-day. During those years of war and before the war I was Minister for Defence in New Zealand. The name of Walton, from the inception of the hospital in 1915 till it closed down in 1919, was continually before, me, and I know the service you people of Walton rendered to my countrymen during the time they Avcre here for treatment. I take this opportunity of cordially thanking all of you for the services you rendered and of letting you know that those services are not forgotten in New Zealand. They are among ' the ties that bind us more closely than we were bound before the war.'' Sir James then unveiled the tablet. THE INSCRIPTION. *

The following is the inscription: — i"This tablet is erected by the inhabitants of Walton-on-Thames to commemorate their 27,000 fellow-subjects from the Dominion of New Zealand, who, wounded or disabled in the great war 1914-1918, were cared for in the military hospitals at Mount Felix and Oatlands Park. Seventeen of these men lie buried in Walton Cemetery. 'Their bodies are buried in peace, but their name liveth for evermore.' "

Mr Stanley Machin, president of the Chamber of Commerce, and a resident of Walton, in proposing a vote of thanks to Sir James Allen, said they could not forget that New Zealand was one of the first to set the example of universal service, and was the first of tho dominions to offer substantial h.elp in the maritime defence of the Empire.

Boy Scouts, Girl Guides, and all the other organisations, filed past the platform, Sir James Allen taking the salute. He then paid .a visit to the church to see the banner bearing the names of the dead, which was presented by the hospital to the people of Walton.