WAR AMBULANCE WORK.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVIII, Issue 17776, 9 May 1921, Page 6

WAR AMBULANCE WORK.

MEMORIAL' AT ST. PAUL'S.

RIFLE BRIGADE'S TABLET.

IMPRESSIVE CEREMONY.

An impressive service •was held in St. Paul's Church yesterday afternoon, when Lady Jellicoe, in the absence through indisposition of the Governor-General, Lord Jellicoe, unveiled a brass tablet erected by the No. 3 Rifle Brigade Field Ambulance to the memory of the officers and men of the unit who fell in the war. The flag of the unit, the distinguishing design of which is a red cross on a white diamond, was also placed in the church, in a position imiriediately above the tablet. The memorial was dedicated by Dr. A. W. Averill, Anglican Bishop of Auckland, whom the Rev. Clement Houchen, M.C., attended as chaplain. The vicar, the Rev. C. A. B. Watson, conducted the service, the lesson being read by the Rev. W. E. Gillam. Archdeacon G. MacMurray was also present. Colonel H. R. Potter, officer commanding the northern military district; Colonel Tracy Inglis, assistant director of medical services, and other members of the staff attended; also, Colonel W. H. Parkes, director of medical services in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force; Colonel J. Hardie Neil, officer commanding No. 3 Field Ambulance; Colonel R. H. Walton, officer commanding the Mounted Field Ambulance; Colonel C. E. Maguire, No. 1 Stationary Hospital; Captain S. A. Bull, R.A.M.C.; and other medical officers.

The colours were presented for dedication by Captain E. M. Finlayson and Captain A. McGregor Grant, officers of the unit, and there was a guard of honour of 30 members of No. 1 Field Ambulance, under Captain A McKelvey, N.Z.E.F. The band of the 3rd, Auckland, Regiment was present, and played Chopin's " Funeral March," while immediately after the unveiling a bugler sounded the " Last Post." The names of 9 officers and 26 men are inscribed on the tablet, the first being that of Major A. A. Martin, of Palmerston North, whose widow was present.

Object Lesson of Service and Sacrifice.

The sermon was preached by Dr. Averill, who said the life and ministry of Christ constituted the high-water mark of chivalry in the world and gave to it for all time the supreme object lesson of unselfish and disinterested service and sacrifice as the highest ideal of life. Doubtless there had been outbursts of chivalry in all ages and sometimes in unexpected quarters, but we rightly, he thought, attributed to the Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem the renaissance of the spirit of chivalry and service in the 11th century, and the earlier crusades were closely allied to the spirit of disinterestedness and altruistic service which helped so much to sweeten and purify the life of the world. The modern counterparts of that ancient religious Order, namely, the St. John Ambulance and the Re'd Cross, were nobly manifesting the same diffused spirit of Christianity in the world, and had accomplished extraordinary feats of service during the past war. The work of the field ambulance in war reflected as perhaps nothing else could the outcome of the all-pervading spirit of Christ in the world which, in the last and present centuries, had found outlet and expression in the efforts to relieve sickness an 4 suffering and to minister to the wounded in the great struggle of life. This conscience- of the civilised world had found expression in the principles laid down at the .Hague Convention, which, if carried out, help to alleviate some of the greatest horrors and devilries of war.

Violation of Hague Convention Terms.

Because the terms of the Hague Convention had been violated in regard to the immunity of hospitals and the Red Cross generally from attack we should not run away with the idea that the terms of the Hague Convention were a dead letter and that all humane principles in war were in the future to be superseded by the ethics of the jungle. Par from it. One could not kill Christ and one could not kill His Spirit in the world. The spirit behind the Hague Convention and the League of Nations and all other means which contributed to the relief of human suffering, would live and grow stronger until, we hoped, they would destroy war itself. People talked about war ending war. " Never,'' said the bishop. "It is only the spirit cf Christ, manifested in action, that can ever end war."

One had only to read a book like " A Surgeon in Khaki," by that devoted sol-dier-doctor, A. A. Martin, in order to realise, as far as one could realise, the enormous activities and priceless service of the field ambulance, both to our own wounded and those of the enemy, and if anything beyond common humanity was needed to safeguard as far as possible the unselfish work of doctors, orderlies, stretcher-bearers, etc., it was the fact that suffering men in the war were regarded as suffering men and not as friends and enemies, except in so far as our wounded enemies chose to carry the enemy spirit into the dressing station or hospital.

Doctors and Their Helpers Praised. The large number of doctors who made the great sacrifice in the war, together with the large number of stretcher-bearers and ambulance workers, including many padres, testified to the fact that the man in war who did not carry a rifle or baj-onet was not exempt from the shot and shell of the enemy and that the members of the field ambulance attached to advanced dressing stations ran almost the same risks as combatants, and carried their lives in their hands. It might truly be said of many officers and men, of the field ambulance that in endeavouring to save others themselves they could not save. They went to the front not to be ministered unto but to minister, and in so doing they gave their lives a ransom for manv. They had not only brought additional honour to an already honoured calling, but they had also given to us an earnest of what kind of spirit was needed in the world to-day to heal its many wounds and sores, and a, vision of the life which was life indeed Reference to the life of the lat e Major A. A. Martin was made by the Rev. Clement Houchen in his sermon at the evening service in the church, the preacher saying it was an illustration of obedience to duty. i