TRIBUTE TO SOLDIERS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18396, 11 May 1923, Page 9

TRIBUTE TO SOLDIERS.

MEMORIAL AT TAKAPUNA. UNVEILING BY GOVERNOR. A STRIKING ADDRESS. • Takapuna's latest tribute to the memory of the men from, the district who fought ~ m the Great. War-two substantial pi]Jars erected at the gateway into the school grounds, bearing the names of 107 men and one' nursing sister— was unveiled .yesterday afternoon by the Gover-nor-General, Lord Jellicoe, in the presence of a very large gathering of the residents, and all the children of the school under Mr. G. H. Matthews, headmaster. His Excellency was accompanied by Lady Jellicoe, and attended by Captain Monday, A.D.C. and Captain Curtis, private secretary. The guard of honour was formed by the Takapuna senior cadets, under Captain Greenwood, M.C.. and the local girl scouts were also drawn up on parade: Mr. A. Harris, M.P., presided, and among those on the platform were four, members of the family cf the late Lieut.-Commander Sanders V C D.S.O. ' '•' The proceedings began with the singing 01 the hymn "0, God. Our Help in Ages Past," led by the Auckland Garrison Orchestra, and prayer by the Rev. T. ■R. B. Woolloxall. "Brief"addresses were delivered by Messrs. Harris and A. M. Gould. Mayor of Takapuna, and the Hon. E. W. Alison, M.L.C., in welcome to Their Excellencies, reverent remembrance to the 16 Takapuna soldiers who fell in 'tSe war, and recognition of the services of all the members of the district contingent. The Rev. D. J. Albert and E. Nicholls also took part in the religious service. '• His Excellency's Address. In performing the unveiling ceremony. His Excellency said he esteemed very highly the privilege of taking part in doing honour to '■ those who, at the call of duty, went from this district to serve the King and the Empire in the Great War, and .of paying a tribute of the deepest respect to the memory of those who fell in that great struggle. He recalled the fact that he -had on a previous visit unveiled the memorial to the late Lieut.Commander Sanders. "My association with Takapuna," said His Excellency, "always seems to be the closer because it was my great privilege to recommend Lieut.-Commander Sanders for the Victoria. Cross, with which His Majesty honoured him. (Applause.) He won that Cross in ope of the most gallant actions of the war." The -Value of Discipline. "What appeals -to me perhaps more than the courage shown on that occasion," continued Lord Jellicoe, "is the strong tense of discipline that imbued the crew Lieut.-Commander Sanders had the honour to command. It was discipline in the best sense of the word. It was discipline and suffering for "the good of the causefor the good of their side—discipline and self-sacrifice for the good of others. It is .not' often that a victor receives such a tribute as Lieut.-Comman-der Sanders' and his men did from the vanquished. The captain of the German submarine, on being picked up and taken on board H.M.S. Prize, said to Lieut.Commander Sanders. 'I could never have believed that , any. body ■ of men, however will disciplined, could have stood the worrying which I gave the Prize without betraying the fact' that they were on board the;ship.'.'"'■ It was because of,their selfcommand and self-sacrifice under heavy fire ; that they were able to entice that submarine within 80yds: of their ship, and so to deliver her death-blow. •'; Great peeds Unrecorded. "In honouring Lieut.-Commander Sanders we honour 7 also those other brave men | whose names " are inscribed on the • pillars of. these memorial gates. '.';■ One . never knows what great deeds were done ' by those whoso lives were sacrificed, before they . gave their . all for King and Empire. Their sacrifice and their deeds ■ may have been equally as great as those of Lieut.-Commander Sandersequally as, courageous,' equally as self-sacrificing. . It . is one' of the fortunes of war that all ■ great deeds do not come to light. Therefore, what I have said in regard to Lieut.Commander Sanders and his brave ship's company, is. no doubt equally applicable to all "those who gave their lives, , or who served, in the Great War. I would like the present and future children of this school to remember 'at any rate the lesson of discipline which one of the names on these memorial gates teaches. It is the lesson of playing not for yourself, but for. others—of" playing not for yourself, but for the good of the side, for the country—of fighting not for yourselves, but for your Empire, and for this Dominion. -It is the spirit of self-sacrifice which achieves so much, and that spirit is attained by the proper lesson of discipline. ■■' . „•■ . y Comfort [to the Bereaved. "Alas, I notice that among, the 108 names on the pillars 'there are those of 16 who 'did not return. Therefore, I know that in this gathering there are those whose hearts are full of sorrow, . and of a sense of bereavement. To them we all bow our heads in reverential sympathy. We can only say. 'Your sense of loss must inevitably, as time goes on, be swallowed up by the sense of pride in the achievements. of those whom . you loved and whom you hcve lost.' " After the withdrawal of the draping? and the singing of Kipling's "Recessional," the Rev. W. G. Monckton gave" an address. The singing of " Lead Kindly Light" and the sounding of " The Last j Post" by the trumpet band of the Seddon Memorial Technical College, was followed by an interval of two minutes silence, which the trumpeters ended by blowing the Reveille. The ceremonial proceedings closed with the National Anthem, after which the vice-regal party were entertained by, the school committee in the school building.