WAR MEMORIAL MUSEUM.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20384, 12 October 1929, Page 14

WAR MEMORIAL MUSEUM.

Sir, —I gather from the desperate haste being made with, the erection of tho cenotaph at the museum that it is possible that it will be unveiled at the same time that the museum is opened. I personally feel, as do many other returned men, that there are only two fitting dates on which the cenotaph should bo unveiled; they are Armistice Day, or, above all, Anzac Day. It is to be hoped that in this matter, at least, tho wishes of the returned sokliers, who know what their fallen comrades would have desired, will be considered. 2. A. I. B.

Sir, —In 1923 an appeal was made for £50.000 to complete the fund of £200,000 required for the War Memorial Museum. Before me lies a booklet officially issued on that occasion. It contains a list, of initial contributors headed by the New Zealand Government and the Auckland Savings Bank, each having given £25,000. The letterpress contained the following: "A notable feature of the building will be the War Memorial Section, dedicated to Auckland's Soldier Heroes. The names of those who fell in the Great War will bo emblazoned in this great hall, nnd the meritorious deeds of many heroes will also be proclaimed on its walls. Conceived with true dignity and simplicity the 'Hall of Memory' will become a sacred shrine, bearing immortal witness to the valour of our citizens." The Hall of Memory is illustrated, and beneath the illustration are the words "containing Auckland's roll of honour and personal records." Has the committee kept faith with the public who gave in response to these promises ? Wo know that the space originally allotted as the Hall of Memories is to be the library of the institute. We know also that some, if not all, members of the committee have dismissed the idea of a roll of honour owing to difficulty of compilation. We know also that the definite undertaking to provide a cenotaph, this feature being shown in another illustration in the same booklet, would have been "postponed," shall we saj% had the returned soldiers not insisted upon it. I'he roll of honour seems to run the risk of being overlooked, or, at best, of being relegated to a place of obscurity. If I know anything of the soldier mind this shall not happen, and I for one support the proposal to remove the roll of honour entirely from the building and. have it "emblazoned" as the booklet says, in an arch or gate over the approach to the cenotaph. Only there will it he safe from dishonour at the hands of those who think most of the museum and not of the memorial. The Government having given £25,000 toward the memorial museum is bound to see that the committee carries out the contract it mado with the public. Gallipoli.