THE GLORY OF ANZAC.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20561, 12 May 1930, Page 8

THE GLORY OF ANZAC.

SOME STRIKING TRIBUTES.

FAMOUS SOLDIERS' MESSAGES

GALLANTRY AT CALLIPOLI.

[FROM OUIt OWN COHitESPOXDEis'I'.] PARIS, March 17, Special Anzac Day messages containing striking tributes to the exploits of the Anzacs in the world war have been penned by famous French .soldiers. General Gouraud, the famous " Lion of the Argoime," wlio lost an arm while fighting side by side with the Anzacs on Gallipoli, and afterwards was associated with them in the offensives that broke tho German resistance on the Western Front says:—" lam proud to think that I was associated with the Anzacs in the stirring events we witnessed on the Gallipoli and the Western J.* routs. ] have been told that I owe the empty sleeve I carry today to the tact that 1 was so carried away with enthusiasm at the spectacle of the sublime heroism of the men of Anzac that I neglected the simple precautions that any company commander would have blamed his men for neglecting. That may be so, but I rank with the warmaimed —to-day there is at least this rominder of the sublime deeds achieved byj the men of Anzac on the day wo celebrate. Admiration of the Enemy. " In the opinion of experienced French officers who saw tho heroic attempts of the Anzacs to break through tiie barriers separating us from our goal, nothing could have been finer, dnd if it had been given to mortals to command success I am convinced that"you would have achieved it,despite the odds against you. You won the admiration of your enemy as well as your allies, arid when 1 talked over those days with a very distinguir ;d Turkish officer who held high command against us then, he told me that the sublime heroism of the Anzacs had left on his people who had witnessed it an impression that would never be effaced. " From tho same source I obtained confirmation of what I have all along suspected, that your unflinchable courage brought us nearer to success than wa realised, and had we but had the vision to press on, crowning victory would have come to our arms, and much of the afterhistory of the war would have been different arid many of the comrades we mourn to-day would" have been alive to join us. When I went to the Western Front I found among you the same spirit that is the glory of Anzac, and there, in the final days of the war, you played your part in dealing the blows that - broke the enemy will to conquer for ever." . Marshal Petain's Testimony. The successor to Foch as Father of tho French Army,. Marshal Petain, the man who saved Verdun, says:—'"lhose of us who were associated with the glories of Verdun have special reason to bo grateful to the men of Anzac. for we know that the men of your race played a bigger part in relieving the pressure on tho historic fortress than has yet been told. When the British began, in conjunction with our armies, the thrust on the Somme that was intended to force the enemy to relax his hold on the Verdun sector, it was important that the maximum progress should be made at a [joint where the advance made would make the enemy anxious about his communications and his auxiliary supply reservoirs for Verdun. It was therefore of the utmost importance that the best troop 3 at the disposal of the British commander should be told off for this sector. The choice fell on the Anzacs, who were moved from another sector, and.right well they fulfilled expectations. They gained all their objectives, and their progress threw the enemy into dismay. "Troops were hurriedly moved from the Verdun sector and hurled against the Australians in the captured positions, but despite tho fury of the enemy attacks your men held their ground, and from, that hour dates the easing of the pressure on Verdun, and the gradual gain of mastery by our troops. The stubborn rsfusal of the Anzacs to be dislodged from the ground they had gained constituted such a menace that the Germans had to alter their plans entirely, and the initiative in the Verdun sector passed to \is, and remained with us until the end.. That being so, you can realir-e the debt that Verdun owes to your Anzacs. All France is in your debt, an 4 it is a debt we shall never forget, though we shall never be able to repay it. Tribute at the Graves. "All France is with you in spirit to-day paying tribute to your heroes, and in the cemeteries in the war-ravaged zones where your dead sleep their last sleep our peasants and our forces will pay their tribute over the graves of those heroes. In the occupied zones of Germany French troops to pay homage to those of your dead buried there after dying iu captivity, or while serving with the Army, of Occupation. "Even in other parts of Germany the enemy ex-service organisations will pay, tribute to the dead who died m captivity, arid on the bleak Peninsula French pilgrims will join with Turks in honouring your dead. You have reason to be proud of them and to cherish their memory oven as we cherish it, for they proved themselves worthy upholders of the finest traditions of their race. 'Their filortf can never fade.' "