GENERAL BIRDWOOD WELCOMED.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XLIV, Issue 14705, 4 June 1920, Page 2

GENERAL BIRDWOOD WELCOMED.

ftiLLIPOLi MEMORIES REVIVED. • j GENERAL TALES TO OLD COM- ** 8A8555. ; ' By Telegraph. (Special to the Oamara Mail.) - Wellington, June 3. o£ General Birdwood's .with Returned "Diggers" is quickly discovered when he talW to as. be* did the Town Hall to;on . *ho "occasion _ of his public vetcome. ;His attitude is one of genial jntimacy .without a trace of condescension, and be is full of good stories. He ■had-a rousing reception from the sol well as from several thousand • ofcitizens. ... In .extending* Wellington's -welcome to General Birdwood, the Mayor (Mr J. . .P. Lidice)- described him as one of ourselves. Wheif he referred to General Birt&ood's work- for the Anzacs on Gallipgjr.. the returned men broke into cheers.: - 'Htes," said the Mayor, "if you kept it up for five minutes you cottld not do- justice to the man Sir lan Hamilton described as the sonl of Aimc.' *' • Tins elicited renewed applause. To General Birdwood. the May%r continued, was assigned the responsibilrty of arranging the evacuation ql Qallipou, and the Dominion owed him a deep debt of gratitude for the success or that evacuation, which was conducted without the loss of life. "He is a,real chum come amongst you again." declared .Mr Luke. ".There are hundreds of* returned boys here to-night, ■ and. I ask them if they would not lav down their lives for their own General to-morrow if.need be." Cries of "Yes!"' and applause. t!jjfew Zealand's welcome was voiced by the Prime Minister, who said that, General Birdwood was visiting the Dominion on the Government's invitation. Ha*< had led their troops through hardships. such as troops never before experienced, and he came out with the confidence of the men. (Applause.) The memory of those gallant deeds on QaJlipoli would keep, the Empire together for manv a long day. "The ftjracuation of Gallipoli is a bitter memcontinued Mr Massey., "but we eventually went forward to victory." He believed it was a common-sense decision, and he might say that the Premiers of the British Dominions were consulted before the evacuation took place. * The Dardanelles and the Turkish .forte would never go back to the ?(■ unspeakable Turks. , (Applause.) " V BIRDWOOD STORIES. ■>,. The ndxt'speaker. Mr W. Perry,. ;'ddressed his welcome on behalf of the returned soldiers to."Our Fellow Digger." They always referred to him as "Good Old Birdie," and when any. ' body found a man about whom thj "Diggers" went wild, then he must he a wfcrte man. The "Diggers" remembered how Old Birdie went round the trenches in his shirt sleeves with a pull-through for. a belt and a glittering staff consisting of »one "Digger" with a rifle. He used to get much curt advice from "Diggers," such as "Keep yer bHnkin' head down, yer blinkin' idiot." (Laughter and applause.) Dr Boxer, President of the New _7enf land Returned Soldiers' Association, extended a hand " welcome, as he phrased it, from a hundred thousand "Diggers."- He knew of nobody who so won the esteem and affection of the colonials as General Birdwood, their beloved General. 'l&eneral Birdwooa's greeting when rising, to respond was a spirited demonstration.. He had naturally wanted to to New Zealand, he said, for it looked on the map an exact counterpart oF, Britain. , He was told that the country was cold, hut surely the warmth of r6j..hearts made up for it. He loved to he> among his old comrades and seeing.so. rnanv of his old "Diggers" present. He half expected to hear them shoot, "When is the next spell?" or "When shall we go over the top?" Besides being - real brave, good-hearted "Diggers" the boys had many great characteristics, including casualties;. He .».then told a story inimitably of a "Digger" whose jam tin bombs were of poor quality. By way of demonstration hilit .one and held it while it fizzed. "1 turned my back," said General Bird.waad. "It sent pieces of steel through my leggings and another into my c£ce&L~. Alfhe said was 'That is the first blamed bomb that's gone off pronerly to-day'.' " —-'(Laughter.) New Zealand, continued General Birdwood. had through the war attained her manhood. Her brave boys would make as good citizens as they were soldiers. They would uphold law, order, and the Government, which was doing a great deal for them. Their Association was battling well for them. "Keep it nonpolitical and unsectarian," he said. — (Applause.) General Birdwood then addressed himself in genial and familiar tenuis to "The Boys.' - He suggested that. those who came back sound . were all the better for going away. They had .widened their horizon, they knew more of comradeship, and had found that' rnen they onee despised were better,,men than themselves. He attributed the courage and individuality of the New Zealanders to the . fact that they .came of pioneer stock. His advice was to take an interest in public affairs, and not let their .minds lie fallow. Work short hoars if they liked, but put in a good burst while they were at it. Some would say. "We should have a spell now; let others work who remained behind." But he contended that they owed a deep debt of gratitude to many of those who remained behind, especially the women.—(Applause.) The war was won through the high morale of the people. He had often been asked who won the war. ■ A Voice: Bill Massey. (Laughter.) General Birdwood walked over tG the Prime Minister, clapped him on the hack, and declared, "I'm sure he: did his full share." -He went on to say that when asked this question! his answer was: "The war was won by the bravery "of our. soldiers. the might of the British Navy, and the high morale of the people; and we never should forget that - Almighty Providence saw us through when things looked most dark." He believed tharfc right along Almighty Providence stretched out a guiding hand, and'saw us through to the end with safety. (Hear, hear.) Now the war ■was won they could think of what would have been the result had wo - lost. We would have lost nationality, self-respect, and freedom. The Germans had made up their minds to subjugate us. for one proof of this was found on a German, hang, re turned to Germany froirr Australia. On him was discovered a commission from the late Kaiser appointing him Governor of Australia. From this we were saved by the bravery of onr soldiers.. The dead who died on Gallipoli did not die in vain. He went on to say that his former intelligenct* officer was now in Constantinople, and hi?* letters contained interesting references to Gallipoli. "It is true that we did.nbt secUre our immediate objective, but we destroyed the power of the Turkish army." The Turks talked about Gallipoli as a slaughter-house—a tribute to the fighting qualities of our men. They thus laid the foundation for_ General Allepby's subsequent victories .in Palestine.—(Applause.) The worst three nights he had ever spent in his life were on the cruiser Chatham, which had been presented to New Zealand,... for from her he controlled the evacuation of Gallipoli. General .Birdwood concluded with an appreciative reference to New Zealand's welcome to the. Price;of Wales, as the representative of tEat golden thread of Royalty which linked the whole Empire in the bonds .of 'real affection. i 's ■ —■ i j i ■■■■■■