WELCOME, ANZACS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17575, 17 March 1919, Page 4

WELCOME, ANZACS.

It was unfortunate that it should, through, the accident of circumstances, luiyg been at a late liour on a Sunday evening that the members of the first draft of the fit New Zealand soldiers of the Main Body arrived back in Dunedin. The military authorities no doubt consulted the wishes of the men when they decided to transport them homeward with as little delay as possible, but the day and hour of the arrival of the draft prevented the people of Dunedin from giving the soldiers anything like an adequate expression of their appreciation of the honour in which those who volunteered in the first days of the war are held or from offering any spectacular recognition of their deeds of heroism at Gallipoli and their glorious achievements m France. The thousands of . people, however, who crowded the approaches to the railway station and lined the streets and the cheers which greeted the members of the draft who had fought so gallantly in the cause of Empire and liberty will have demonstrated to the returned men that what they did and what they suffered are thankfully remembered and that the community welcomes them back with a heart full of gratitude to them and affection for them If the reception of last night lacked m outward show it will yet have served as a stirring reminder of the splendid part the Anzacs—the original Anzacs and those to whom the title rightfully belongs— had played in the war that has closed so triumphantly. It involves no disparagement of the men of later drafts to say that the members of the Main Body whose absence from their homes has extended for considerably over four years, have a special claim upon the gratitude of the public, and that their return should be the occasion of a specially warm welcome.