"THE SOUL OF ANZAC."

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17960, 12 June 1920, Page 8

"THE SOUL OF ANZAC."

| Had their purpose not bee<n largely defeated by an alteration, of which it to impossible to give them timely notice, in the hour of his arrival,' the people of Dunedin, including the returned soldiers, would last night have accorded General Sir "William Birdwood a memorable welcome to this city of the south. As it is, our distinguished visitor must take the will for 'the deed. Certain it is that this community is delighted to receive him into its midst. For the name of General Birdwood has been a household word among the people of Australia and New Zealand ever since the story came to be written which told from day to day the vicissitudes and glories of the Gallipoli campaign. He is the man who has been described as "the Soul of Anzac," and the justice of the appellation has never been questioned, eloquently attested as it has been by the men who served under him. It is not given to every man of .note to wear his honours so simply and so easily as does Sir William Birdwood. The characteristic which admits of his doing this is sure of appreciation in the dominions. The people of New Zealand, for their part, are grateful for the opportunity of making acquaintance with the soldier who, among many army leaders in the Great War, established a peculiar reputation for tho manner in which he was able to combine the role of commander with that of comrade-in-arms, and for tho manner in which he studied the wants of the troops nnder hia charge, and, among the pitiless hardships of gaunt Gallipoli, made consideration for their requirements his constant' purpose. The bond that General Birdwood was able to establish between himself and bis men, a bond of the permanence of which his tour is at every hand providing a proof, was perhaps the more remarkable in that neither Australia nor New Zealand could claim to be his birthplace. But the secret of his success may be simple enough after all. For in him the lads from the dominions found a friend as well as a leader, and the people of Australia and 1 New Zealand will never forget this fact. Now, the piping times of peace once more restored, General Birdwood is a visitor to the lands which supplied the soldiers who were entrusted to his command, and of whose qualities he has so often expressed thw highest admiration. General Birdwood and tho Anzacs were not victors at Gallipoli, but they earned none the less an imperishable glory. The people of this country will not allow the General's appeal for the effective preservation of the traditions of the New Zealand soldiers in Gallipoli and in France to pass unnoticcd. Nor should they omit to weigh seriously all the words of advice ho has offered, for though on holiday, h© has been called ugon for

speeches. All that he has said, particularly to the returned soldiers, has been very much to the point. It Bhould hare the effect of strengthening the appreciation of the value 'which the good citizen is to the community. Sir William Birdwood q&s not com© to advise us upon matters pertaining to national or liu penal defence. But he has touched ■upon the subjcct, and his opinion should be of deep interest to us all. His views aro an endorsement of those which have been expressed by General Jtussell, and which substantially inspire the activities of the National Defence League. The future is all .uncertain. "For defence we must Tely on our own right arm." These words practically sum up the advice which General Birdwood gives us respecting our policy of national defence* There may be room for differences of opinion as to how the recognition of this indisputable fact should he translated into action, but there should he no difference of opinion respecting the result that should he aimed at.