ANZAC DAY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20426, 5 June 1928, Page 15

ANZAC DAY.

LONDON CELEBRATIONS. SERVICE AT ST. CLEMENT DANES. (From Ouh Own Correspondent.) LONDON, April 26. Hitherto the celebration of Anzac Day in London has been largely an Australian affair. This has been entire y due to the apathy of the New Zealand authorities. This year the High Commissioner and others have evidently seen fit to cooperate with the Commonwealth office, with gratifying results. For one thing, the Australians seem to have generouseiy stood aside and allowed New Zealanders to arrange the commemoration service at St. Clement Danes Church. At 100.30 yesterday morning the High Commissioner and Lady Parr drove to the Cenotaph and laid a wreath bearing the inscripaion; “From the Government, People,”and High Commissioner for New Zealand. Anzac Day, April 25, 1928. The wreath consisted of closely woven blue flowers, with a large spray °f P n ' [{ roses and pink tulips at the head. Other representative New Zealanders present at the little ceremony were Major C. VV. Salmon. M.C., and Mrs Salmon, and Major W. G. Stevens, the New Zealand Government’s military representative in England. ~ , As usual, St. Clement Danes, the beautiful church on the island site in the Strand, was decorated with spring flowers. At the end of each seat down the central aisle were bouquets of yellow daffodils and white narcissi, and in front of the choir was a bower of the same flowers. The altar was decorated with lilies. Above the choir hung the Australian and New Zealand flags. The church was filled, and a goodly proportion of the congregation were New Zealanders. In addition, a number of the staff, both men and girls, from the High Commissioner s office, were present. General Sir lan Hamilton and General Sir Granville Ryrie were in uniform, and about 150 ex-officers and men of the Australian and New Zealand military forces had seats near the choir. This year none of them wore uniforms, but they displayed their medals on their ordinary coats. THE SERVICE.

The service opened with the hymu “ O God. Our Help in Ages Past.” Then followed Psalms 121 and 23. The first lesson was read by Sir James Parr from the Wisdom of Solomon, chapter 3, in which are the words: “ But the souls of the righteous are in the hands of God, and there shall no torment touch them. In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die, and their departure is taken for misery, and their going from us to be utter destruction; but they are in peace.” Sir Granville Ryrie read the second lesson and there followed.the hymn, “ Jesu, Lover of My Soul.” and a solo, “God is My Shepherd,” by Dvorak. The latter was very beautifully sung by the New Zealand contralto, Mjss Stella Murray. During the singing of the hymn and the solo, the clergy and choir, followed by exmembers of the Australian and New Zealand Forces, went in slow procession to the war shrine in the church. Here the two High Commissioners deposited wreaths. The New Zealand wreath was of blue hydrangeas with a large spray of pink roses and blue iris at the head. The inscription read: “ From the Government, People, and High Commissioner of New Zealand, Anzac Day, April 25, 1928.” The whole congregation, kneeling, then sang the impressive Anzac hymn, ‘Father, King Immortal.” " The Rev. M. Mulhneux, M.C., formerly chaplain to the New Zealand Forces, gave the address. Few had gained such a reputation, he said, and achieved a name and fame so great as those who landed on Gallipoli on April 25, 1915. Both name and fame must last as long as our Empire existed. The word “ Anzac ” had become part of the English language, a dictionary word, and was written on the map of Gallipoli. Even for those reasons it was a name that could never be forgotten. The speaker recalled the departure from Lemnos and the cheers from the British bluejackets—cheers which were not heard every day, such cheers which never greeted any ruler or monarch, dicers which made strong men weep. He recalled the dash up the beach and on to those evil rocks and uncanny ravines. They stuck it because they were made of the right stuff. They might talk of Alexander, the wonderful Spartans, and the more recent Balaclava charge, but none of those surpassed the epic of Anzac, which stood to-day as the finest example of endurance and self-sacrifice the world had ever seen.

REMEMBERING THE PAST. It was well that they called to mind from- time to time these things* for it ■was only by remembering the past of this great Empire of ours that we could force the future. Since the war there had been many occasions when life has seemed unprofitable, when days seemed not worth living at any given moment. To-day we saw poverty stalking through the land, and this great industrial nation had lost so much of its world-wide business. It was hard for those who said least about it. Nevertheless, when days seemed unprofitable they should look back and remember Anzac. Let them remember that this great Empire had the ability and courage to weather worse storms than these, as our own history amply proved. Where should they get the inspiration to face their difficulties if they did not get it from the past. They could not get it from a Utopia of the future. This Empire must find its soul. It would never find it by forgetting its best and most brilliant achievements. If it was to find its soul it would find it by the graveside of its mighty dead. The strength of a nation was not entirely in its armaments and its ships, but in the character of its people. Before the example of the Anzacs our little anxieties sank out of sight. We should be untrue to the dead if we did not show for the good of this Empire the courage and the same self-sacrifice which has made us what we now were. After the blessing, there followed “The Last Post,” played by a bugler of the Australian forces, the National Anthem, and Chopin’s “Funeral March.

WREATHS IN ICE. At 3 o’clock the High Commissioner, accompanied by Lady Parr end Miss Betty Parr, paid another visit to the Cenotaph to be present when a wreath frozen in ice was placed in position. This was sent by the Mothers’ Union of Auckland. It was a simple wreath of the blossom of the Christmas tree. Not always are these frozen wreaths satisfactory, but this one, happily, appeared in a crystal-clear block of ice. The inscription could easily be read: “From the Mothers’ Union of Auckland. They live who died that we might live.” A number of ladies belonging to the Mothers’ Union in thise country were present. These included the Hon Mrs Evelyn Hubbard, Mrs William Watkins, Mrs Stac Waddy, Mrs Parsons, and Mrs Daniell, all members of the central organisation. Another wreath in ice was also placed at the base of the Cenotaph. Although the foliage appeared to be native to New Zealand, the ice was so cloudy that neither the wreath nor any inscription could be seen. AT WALTON-ON THAMES.

At the annual Anzac Day commemoration service at Walton-on-Thames, the High Commissioner was represented by Dr Bernard Myers. Dr Myers, who was medical officer at Walton when the hospital there was first established, laid a wreath on the New Zealand plot in the churchyard of the Parish Church, inscribed: “ From the Government, People, and High Commissioner for New Zealand.” It consisted of closely-woven daffodils surmounted by a large bouquet of yellow tulips and yellow arum liles.