RETURNED SOLDIERS' NEWS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22563, 6 May 1935, Page 19

RETURNED SOLDIERS' NEWS

(Contributed.) Correspondents should forward any matters of interest to ex-servicemen to the secretary, R.S.A., Dunedin. REUNIONS. Now that the winter has arrived reunion time is here again, when friendships are renewed, reminiscences of those hectic days of 1914-1918 revived, and old battles fought over again. Clinton is to be congratulated on the splendid turn-out on April 27, and the interest shown augers well for the future in the district. Alexandra is holding its reunion on Thursday, Cromwell on Saturday, and Pembroke on Monday next. The secretary of the Dunedin Returned Soldiers' Association (Mr 0. L. Kerens) will attend these functions, and it is hoped that the president' (Mr A. S. Falconer) will be able to accompany him on this short tour. It is also possible that Mr Ben. Ellis, president of the South African Veterans' Association, will accompany the secretary on this trip, and hopes to meet all South African veterans at the reunions. Cromwell will hold a reunion, after a lapse of many years, and every ex-soldier in _ the surrounding district has been notified, and it is hoped that in the near future the re-formation of their old sub-association will take place. It is up to every " Digger" to support the committees in these districts, and make record successes of the various functions. MEMBERSHIP. The following figures as at March 31 each year show the rapid growth in recent years of the membership of the New Zealand Returned Soldiers' Association: —

If there is no unity amongst ex-service-men, it is difficult to know what is to become of the future welfare of their dependents, particularly of those men who are breaking down in health as the result of their war service. The Dunedin R.S.A.' is aiming at a membership of 3000 this year, and confidently anticipates obtaining that number. "LEST WE FORGET." Owing to the generosity of a publicminded citizen, Mr W. S. Knight, formerly of Waipori, now of Dunedin, a memorial has been erected in the erstwhile township of Waipori, famous in the golddigging days of Otago. By erecting this memorial, Mr Knight commemorates the sacrifice of those men who gave their live 3 in the Great War. Although the little hamlet of Waipori may not be well known to many, it now bears testimony to the thoughtfulness of this public-minded citizen. Placed on a solid rock, on a commanding position, this memorial will be permanently commemorative of the men who made the supreme sacrifice. The memorial, when completed, will bear the names of the fallen on four bronze tablets, and it is desired that the list of names should be as complete as possible, and, while every endeavour has been made by Mr Knight to secure the complete list, it is desirable that anyone who has any relatives who enlisted from this now almost forgotten Hamlet should communicate with the local association or the Lawrence Sub-association. Mr Knight has borne the entire cost of the memorial, and it is fitting that his generosity should not pass unnoticed. The relatives of the fallen will be grateful indeed to this generous donor. WAR SERVICE. By A " Digger/'

I had the question put to me the other day by a lad in his early twenties, after I had been trying to tell him that war was not all evil. "Anyhow," said he, " what good did you get out of your service in the war?" It was a question that set me thinking deeply in an endeavour to sort out the personal effect of nearly four years of mostfy front-line BGrvicc %> . Looking back, I see an irresponsible, hasty-tempered lad of 21 years going to war, largely for the fun of the; thing. First came intense training, with its discipline, which not only hardened my muscles, but taught me that I was a very minor unit —only a splinter in a, spoke of the wheel. It taught me true humility and the worth of respect and obedience. From - bitter experience I soon learned self-control. Then came the years of battle, the hell of which taught me to get a little closer to someone's side, and to be just a little more patient, tolerant, and genuinely symDathetic wi,th my comrades. I met men from other countries, and I learned to appreciate their humanity. I fought alongside a battalion of under-fiized Londoners, me% who came largely from the slum areas; men who, from a worldly standpoint, had little to lose, but what wonderful chape they were! Because they knew how to live—and to die—with a smile they taught me to be cheerful in-the face of adversity. . I spent three months in hospital, and there particularly I learned the lesson of courage. There I saw the spirit which could face pain, maimed limbs, sightless eyes, and unhearing ears with a courage mixed with kindness and self-forgetful-nees. And there, in the midst of pain and death, I found true womanhood m our "nursing sisters, teaching me the lesson of patience and unfaltering devotion to duty. I also learned the value of co-operation and the need for united effort in the face of a common foe. _ And, mixing with men under conditions that exposed the soul of man, I learned a lot about human nature. I. discovered:— That because a man appeared to be hard-boiled was no evidence that he did not possess a heart of gold. That in motive most profanity is an offence against good taste, rather than a sin against the Deity, and that many virtuous men have foul mouths. That essential gentlemanliness is as apt to be found in the cook's son as in that of the earl's. ■ ■ That intelligence is not confined to men of academic training. ; That a Protestant, or a Catholic, or a Jew is not to be evaluated by his label, but 'by the fidelity with which he practises his tenets. , ' That "there is so much good in the worst of us and so much bad in the best of us." . ... , The most vital thing which came out of my war service is that immortal comradeship which grew big when there were no such petty things to divide us as capital and labour, secession and anti-seces-sion*, creed or colour. ' I returned with a firm feeling of satisfaction that I was a member of the British family, and with a glow of pride in my New Zealand nationhood. 1 am grateful for all the experiences and lessons of the war, for the opportunity it gave me to study men and countries, and I know that true patriotism means' doing one's duty as a citizen in peace as, well as in war. . Many of mv comrades were so physically injured," and so many of the dependents of those of my mates who He in " gardens of peace" over there need my help that it would appear to be rank treachery to fail to accept my share of the common responsibility, and while lite lasts I intend to retain my membership and to do mv bit in the New Zealand Returned Soldiers' Association, (the NZRS.A., the New Zealand MemberOrganisation of the 8.E.5.L.), and also in order to maintain a valued comradeship and to keep f fresh the experiences and lessons of the war that were paid for at so jjigh a cost. Though bleeding and torn, a new man was born In the din of the warring thunder. I am a better man, please God, because of the things I got out of the war.

Total. Increase per cent 1927 . . 6.671 1928 . 7,267 9 1929 . . 7,893 8.61 1930 . . 9,221 16.82 1931 . . 11,375 23.36 1932 . . 12,765 12.22 1933 . . 18.609 45.78 1934 . . 21,640 16.3 1935 . . 24.451 12.99