ACHILLES POINT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24481, 14 December 1940, Page 13

ACHILLES POINT

AUCKLAND MEMORIAL DEDICATION CEREMONY EPIC BATTLE RECALLED (Per United Press Association) AUCKLAND, Dec. 13. Auckland’s pride in the performance of the New Zealand cruiser Achilles and her gallant company in the epic battle of the River Plate was given tangible and permanent expression today when a memorial on Achilles Point was dedicated and unveiled. It was fitting that the ceremony was held on the first anniversary of the action which resulted in the destruction of the German pocket battleship. Admiral Graf Spee. . ? Situated on a projecting headland overlooking the wide expanse of Waitemata Harbour east of St. Helier’s, the memorial takes the form of a look-out which somewhat resembles the forepart of a ship. Low concrete walls surmounted with iron railings converge to a point like a ship’s bow, and the upper portion of the enclosure is not unlike the upper structure of a vessel.

The Mayor, Sir Ernest Davis, welcomed the representative iattendance, including the Minister of Defence, Mr F. Jones. Commodore W. E. Parry, Chief of the Naval Staff, who commanded the Achilles in the action, Mrs Parry, Mrs H. E. Horan, wife of Commodore Horan, two officers and eight ratings who served on the Achilles in the battle and are now in the Philomel, and Chief Yeoman of Signals L. C. Martinson, D.S.M., who is still suffering from wounds received in the action.

“A Long and Painful Climb ” Dedicating the memorial and unveiling the commemorative plate, Mr Jones said he did not know of any site more appropriate to give expression to the Dominion’s appreciation of the gallantry of the men of the Achilles. He paid a tribute to the'services of Commodore Parry. “I feel as if I were standing on the bridge of the Achilles giving an order to open fire.” he remarked, amid loud .applause. He regretted it had not been possible to have the Achilles and its company present. “ To-day we can view the action of the River Plate in better perspective,” Mr Jones continued. “It was a rung in the ladder toward victory, but it is going to be a long and painful ladder to climb.” A warm tribute to the men of the merchant navy was paid by Commodore Parry. “They are indeed superb, and are in the front line,” he added. Referring to the memorial, he said that Achilles Point would stand as a reminder of, the Battle of the River Plate. He hoped that succeeding generations would be unscarred and untroubled by the grim tragedies of war. A Stirring Call Commodore Parry concluded with a stirring passage; “ Let the name of the Achilles for this point of land ever mean to them a sign that free men. with minds not nourished by the lusts of war but bred in peace and hoping ever for peace, can, if the call comes, show themselves better men and better fighters and better conquerors than their foe.”'