ANZAC

Otago Witness, Issue 3398, 30 April 1919, Page 58

ANZAC

STORY OF A GALLANT ENTERPRISE. The story of Anzao was told graphically at the Grand Theatre on the 25th by Major X. Waite, D.S.O. Major Waits was a member of the Main Body, and, leaving New a lieutenant, rose to the rank of major in the Engineers, also, gaining the Distinguished Service Order. He served for a considerable time on Gallipoli, and was thus able to speak with compelling force of the gallant enterprise of the New Zealanders and the Australians at Anzao Cove. Ihe Mayor (Mr J. J. Clark) presided, and there was a very large attendance. The proceeds were in aid of the Returned Soldiers' Club.

As soon as the, lights went down and the unique series of slides began to be displayed on the screen, Major Waite warmed to his subject, and kept his audience keenly interested throughout the two hours which the entertainment lasted. It' is a mystery how this officer managed to 'secure such an all-embracing set of photographs, but, however it was done, the result was sufficient to repay fully the energy is probably not incorrect s to say that the many Anzac soldiers in tne audience came away from the lecture knowing far more than they had realised before of the narrow stretch of country on which they spent to many months. As for the general public, the lecture was to them both entertaining and instructive, since the subject was natuil- ■ fascmatm & to the relatives of the soldiers who participated in ,the campaign, and the light shed on the details of tho enterprise enabled it to be more clearlyvisualised. "" - .

A large map of the peninsula was \hr<Swn on the screen at the beginning of the lecture, and the major pointed out the various spots of strategic importance. There was hardly a name which was not gloriously fainihar.

The difficulties % of the country were-effec-tively illustrated. In the fortification of "Quinn's Post, for instance, everything had to be carried on the men's backs—timber, galvanised iron, and sandbags.. In a scorch- i ing climate two pints of water per day/ were a soldier's ration, and he was I lucky man who could always get that.' The Indians, with their mules, rendered fine service in this connection, and on the peninsula, at least, East met West on the broad ground of suffering endured in company for the sake of an ideal.

The armistice in May for the burial of the dead was illustrated by a few sterling slides, which showed the British and the Turks, hostilities at rest for the nonce, busy paying the last tribute to fallen comrades. Many of the British dead \were buried by the Turks, and these were the men whose namss appeared in the casualty lists as "Missing, believed killed."/ Features of the August fighting were shown, and it was possible to realise, however' faintly, the magnificent work which the doctors and nurses did in succouring the never-ending stream of wounded. A. picture of Dr O'Neill, of Dunedin, sitting on Anzao Beach during a brief lull in' the work of healing, raised a storm of applause, equalled later by the enthusiasm shown when a New Zealand Red/ Cross sister flashed on the screen.

A red flare on the beach, photographed from a departing transport, showed where the "stores were burnt on the eventful day of the evacuation; and the audience sat in thrilled silence when there appeared on the screen the picture of the rough stone cairns which mark the last resting place of the bravo British dead. On the conclusion of a keenly interesting lecture, Dr Harrison (president of the Dunedin Returned Soldiers' Association) sincerely thanked the lecturer, and the singing of the National Anthem concluded a thoroughly enjoyable evening.