GALLIPOLI DAY.

Otago Witness, Issue 3773, 6 July 1926, Page 18

GALLIPOLI DAY.

CEREMONIES IN LONDON. COMMEMORATION SERVICE (F«om Ocb Own Cobbespondent.) LONDON, May 4. News comes to this country of the impressive ceremonies in Australia and New Zealand on Anzac Day. These had their counterpart in London and wherever the men of the Dominions are laid in English cemeteries. It is only right, of course, that in this country emphasis should be laid on the deeds of the 29th Division. On the Sunday morning there was a muster of the incomparable 29th Division —to use the fine description given to it by General Sir lan Hamilton—and in the _ afternoon tribute was paid to those of the Anzac forces who lost their lives. On Saturday morning Sir James and Lady Allen went to the Cenotaph, where the wreath from the mothers of the fallen soldiers of Auckland was laid. This had come from New Zealand in a block of ice. The ice was particularly clear, and the rich colouring of the puhutakawa blossoms could be plainly seen. As the temperature was low during the week-end, the ice block’remained more or less intact during the Sunday, when many thousands of people visited the Cenotaph. On the Saturday afternoon Sir James and Lady Allen motored down to Brookwood Cemeterj', where several hundred New Zealand soldiers are buried. Here Miss Bennet makes herself responsible for the upkeep of the New Zealanders’ graves. She had laid a wreath on the New Zealand cross, and school children had gathered wild flowers and a bunch was laid in front of every headstone. The cemetery, said the .High Commissioner, was neat and well kept, and it was pleasing to know what great care was bestowed upon it by those who have made themselves responsible. The High Commissioner also laid a wreath on the central c* AT WALTON-ON-THAMES. Afterwards Sir James Allen motored to Walton-on-Thames, where 27,000 wounded New Zealanders passed through the two war hospitals. Members of the British Legion Comrades’ Club and other local bodies marched from the War Memorial to the local cemetery, where Mrs Robinson, of “Farringford,” who makes herself responsible for the upkeep of the war graves, had arranged a memorial service. The vicar of the arish church and the choir in surplices and gowns were present, and a number of beautiful wreaths were first laid on the two plots. That laid by Sir James Allen was from the Government and people of New Zealand. After prayers had been offered and the whole assembly had joined in singing “O God our help in ages past, the vicar gave a brief address. Sir James Allen also said a few words. He mentioned that that was the last time he would attend the ceremony as High Commissioner. He wanted *'o go hack to his country feeling that people here bore in mind the deeds of the New Zealanders who fell in the war. He expressed the gratitude of New Zealand for the care the people of Walton bestowed on the graves of his country’s dead. It was written “Their name liveth for evermore.” It was of more value that their names lived in the hearts of the people of Walton and the district. The Empire was growing up, but there could be no division, and only, freedom under the flag. None was more loyal to the flag, the King, and the Constitution than that part of the Empire from which he earner. He hoped the time would never come when there would be disunion, but that all would pull together in the interests of peace and righteousness. THE 29th DIVISION! Survivors of the 29th Division assembled on the Horse Guards Parade on the Sunday morning, and nearly 1500 men passed before the former Commander-in-Chief. The band of the Ist Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers, was in attendance, and took up a position on the right of the front line. Lieutenant-general Sir Aylmer HunterWeston, who commanded the division at the time of the original landing in Gallipoli, was present to greet his old comrades, although he had received an injury which will necessitate an operation. Majorgeneral D. E. Cayley marched at the head of the representatives of Headquarters of the 29th Division, and 1 deposited the divisional wreath at the foot of the Cenotaph. General Cayley commanded the Worcestershire Regiment at the landing in Gallipoli, and was subsequently promoted to the command of a brigade, and finally, towards the end of the war, to the command of the division. Subsequently Sir lan Hamilton addressed the survivors of the 29th Division. “Soldiers of the incomparable 29th Division,’’ he said, "you stand here to-day in your proper place at the very heart of the British Empire. To the north Is the Admiraltv, to the south Downing street and theHonses of Parliament, to the east the War Office, and to the west Buckingham Palace. Here look down upon you Roberts and Wolseley, bronze images of heroes, but in all their many wars they never saw a Division that had fought and suffered like this Division. Your first action was in open boats to cross the strip of glassy smooth water which lay between the transports and the enemy, who was there waiting behind two rows of barbed wire. You were shot to bits, but the survivors made good, and they made forever a traditfon for the 29th Division. Three times over on the Peninsula of Gallipoli the 29th Division was wiped clean off the slate of existence, and yet each successive lot who joined the colours carried on like the first lot, because of that wonderful landing which took place 11 years ago. The incomparable division is an inspiration to the British race, and will remain so as long as the English language is spoken! bid you good-bye, and I thank every one here for the wonderful way they have turned up on thia occasion.” SPIRIT OF COMRADESHIP. Before the service of commemoration held in St Clement Danes Church on Sunday afternoon ex-members of the Australian Imperial Forces met in the hall of Australia House, where Sir Joseph Cook, Lord Novar, and General Sir lan Hamilton briefly addressed them.

General Hamilton said that the spirit of comradeship survived at least in the 29th Division, for at a gathering of the division the previous night speaker after speaker referred to their gratitude towards the Australians, who, by turning the attention of the Turks on to them* selves, relieved the division of so much pressure. He was charged with messages of the kindest good feeling to the Anzacs from that gathering. It was a critical moment in Australian history, and probably a remarkable moment in the history of the world, when the “Diggers,” appearing from nowhere, landed for the first time on the oldest battlefield of Europe. War was a terrible thing, but it made dramatic moments in history; that waa one of them, and the tradition the Australians established then carried them on right through the war, and would, God willing, carry them on for ever. AT ST. CLEMENT DANES. St. Clement Danes, the beautiful little church in the Strand, was, as usual, the scene of the memorial service to Australian and New Zealand soldiers who fell on Gallipoli. The congregation included a large number of ex-soldiers of both the Commonwealth and the Dominion and their relatives, a detachment of officers from the Australian vessel Melbourne, now at Portsmouth, and the Australian cricketers. Lord Jellicoe was the chief representative of New Zealand present. The church was beautifully decorated with white flowers and foliage. At the end of every pew down the central aisle was a wooden vase of white bluebells, gypsophalus, and white tulips. Along the chancel rails was a row*of hydrangeas, and on the altar arum lilies. The service opened with the singing of the Jiymn “ O God Our Help.” The lesson was read by Sir Joseph Cook, and prayers were said by Canon A. Wheeler, of Melbourne Cathedral. During the singing of “Jesu, Lover of My Soul” the clergy and choir, followed by ex-members of the Australian and New Zealand Forces, carrying wreaths, went in procession past the war shrine in the side aisle. The Anzac hymn, “ Father, King Immortal,” was sung meanwhile, the congregation kneeling. This is a hymn the words of which were written by Mrs PenningtonBickford. and the music by the vicar of St. Clement Danes, the Rev. W. Penning-ton-Bickford. The Rev. K. J. F. Bickersteth, chaplain of the Australian Forces, and head master of St. Peter’s College, Adelaide, preached the sermon, taking as his text the words from Hebrews XI, verse 13: “ These all died in faith.” The Australian soprano, Madame Evelyn Scotney, sang Handel’s “ Angels, Ever Bright and Fair.” The service ended with the “ Last A. Simpsoh, late A.1.F., Australia, and Chopin’s “ Funeral March ” was played by Mr Arthur Mason, 'formerly city organist of Sydney. Anzac Day was also remembered in many other parts of Great Britain, for the graves of every New Zealand and Australian soldier in the country were visited and decorated with flowers by those who have made this a duty of love and remenabrance.