SOLDIERS' MEMORIAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 3859, 28 February 1928, Page 27

SOLDIERS' MEMORIAL.

UNVEILED AT WAIKOUAITI. Waikouaiti township, with other Centres, now possesses .its soldiers’ memorial. In the form of a bridge, with an flrch overhead, it spans the footpath near the post office, making an attractive feature in the main thoroughfare. The is of Tudor design, lift high, with six white marble panels on the uprights. On two of the panels are engraved the names of the men from the district who fell in the war, and on <.he other four are the names on the Roll of Honour—the names of all the men who left the district to fight for King and country. The list inelues the name of one nurse. Of the men who paid the supreme sacrifice one gained the Military Medal, and of the men who returned six were awarded the Military Medal, one the Meritorious Service Medal, and one the Distinguished Conduct Medal. In all 185 men enrolled and went away, and of thn. number 42 lost their lives abroad. The task of making arrangements for the erection of the memorial entailed conS’derablf work upon a committee, the members of which a»o:—Messrs R. Templeton (chairman), A. Heckler, J. A. Thomson, O. M’Fie, E. Ollerenshaw, O. M‘Callum, A. Bremner, J. Preston, and J. W. Timmins (hon. secretary). When the unveiling of the memorial took place on Saturday afternoon the chair was occupied by Mr A. Heckler, in the unavoidable absence through .llness of Mr Templeton. There was a large gathering of the public, including settlers from far-out parts of the district and a number of visitors from Dunedin.

The Chairman expresses his pleasure at seeing a large gathering to do honour to the illustrious dead and to the men who, fortunately, had returned from the war. All had done their duty, and all were deserving of the highest honour n ■was in the hands of the people to pay to them.

Led by Miss Summers, at the organ, a band of children sang “ Onward, Christian Soldiers,” the public joining in, after which the Rev. G. F. Whittlestone read a psalm and the Rev. T. W. Potts engaged in prayer. The Chairman then called for Sir James Aden to unveil the memorial. Sir James Allen said he was sorry Mr Templeton was not able to be with hem. Proceeding, he said it was right that the memorial should be erected to remind them not only of the sacrifice that New Zealand had made, and that the Empire had made, but to keep before them the sadness of the episodes which had iarkened the years now passed, and to help them to build up a hope that no tragedy of the kind would ever take place in the world again.

Six war memorials had been erected to New Zealanders on various fields of battle. The first to which he would refer stood on a hill in France, overlooking the Somme, where the New Zealanders made an advance into the Somme area and occupied the enemy’s trenches. Sir Francis Bell happened to be in England when the memorial was completed, and to him was given the honour of unveiling it. It occupied a prominent position, and could be seen from miles and miles around. The next memorial was unveiled at Le Quesnoy, a French town, surrounded by a wall, which had been taken by the ertiians and occupied by them until towards the end of the war. The New Zealanders were told to take Le Qtiesnoy, and when they came to it and saw its buildings they wondered if they could take it without des troying those fine structures. Eventually they scaled the wall s with -dinary ladders, and drove the Germans out, and to-day, on a spot close to where the ladders were placed, there was a beautiful memorial, carved out of marble, in the form of a ladder with men mounting it, surmounted by a figure of Peace, holding out her hands over the men and blessing them, while on the sides of the moat running around the town were planted ver onicas and shrubs from New Zealand. Thus, in this far-off town, there was a little New Zealand garden, which had stood the test of the French winter, and wa 3 flourishing to-day. This memorial was unveiled by the late Lord Milner, a good friend of the Dominion, of the Empire, of Egypt, and of Africa. The next memorial he called attention to was at Messines. It was the same type as that at Longueval, placed on rising ground, up which the New Zealanders made their way to attack the town, with German forces to the right, to the left, and in front, and yet they accomplished their task. It was no less a dignity than the King of the Belgians who unveiled this memorial. Not far away was the cemetery in which many New Zealanders were buried. The next memorial was at Gravenstafel. It cele brated the activities of the New Zea landers in the district of Passchendaele. It was here there occurred the only instance of the war, so far as the New' Zealanders were concerned, in which they were called upon to carry out a task they were unable to accomplish. They were unable to accomplish it because of the weather, and because of the nature of the ground. The gun s sank to their axles, the horses sank until they were useless, and men sank and were unable to move forward. So impressed was he with the work done at Passchendaele that he decided to unveil this memorial himself. It was similar to those at Messines and Longueval, and around it there was a pretty garden of New Zealand plants and New Zealand flowers. Tire next memorial was on Gallipoli. They had with them that day an exsoldier who still bore marks of his service on Gallipoli: it was sad to think of the loss he had suffered. The memorial

was so placed by Mr Hurst-Seager, a, New Zealand artist, that it was visible from * long distance on land and sea, and it wa« constructed in such a way that in the sunlight one portion of it always reflected the sun, while another portion of it was in the shade. This memorial was unveiled by General Godley, who com manded the New Zealand soldiers during the war. The monument stood 'on Tunik Bahr, th® highest point any of the troops had reached in that campaign. That honour belonged to the New Zealand troops. Near by was the cemetery in which many New Zealanders were buried. The monument could be seen far out in the Aegean Sea, and as they sailed away on a beautiful afternoon they could plainly se« the memorial standing out on the ridge marking the highest point reached by British troops. Another memorial, was in Palestine. It was a general memorial to the British troops that had served in that part, and New Zealand had specialised by erecting a small chapel. Those, then, were the war memorials—six in number—and upon each of them was inscribed the campaign in which the soldiers so commemorated had served, while at the foot were the words, " From th« uttermost ends of the earth,” as an indication that thesa men who had helped to save civilisation had come from the most distant parts of the world. To those parents who had lost aoug who were buried in foreign landa he desired to give the assurance that the graves were being cared for in a wav that was creditable indeed to the Imperial War Graves Commission, which was attending to them. It was the intention of the New Zealand Government to send to each of the next of kin three photographs. One would show the headstone and the name on it, printed in letters large enough to be easily read, and the others, which would be coloured, would show the nature of the country around the different cemeteries. Some of the next of kin might have received these photographs already, but if not they were being prepared. New Zealand was represented on the War Graves Commission, and contributed to its funds to enable it to carry out the necessary work of erecting headstones in different places, and all parents could rest assured that the graves of their boys were being carefully looked after in some distant land. He sympathised with the Waikouaiti district in the loss it had sustained. No fewer that 185 men went from the district, 42 of whom fell in the war. It was a large number, and wag indicative of the fin e effort made by New Zealand, which resulted in this Dominion keeping its division up to full strength right to the end of the war. The only division in the Allied armies that was kept up to its full strength during the war was the New Zealand division All honour to New Zealand, and the men who went away, and as the people of Waikouaiti passed under the memorial arch they would think of the time when the men went away, and of the sacrifices made not only in wounds, but in death. It. was the duty of the men who had returned to fill the places of the men who would never come back, and to do the work that fell to tneir lot with renewed earnestness and vigour. The memorial was then unveiled, the flags covering it being lowered by Sir James Allen, and “ The Last Post ” w-is sounded by Bugler Sergeant-major Napier. Mr G. Kerr (Mayor of Waikouaiti, spoke of the readiness of the district to meet the call of duty, and tendered bis sympathy to those who had lost sons and to those whose sons had been injured. The men who had returned had been 'resented with medals, but one medal was not finished in time to be publicly pre sented, vand as the ex-soldier who was entitled to it was present that day he asked Sir James Allen to present the medal to him.

Mr Patrick Toomey was called forward, and Sir James Allen pinned the medal on his breast amid applause. Mr J. Preston (chairman of the Waikouaiti County Council) said there was no need for memorials to make the present generation realise what the war had cost in valuable lives. In the years to come, however, when the children of to-day had grown to manhood these memorials would serve to show them what a terrible sacrifice war meant to a country, and they would do all in their power ‘o settle national disputes by other means than the taking up of arms. He hoped this memorial would be one of the last ever required as a mark of respect to the memory of brave soldiers.—(Applause.) Mr A. C. Laing (president of the Returned Soldiers’ Association) referred to the mingled feelings with which they met that day. They all regretted that the erection of these memorials was necessary. At the same time there was pride in the hearts of the relatives of the fallen men and in the hearts of those who had returned at seeing their names perpetuated on the memorial. It seemed to him there were many men in New Zealand who had suffered perhaps as much as any. of those who had fallen. There were men who since coming from the war had never left their beds. In Dunedin there were always 20 or 30 men permanently in hospital, still feeling the effects of the war. Then there were men who were constantly breaking down, and there were others whose economic positions had 'astly changed from what thev were before the war. In all these cases the association did what it could to render help. The memory of those who had made the supreme sacrifice was fittingly perpetuated in the memorial, and the association desired to improve the lot of those who had come back and were not so fortunate as many others. Speaking for himself, he had come back unscathed, but there were men who were suffering every day of their lives. The motto of the association could be summed un in one Service ” —and he trusted the returned men in the district and the people generally would aid the assbeiatioh in its effort o give assistance in every case that called

for attention. On behalf of the association he thanked the committee for its invitation to him, and he congratulated th» Waikouaiti residents on the handsome memorial they had erected to the memory of the men who had come forward to serve King and country in the hour of need.—(Applause.) The Rev. Mr Wlrittlestone pronounced the benediction, after which Bugler Sergeant-major Napier sounded the “ Reveille.” Tire speakers were, on the motion of the chairman, thanked for their remarks, and the meeting closed with ‘he singing of the National Anthem.

The abutment walls of the bridge and the parapets are built of bluestone from Woodhaugh, Dunedin, as are also the bases of the main arch which spans the footpath. The arch is built of Australian sandstone with six white marble panels. The memorial is to the design of Mr O. Macfie, architect, of Dunedin, and the work was carried out by Messrs H. S. Bingham and Co., Ltd., of Dunedin, the price being about £650.