The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 1917. ANZAC DAY.

Southland Times, Issue 17918, 25 April 1917, Page 4

The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 1917. ANZAC DAY.

To-day is one of the great days in New Zealand’s history, and it is meet that it should be appropriately kept and honoured. It is a matter of regret that Anzac Day this year should fall upon the date of the municipal elections, but it is by no means impossible to carry through the elections and to observe the spirit of the day. Once a year at least the splendid feat of arms accomplished at Anzac Beach should be recalled, and it is particularly desirable that the story should be told annually in the schools of the dominion. Those who have grown up are not likely to forget the historic landing at Anzac Cove, Gallipoli Peninsula, in the early morning of 25th April, 1915. The children who are growing up and who were not old enough at the time to appreciate what the New Zealand and Australian troops accomplished there, must hear the story every year until they are familiar with it in every detail. New Zealand and Australian soldiers there stepped upon a stage of the greatest drama the world has known, and they made an entry so startling that for the time being the eyes of all men were upon them. The landing at Anzac was little less than the achievement of thie impossible. The troops were landed on an open beach from which rose precipitous ridges. These hills were crowned by the enemy s defence works, and had the suggestion to land troops at Anzac Cove been discussed at any military school it would have been dismissed as impracticable. Had the thing not actually been done it would have been said that any force which attempted to establish itself upon Gallipoli Peninsula under such circumstances would have been shot down to the last man. The Anzacs did it, and won not only their footing on the Peninsula but their place among the best fighting men in Europe! But Anzac Day marks not only the actual landing but also the whole Gallipoli campaign. That campaign was a series of immense efforts to overcome enormous odds and incredible difficulties. The New Zealand and Australian troops acquitted themselves nobly. They did all that was humanly possible. Their deeds of strength and valour rang throughout the world, and though they did not reach Constantinople, they contributed to the history of our race an inspiring and imperishable story of endurance, courage and grit. Gallipoli is dotted with the graves of New Zealand’s sons, and Anzac Day is dedicated to the memory of those who sleep upon that distant Peninsula as well as those who jumped from the boats and

plunged ashore on the morning of the landing. Two years have passed since the day of the landing. In these two years much has happened. Prom the broken ridges of Gallipoli our troops were moved to Egypt, and from Egypt the infantry sailed in April, 1916, for the main theatre of war. There, after an experience in the trenches which taught them steadiness and coolness, they plunged into the fiercest furnace ofmodern warfare at the battle of the Somme in September last year. There, losses were sustained that dwarfed even those at Gallipoli. The whole texture and quality of the New Zealand Division was tested by shock after shock, and though It lost 40 per cent, of its effectives it was proved that the blood of the Anzacs was in the veins of all the soldiers of the dominion and that no task was beyond their power. We recall all these things on this second anniversary of the Gallipoli landing, and it is fitting that on. each anniversary we should acknowledge afresh our debt to the men who have fought for us in this war, and renew' our pledge that they will always be held in honour and that adequate provision will be made for those who have been disabled in the fight and for the dependants of those who have fallen. Anzac Day is a day of mingled memories and emotions. Regret for those who will return no more to hcftne and kindred is mingled -with pride in their great achievements, and the uppermost thought must he that our country is infinitely better by reason of the sacrifices made by the men who have fought for it and in too many cases given their lives for it.