NOVEL GESTURE

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 64, Issue 4536, 13 February 1942, Page 4

NOVEL GESTURE

MEMORIAL TO COMRADE TRIBUTE TO ROTO-O-RANGI MAN A thoughtful and comradely gesture on the part of survivors of the 21st Auckland Battalion of Transport Drivers with whom the late Private L. F. Hammerton served, is represented by a novel memorial tablet, containing the signatures of the 39 survivors of the Battalion, that has just been received by his sister, Mrs F. O. Carter, of Roto-o-Rangi. The tablet reveals an original design having a Victory “V” as its motif. On an arched banner extending across the tips of the “V” is borne the epitaph, “In Memory of a Pal”; below this, and between the arms of the “V,” is the quotation, “Greater love hath no man than this that he lay down his life for his comrades.” This inscription is surmounted by • a small cross. At the base of the “V,” on a smaller banner appears the word “Onward.” The signatures of the survivors of the platoon appear, one above another, along the arms of the “V.” The tablet is extremely well drawn in blue pencil, and shows a definite flair for creative work on the part of the designer. Accompanying the tablet was a letter from Second-Lieutenant W. H. King, Transport Platoon Commander. “Les. was a fine soldier and we are all proud to have known him,” says the Commander.