HONORING THE FALLEN.

Taranaki Daily News, 28 August 1922, Page 6

HONORING THE FALLEN.

' OMATA DISTRICT MEMORIAL. SITE OF HISTORIC BATTLE. At the foot of the rise where the Omata Anglican Church looks down upon countrywide stands a granite monument, erected in honored memory of those men from the Omata and Hurford Road district who fell in the Great War. It is a beautiful and historic spot, with the countryside in the first green flush of spring, whilst away toward the right is a grassy elope, the nite of the battle-ground of Waireka, where, in the year 1860, the natives and the British troops fought what was one of the most important, as it woe one of the bloodiest, fights in the history of the Maori War.

The ceremony in connection with the unveiling of the monument took place yesterday in the presence of a large crowd, including many from New Plymouth, as well as from the neighboring districts. About thirty returned men marched out from town and wo:-.- joined by the Fourth Battalion Band near the Omata Hall. The band then headed the procession -along the' road towards the monument, where the gathering mustered and the band led in the National Anthem. The hymn “O God our help’’ was then sung, after which the Rev. W. J. Elliott ’•pad an appropriate lesson. "Fight the good fight” followed, after which Mr. E. P Bayly (chairman of he memorial committee! stepped forward and. on behalf ‘of the ~)mata district residents, asked. Chaplain-Colonel Archdeacon F. Evans to perform the unveiling ceremony. In lifting aside the Union Jack which veiled the monument

Archdeacon Evans said: "In honored memory of the men from the district who gave their lives in the Great War for King 'nd country and in the '--.nee of freedom and righteousness. I unveil this monument.” The Last Post was sounded and. after the final p- ’intive notes had died away, the assemblage sang Kipling’s recessional hymn. "Lest we forget.” The Archdeacon then offered prayers for the sorrowing, for the men who gave their lives in the war, and for King and Empire. LEAD BY THE COUNTRY. Several short addresses followed, the first speaker being Lieut.-Colonel C. H. Weston who. on behalf of the returned soldiers, thanked the Omata residents for inviting them to take part in the dedication of the memorial to their fallen comrades. The monument, he said, should serve as an insniration. and would serve to burn into their hearts a feeling of respect for the sacrifice made by these men. The principal feeling that day should be one of gratitude, for the raising of the monument would serve to keep fresh the memory of the men who had fallen, and in erecting the memorial the residents were also honoring themselves. It was significant, he said, that in Taranaki up to the present all the memorials had been raised in country districts. Whether or not the townspeople were too engulfed in the present and had no time for the past he could not say. but still it was significant that no totvn in the province had yet placed a memorial to those who had died in the war. The monument erected would not only keep alive the memory of the fallen, but would light a torch to show the path to future generations when the call came as it had come to those men. Sixty years ago their fathers had responded to the call, and if the call came again in another sixty years their grandsons would answer the call in the same spirit.

Mr. F. E. Wilson (Mayor of New Plymouth), as representing the civilians, returned thanks at being permitted to give expression to the unpayable debt of gratitude we owed to those who fought for us and saved for us the privileges and blessings we enjoyed today as members of the British nation. Standing as it did near the House of God. and near the battleground where the first V.C. in New Zealand had been won, the monument would be a constant reminder of the fact that those men died that we might live. That, said Mr. Wilson, should be a constant challenge to us to order our daily common lives aright.

, Mr. S. G. Smith. M.P., said that a more beautiful spot for the memorial could not have been chosen, whilst the site had also an historic connection. Despite to-day’s dark clouds he was convinced that the time was not far distant when the better world we had been promised would emerge from the sacrifices made He was convinced also that our Empire was going to emerge from the present difficulties better than any other nation- in the world. The large concourse of people assembled there was an indication that in the hearts of 99 per cent of the people was I remembrance of all that had been done 1 f or them. When the call came we : hould remember that among those who answered it were the Maoris. The neaker felt that the association of the Maoris with the war was not always recognised as it should be. NAMES OF THE FALLEN. Mr. E. A. Millman. on behalf of the residents of the district, then placed a laurel wreath, inscribed “In Memoriam.” at the foot of the monument, and after the ceremony had concluded other wreaths were also laid within the railing enclosing the monument. Those present stood bare-headed and silent for a minute in honor of the dead, after which the ceremony was concluded with the benediction, pronounced by Archdeacon Evans. The monument, w’hich is of granite, stands on a concrete foundation and is enclosed by a low concrete railing. On | it. ]> inscribed: “Lest we forget. In i memoriam: Corporal T. S. Crompton. Pvt. E. L. Allen. Pvt. P. Wood. Rflmn. I W. H. Millman, Pvt. E. Anstis. Pvt. J J. Crompton. Lance-Corporal L. A. WarI ren, Pvt. N. Wood, Pvt. D. Mace. Gori poral R. Kidd. Pvt. H. A. Prugean. Erected by the residents in honor of the • lads of this district who made the great- | cst of -all sacrifices in the Great War, 1914-18. They died for their fellow- ' The Omata Memorial Committee, with | Mr. E. R. Bayly as chairman and Mr. ! C. H. Moore as secretary, are to be eon- ; gratulated on the successful 'conclusion l of their efforts. Besides erecting the monument the committee has also presented all returned men and the next-of-kin of fallen men with framed rolls of honor. Over 60 of these have been distributed, including one as far as the Isl? qf Jersey, while one has been presented ■ the Omata Scheel and another to the