WAITARA.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 16724, 27 April 1920, Page 3

WAITARA.

ANZAC DAY. FROM OUR OWS; CORRESPONDENT. There was a lar*e congregation at St. John’s Church on the evening of Anza-o Day, returned soldiers and cadets parading, and every seat in the building was tilled. The vicar officiated, assisted by the lay readers, via., Messrs. Jagges, Messenger and Acland. Special. hymns and an an them were sung, and at the close of the service Handel’s “Dead March” was finely played by the organist. ■ 0 ' The Rev. Gavin’s address was listened to with absorbed interest. His text was from the Apocrypha Maccabes, ix., v. 10: “If our tfioe is come let us die manfully for our brethren’s sake and not leave a cause of reproach against bur glory”; and from St. John, xv., v. 13: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” The vicar- spoke as follows: To-day is Anzac I>ay, the day on which we are asked to commemorate the famous landing on iie Gallipoli Peninsula on Sunday, April 25, 1915. The word Anzac is made up of the first letter's of the words Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. These are the troops who, with the 29th Division of British Regulars, made the campaign on the Peninsula famous for all time. Of the New Zealand force the total strength landed was 8356 of all ranks. Casualties in killed and wounded, excluding sickness, 7447. These figures tell in their own grim way the story of courage and endurance more clearly and impressively than any words of praise. To cut a long story short, the troops from overseas arrived at last in. Mudros harbour, in the Island of I&mnos, which was to be their advanced base in the operations against the Turkish forces. Here they rehearsed the landing about four times a day. Wo are told the soldier crept into his wet equipment, struggled over the ship’s side, swayed violently on the frail rope ladder, tumbled into the waiting boat, and pul lad slowly to the shore. Then Sir lan Hamilton issued his famous order; “Soldiers of France and the King,—Before us lies an adventure unprecedented in modem warfare. Together with our comrades of the Fleet, we are about to force a landing upon the open beach in face of positions vaunted by our enemies as impregnable. The landing will he made good by the help of God and the Navy; the position will bo stormed, and the war brought one step near to a glorious close.” “Remember,” said Lord Kitchener, when bidding adieu to your commander, “Remember, once you set foot upon the Gallipoli Peninsula you must fight the thing through to a finish. Thb whole world will bo watching your progress. Let us prove worthy of the great feat of arms entrusted to us.” Thb rev. gentleman then described the land: ing in vivid terms. Proceeding, he said, |‘lt is impossible to follow the story to its close, to tell of brave deeds and of endurance and hardship stubbornly borne, or of the evacuation of the Peninsula, so marvellously carried out that not a single life was lost.” After referring to the great work done at the hospitals and to the-devoted service at the base of men and women who nobly played their part and did their bit, he said that character was made and strengthened, and life was found to be worth while and full; of vim and vigour because men .-and ' women had found cut the great secreirt-they could really be of some use. Proceeding, he said “We are gathered together in this church in. God’s presence this Sunday, ensuing the fifth anniversary of the fambus landing at Anzac Cove. Our thoughts are full of those men and boys who did their duty bravely even unto' death. And as wo think of them we cannot forget the example they have left us—the lesson of their lives and of their deaths. There is a popular misunderstanding among people of to-day as to the real nature of our Christian religion. The old-fashioned view of our forefathers was that the primary object of religion was the raising of the soul in the Day of Judgment, and religion based on that even has taken a rather selfish bent. People take up with religion not for what they can give but for what they can get. Ho v frequent is the attitude spoken or implied “I don’t go to church because I don’t get any good from it.” But as it has been pointed out “What did men join the army for?” For what they could get out or it? No. For the service they could render. To be a Christian means to join a moral war, to take your part with Christ’s great quarrel with evil; to enlist with heart and soul on the'sidc of purity, and goodness and truth; to fight" a devil in our own souls and to look round for some **

service we can render"'to mankind. The word “do” rather than “don’t” is’the characteristic message of Christianity; not the bad things we have done, but what are the good things wo have accomplished in this short hut precious life God has given ns. 'And now 1 close with the last words of the official history of the New Zealanders in Gallipoli:—“lf Anzao means suffering, a hopeless longing, aching hearts, and -a keen sense of loss to many, in this land of onrs, tho gain cannot he measured—■ for the miner at Quinn’s Post did not sweat at the tunnel faces in tho interests of self.; the middies of the picket boats, and the men of the trenches were not ■working for dividends; tho nurses on those hospital ships did not toil tho long nights through for praiso] or notoriety; the women who waited." so bravely and patiently at home in Kcmrlydread of tho telegraph boy, thought nothing of themselves. One and, all made their ‘willing sacrifice for the Common good. And that is tho menage of Anssac to the people of New Zealand. Place tho interests of tho community before the interests of self; folloijf. in the footsteps of the early pioneers make New Zealand a sweeter placft for the little children.” v:: 4