FALLEN SOLDIERS.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 16904, 29 November 1920, Page 3

FALLEN SOLDIERS.

MEMORIAL AT LEPPERTON. THE UNVEILING SERVICE. The soldiers’ memorial at Lepperton was unveiled -on Sunday afternoon before a large gathering of people. Ministers of the several denominations took part in a combined service, and the act of unveiling was performed by Lieut.Colonel C. H. Weston, D.S.O. The memorial is in the form of an obelisk, rising from a square base to a height of 27 feet. The stone was quarried oh a neighbouring farm and thus to the people of the district the obelisk is, more than it would he if otherwise composed, a fitting reminder of the men to wjjose memory it is dedicated. Their names, which are inscribed on a tablet, are: Private A. Burnard, Private A. L. Cartwright, Lance-Corporal J. Crofskey, Gunner T. V. Feakins, Gunner J. H. Griffin, private. AV. H. Harrold, Sergeant H. J. Jeffery, D.C.M., Lieutenant H. M. Lepper, M.C., Private Bert Luke, Trooper R. Paul, Private G. Payne, Rifleman J. C. C. Simpson, Private T. FI Stewart, Private S. West. Above the names are the words: “In the cause of liberty, justice and humanity.’’ On another tablet it is recorded that the obelisk was; “Erected by the residents of Lepperton and Sentry Ifill to the memory of their men who fell in the Great War, 1914-18.” The service opened with the singing of a hymn and the congregation was then led in prayer by Mr. A. H. Gould. The Rev, G. H. Gavin read a'lesson from the third chapter of Solomon, and the' hymn “Onward Christian Soldiers” was sun'g. ‘ Before unveiling the memorial, Lieut.Colonel Weston made an appreciative reference to the action of those responsible for its erection. It would serve as a silent reminder that the memory of their dead ones, who slept so quietly in other lands, had not been forgotten. It would form cne stone in the fabric of our national history. Every nation—end thejr realised now that New Zealand was a nation with a bright promise of a useful future —valued the memory of traditions of the past, and there was no better way of recording these tradition! than in stone. “In the future,’’ the speaker sair, “whenever a train or a vehicle passes this spot the minds of its occupants will turn with reverence to your sons. Unconsciously their minds will realise that those eons have lighted a torch which will never be extinguished and each passcr-by will that ' that torch will never die. Ladies and gentlemen, in all honour and reverence, 1 deblare this monument unveiled ” The Rev. F. B. Lawrence gave an address in which he called to mind the great number! of those who fell in the. war and the wastage thus caused. He said he wished to bring before those present the message of the church. It was that there was no death; the men whose names they saw on the tablet were not dead. The man within did not die. What seemed to us to be death and the end of things was not death and the end of things, but was in reality the birth of the spirit. Death was the gateway by which the spirit entered the great beyond The speaker continued that he had seen many men die and many times ho had seen come over the face of the dying man that great calm that was seen on the face of the dead. It might Be said that this was due to a natural relaxation of the muscles but he believed that it was due to a vision of the life beyond. In conclusion the sepakc reminded his hearers of whan was owed to those now dead, and urged a realisation of the lesson of self-sacri-fice and surrender to the cause of God and fellow men. The hymn “Four Our Dead Heroes” was then sung and the service concluded with, the Benediction and the singing of the National Anthem. The hymns were accompanied on- tho organ by Mrs. Wheatley, A number of those present at thc-ser-vice accepted tho invitation of the Indies of the district to afternoon tea, which was provided at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Harper Lepper.