TO HONOUR THE FALLEN.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 17943, 30 April 1928, Page 8

TO HONOUR THE FALLEN.

CAVE DISTRICT MEMORIAL. UNVEILING CEREMONY YESTERDAY. Before a very large gathering, representative of the whole of the districts, the official unveiling of the Cave, Cannington, and Motukaika War Memorial took place on the summit of Cave Hill yesterday afternoon, in cold and unpleasant weather conditions. The gathering was grouped in front of the memorial, and included in it were pupils of the Cave School. Mr D. Priest presided. Proceedings opened with the “Dead March” in "Saul,” played by the Teniuka Municipal Band, after which the Rev. A. Alexander gave a Scripture reading and led the gathering in the Lord’s Prayer. The hymn “O Valiant Hearts,” and a prayer and Scripture reading by the Rev. C. C. Oldham followed. The chairman first apologised for the absence of Mr J. Bitchener, M.P., for Waitaki, the Rev. Father Barra, and Mrs Alexander. He said that they held- the ceremony to show their appreciation of those who left the shop, forge, plough, shearing sheds, musterers’ camps, or the harvest field, offering their all so that justice and right might be preserved on the earth. To relatives of men who died, their hearts went out in sympathy. They did not think of them despairingly, but rather as Shelley wrote of the poet Keats:

“He hath outsoared the shadow of our night, Envy and calumny and hate and pain, And that unrest which men miscall delight, Can touch him not and torture not again; . From the contagion of the world’s slow stain, He is secure, and now can never mouim A heart grows cold, a head grows grey in vain.”

Memorials placed in public gardens, parks, schools, cross roads, and at the low pass in the Cave Hills conveyed a two-fold message. These memorials should keep green in their memories the sacrifice that the men had made. Britons had a heritage of rights and liberties which cost their forefathers their lives, and for which they had fought on every continent and sea. If that freedom did not glow in their hearts the same as it did in their forefathers, then the ceremony that day counted less than nothing, and those monuments that they had erected would be a mockery if they themselves were not worthy. As they realised the great sacrifice those men had made there should come to eacn one a call for service and self-denial for the public good. The message to them as they stood by the stone was, “Carry On.” Mr T. D. Burnett, M.P. for Temuka, said that the occasion was a solemn but simple one. They were there to see the unveiling of a memorial of rough rock to remember the men who went out from the district to fight in the Great War. They were not there to glorify war, but they would be lacking in their duty if they did not place on record appreciation for what had been done. It had been suggested, said' Mr Burnett, to erect one big memorial for the whole of South Canterbury, but he did not favour that idea. Each district should fittingly honour the men who participated in the war as representatives of that district. During the Napoleonic wars the greatest honour a soldier could have was to have his name posted up in the parish church; that principle should still be adhered to by having the names engraved on the memorial. The soldiers of the district went out to preserve British ideals of citizenship as opposed to the feudalism of O- Consciously and uncon-

sciously they were striving to keep up those great ideals. Mr Burnett said that it struck him that within the next.twenty years, New Zealand must retain the ideals of British citizenship, and by all means strive to keep out the spirit of Americanism. Their pictures and wireless were permeated by American ideals and principles, and this should give people considerable food for thought. The men of New Zealand fought to maintain ideals, and it was the duty of present day New Zealanders to be vigilant. It had been said that the Great War was war to end war, but this they could not believe. “We have had a taste of war, and to guard against it we must be vigilant. This stone is dedicated to the men who took part in the titanic struggle, and we must strive to make this country worthy of the sacrifices which have been made in the past. We. should make the best use of the heritage of God and the Empire, and make New Zealand one of the brightest gems in the Imperial arch—then these men who risked all will not have died in vain,” Mr Burnett concluded. The memorial was then unveiled by Mrs Nelson, a very old resident of the district, and the school children laid floral tributes at the base. One minute’s silence was reverently kept, this being followed by Kipling’s “Recessional.”

Captain A. N. Oalcey, M.C. (president of the South Canterbury Branch of the Returned Soldiers’ Association), stated that the memorial was symbolic of the rugged and heroic nature of the men from the district, and was something differ ent from anything he had seen. He had been asked recently by a man in Timaru why they were keeping up the observance of Anzac Day, ano. thus raking up the past which would be better forgotten. Captain Oaltey said he had replied that the selfish view taken by the man was unbecoming in a Britisher. The memory of those who made the supreme sacri flee would never die—and never as long as their comrades were able to commemorate the occasion would tho service be done away with. Tho speaker said he did not wish to be pessimistic In any way, but the world at present was in a most turbulent state. There was Bolshevik Russia, Commercialised America, with its large fleet, the Eastern question, and last, but not least. Germany. The latter was a country to be watched more than ever. The Treaty of Versailles allowed Germany a regular army of 109,000 men, and these men were trained, thoroughly. No time was stipulated in the treaty for the length of service for soldiers (such as Germany had forced on France in 1870), consequently fresh thousands were trained year by year. In addition to the Army they had a police force 26,000 to 30,000 strong, and should the occasion arise, lie had no doubt that Germany would secure her officers and n.c.o’s from tho ranks of the police. One could not help feeling that war would come again, and the motto of the British Empire should be “Be Prepared.” Captain Oakey again congratulated the district on its very fine memorial, which, he said, aptly commemorated the men of the district who “went West.” Mr W. T. Smith, the district’s representative on the Mackenzie County Council, also spoke, stating

that he hoped that the spirit of loyalty and self-sacrifice of the men who went abroad would inspire piesent and future generations with the same spirit. “The Last Post” was played by the Band, and the pronouncement o r the Benediction by the Rev. Mr Alexander, and the National Anthem, concluded a very impressive ceremony. ™ i. Mr Burnett thanked the Temuka Band for being present, ;rpd also Temuka people who had so kmdly conveyed the band by car. THE MEMORIAL. ; The memorial is in the form of a huge block of Timaru bluestone,. weighing 11 tons. It is practically in its natural shape, except for the space taken by the inscription, which is cut in and relieved in white.-'-"The three steps leading to the monument are composed of river bed boulderss.from the district, and the. whole monument has a most solid and last-, ing appearance. The stone bears the following inscription:—“So long as the rocks endure, and grass grows, and water runs, so long will this stone bear witness that through this low pass in. the hills, men from the Cave, Cannington, and Motukaika districts rode and walked on their way -to the Great European War, 1914-1918. “Some of them have not returned; but have left their mortal remains in foreign lands and strange seas, that our British way of living may continue, but their immortal souls hav# risen from the Grave.

“Those who gave their lives:-—G. Alexander, A. C. Amyes, L. Hughan, M. D. Martin, A. M. Murphy, E. M. Murphy, T. Nelson, A. Mclnnes. “Those who offered their lives by serving overseas:—E. Auld, C. M. Anderson, H. Blissett, J. Boothby, R. Casey, C. Cooper, E. Dobson, W. Dobson, W. Dougherty, H. Easter, J. Esler, R. Findlay, J. Graham, F. Graham, A. Graham, G. Hughan, W. Hyndman, R. Hynd'man, B. Howell, H. Mackay, R. MacKenzie, D. MacMaster, N. MacPherson, R. Nelson, J. Newson, W. Parker, T. Pringle, W. T. Ritchie, D. Stumbles, F. Stumbles, C. Scannell, J. Timmins, J, Turnbull, C. Verity, G. Verity, C. Walker, J. Walker, J. Wall, J. Whiticase, V. Wilson, H. Winter, W. Wingham, H. Joseph.”