ANZAC DAY IN AUSTRALIA

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19783, 26 April 1934, Page 9

ANZAC DAY IN AUSTRALIA

IMPRESSIVE DAWN SERVICES United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright (Received April 25, 11.50 p.m.) SYDNEY, April 25. The Anzac commemoration in Sydney was spoiled by rain, but the customary reverent ceremonies were carried out. Fifteen thousand people of all ages, participated in an impressive service at the Cenotaph at dawn, and 16,000 war veterans took part in a spectacular march through the city in the morning to the Domain for an united service, at which 60,000 people assembled. New Zealand ex-service-men were almost at the head of the procession. Maimed men were conveyed to the service in motor-cars. The Governor (Sir Philip Game), in mufti, took his place with the Imperial troops. Sir Charles Kingsford Smith was a prominent figure at the head of the Flying Corps. A pathetic sight was the presence of 38 blind “diggers,” marching with their old battalions. Five of their original number died within the last three months of last year. The Australian High Commissioner (Mr S. M. Bruce) and the Premier (Mr B. S. B. Stevens) attended the service in the Domain, which was led by Archbishop Mowll. The Cenotaph, in Martin Place, Sydney, was almost hidden in wreaths and floral tributes, including those of General Sir lan Hamilton and the Commonwealth and State Governments. Appropriate services were held in the Cathedrals and in suburban and country churches. AT THE SHRINE OF REMEMBRANCE. SERVICES IN OTHER CAPITALS. United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright (Received April 25, 11.50 p.m.) MELBOURNE, April 25. Dawn services were conducted at the Shrine of Remembrance and at all soldiers’ institutes in the provincial cities of Victoria. Later the men of Anzac, 25,000 strong, marched through the city preceded by 250 cars carrying war nurses and disabled soldiers, to the Cenotaph in front of Parliament House. Offensive Happenings. Among the wreaths placed at the Cenotaph was one from the Victorian Council Against War “in memory of fallen comrades,” to which a card was attached bearing offensive words. Officers of the Returned Soldiers’ League erased the offending words and returned the wreath to the Cenotaph. At the main Anzac gathering in Brisbane in Toowong Cemetery, at the Cross of Sacrifice and the Stone of Remembrance, the crowds were horrified to find the base smeared with red paint, and several profane inscriptions, which could not be removed before the ceremony, and which were a source of pain particularly to relatives of the fallen.