THE "LAST POST."

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12084, 13 August 1917, Page 6

THE "LAST POST."

STOPS FOOTBALL MATCH

How the bugles sounding " Th o La.st Post" in the Auzac Cemetery interrupted a soldiers' football match in France, and how all the men sprang to attention, i.s sympathetically described in a letter by Sergeant E. 0. Gray to his parents at Moonee Pond 3.

" To-day is Anzac Day," he writes, "and we celebrated it by holding a dinner, the principal item in tho menu being ' Auzac Wafers.' We also had a sports meeting, which included a football match. A rather striking incident occurred during the progress of the match. The football ground is siuated near the Anzac: cemetery, and .suddenly those long, sad, bugle notes: that begin 'The Last Post' sounded. The crowd was cheering vociferously, the players going for their live.s in a desperate struggle near the goal; but on mi instant every man vfius stiff at attention, in honour of tho pal who, as a man near me said, would never ' see God's Own Country again.'

"I have never seen, and cannot imagine, a more impressive sight than the sudden spring to attention of that crowd of players and onlookers. Wo have never been taught to ' spring to it' in such circumstances. It was just the instinctive respect that a man has for a ' cobber' who has given his all for tho best land on earth.

"But what honour should we give to tho mother who gave him up to his country's service, and must suffer for years while lie suffered for, perhaps, only a lew hours 1 The mothers should have the most sympathy.

"We are getting knocked about more than a bit now, and need help. Recently we had two divisions badly cut up, and a third repulsed nine counter-attacks in about twenty-four hours; so they must have suffered. You know my opinion of the 150..000 though. If there are any real Australians left in Australia I i'eel sure, that the knowledgo of our great need will bring them. The papers put things in too rosy a light, and men are prone to believe what suits them. Just so long as the papers make much of a slight gain and little of a defeat, so long will there be those who will say ' Things are going on well enough. We are not juwlod yet,' "