PEEL FOREST SOLDIERS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16530, 14 September 1921, Page 10

PEEL FOREST SOLDIERS.

UNVEILING A MEMORIAL. On Monday afternoon there was a large gathering at Peel Forest, when the memorial to the fallen soldiers of the district was unveiled by the Mayor of Geraldine, Mr E. Hardcastle. Ihe memorial, which has been erected on a eomiuarming site upon the Peel Forest road, on the cutting above the old sawmill, is in the form of an lonic cross, of Coromandel granite upon a stone and masonry bed, and the simplicity of the design renders it the more effective. About two hundred people, headed by Lieutenant Co© Bolton, Mr Marsh .and the Mayor of Geraldine, marched from the Anglican Church at the Forest, and on their arrival at the site of the memorial an impressive service was conducted by Bishop Julius and the Revs H. Purchas and F. Crawshaw. The hymn, 44 O God, Our Help,” was sung The Rev F. Crawshaw read the lesson from Revelation 7 and 9, arid the Rev H. Purchas read the service. Mr Hardcastle then unveiled the memorial and said he was grateful for the privilege of doing so, for the memorial was to brave boys who had l%id down their lives in the great war. Tc their relatives and friends th© memorial would always have a personal meaning, while to those who passed by it would he a reminder of those who gave their lives for their country. To them all it should stand as an inspiration not to allow the example of those brave boys to be lost, but rather to follow on their good work. Bishop* Julius referred to the Old Country, where every acre had some tradition, and said New Zealand lackec those old associations, hut was becoming memorable. The people of Peel Forest had done well in raising a monument to their fallen, and he was triad they had raised one altogether suitable to those to whom it was raised, for they were fitting to b© loved. Those spoor hoys might have lived on serving their country in various ways and tlieir bones might have rested in New Zealand 'soil ; but they were called away to a greater ervice, and this memorial was raised to their memory in reverence and gratitude for what they had done and -offered. New Zealand was the richer for their death and they had built up traditions. Some nations. such as Greece and Rome, had lived on tradition long after their decadence. T+ had been questioned whether they could carry on to the generations to come, but their sons had proved worthy of their fathers and they stood that day i icher and greater than before. The r ross was a symbol of sacrifice—eternal sac.rifice---and th© sacrifice was not for anything tangible, but for righteous •mss and truth, which, though not seen, were nevertheless real. May God, he said, help them, even for a little mea sure, to make themselves a sacrifice for others. The hymn 44 Abide With Me ” was Gien sung, and the Bishop pronounced the Benediction. A large number of wreaths were then deposited at the foot of the cross. Or the pedestal appears th© following insert ntion :—“ln memory of the men M Peel Forest who fell in the Great War, 1914-19. Lieutenant J. R. Denobtoun, Second-Lieutenant T. IX Rtf®ell, .Second-Lieutenant L. D. Ru«sell W. O. Petp’-snn. C r *rr'nr"l .7 D. Gillespie, Privates C. Crowe. J. GodF rev. J. Johnstone. P. MacFarlnne. P O. *M*d«tre. D. * .T w G. Lillifant. J. Tait, R. F. Thew, TC. Uenev, H. Whettin. Their name livoth for ever.”