ANZAC DAY IN EGYPT

Waipawa Mail, Volume LXVIII, Issue 101, 20 May 1940, Page 4

ANZAC DAY IN EGYPT

SERVICEMEN HONOR ODD COMRADES. (N.Z.E.F. Special Service). April 26. Vivid memories were stirred yesterday when officers who have seen service "with two New Zealand expeditionary forces paid tribute to the gallantry of Anzac comrades buried at Cairo and Alexandria and in. the Suez Canal zone.

Nothing could have been more impressive than the simple ceremony conducted at the Cairo Protestant Cemetery, where 157 New Zealand soldiers lie. A small party from the camp of the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force, led by Colonel Sir Stephen Allen, was joined at the graveyard by three members of the nursing staff at Helmea Hospital, representing the New Zealand Nursing Service, while the Turkish people were represented by Abdul-Ilah Sayit Bey, and Major Hudson attended on behalf of ’the Cairo City Police.

The party proceeded through the centre of the cemetery and halted before the Stone of Remembrance, where Sir Stephen turned to the gathering and said: “We have come to lay a wreath on this stone in memory of the dead of the First New Zealand Expeditionary Force.” An inscription attached to the wreath, written in both English and Arabic, was then read by Sir Stephen. It was worded as follows: “On the anniversary of the landing on Gallipoli, the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force lays these wreaths on the graves of the soldiers who are buried in this land, in proud and affectionate memory of the First New Zealand Expeditionary Force, and as a token of admiration for all who fought on Gallipoli, and in Egypt, Palestine and Syria, on either side, twenty-five years ago.” He then laid the wreath in front of the Stone of Remembrance, saying: “To the Glory of God, and in memory of the dead of the First New Zealand Expeditionary Force, I lay this wreath on this stone.” Two of the nursing sisters laid their wreath beside the other. They bent their heads as in prayer before they turned and rejoined the party. Afterwards the visitors spent some time in the cemetery, and they were impressed with the care and attention that is bestowed on the graves. Ceremonies on similar lines were

small party of English soldiers waited to take part in the ceremony. Bayonets were fixed and the guard saluted as the New Zealand officers laid their wreath.

The magnificent Anzae memorial near the entrance to the Suez Canal at Port Said was the scene of the final ceremony. Bronze figures of an Australian and a New Zealand mounted soldier, side by side in action, were erected there a few years ago by “their comrades and the Governments of Australia and New Zealand in memory of the members of the Australian light Hlorse, the New Zealand Mounted Rifles, the Imperial Camel Corps and the Australian Flying Corps who lost their lives in Egypt, Palestine and Syria, 19161918.”

England, Ireland, Wales, Australia and New Zealand were represented in the little gathering of civilians and Service representatives who took part in the ceremony. In addition to that of the New Zealand force' wreaths were laid on behalf of a British Army unit and the Royal Navy. Afterwards the New Zealand party visited the soldiers’ cemetery, where, as in every other Anzac resting place they had seen, they were impressed by the well-kept graves. In Alexandria Anzac Day was commemorated in the same way at two cemeteries by Captain D. G. H. Wilson and Captain T. Wallace, of the New Zealand force.