MELBOURNE SERVICE
CONTROVERSY OVER FORM CEREMONY MARRED BY DUST STORM AND RAIN Received April 25. 11 p.m. MELBOURNE, April 25. The Anzac commemoration began at dawn when 5000 soldiers assembled at the Shrine of Remembrance for th.*, annual service. Long before daylight groups of men began to assemble in hushed reverance, while a solitary light burned at the top of the Shrine. At zero hour the light was extinguished and the “Last Post” sounded. Two minutes’ silence followed and the dawn ceremony was over. Silently the vast group dispersed to prepare for the afternoon march and ceremony. Twenty-two thousand men watched by a crowd of 75,000 marched in the city streets, again to the Shrine, where the comm?xoration service was held. There had been much controversy this year over the changed form o; the service, from which the Returned Soldiers’ League had eliminated certain religious features, thus causing many church leaders to declare that the ceremony was un-Christian. Anglican Archbishop Head took part in the march, but dropped out before the Shrine was reached. On the other hand, the Catholic Church, which in other years was not represented at the service, urged its adherents to attend.
The climax of the ceremony was marred by a violent dust storm, followed by rain.
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Bibliographic details
Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 96, 26 April 1938, Page 8
Word Count
211MELBOURNE SERVICE Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 96, 26 April 1938, Page 8
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