A LITTLE TALK TO ANZAS.

Waikato Times, Volume 87, Issue 13353, 2 December 1916, Page 1 (Supplement)

A LITTLE TALK TO ANZAS.

IN A SPIRIT MORE GRATEFUL, 11 NOT LESS CANDID THAN I'Sl'Ai,

(.From the World's Work.) In mounting again, after an absence of several months, this little pulpit of the platitudes the message will be m.ore kindly than usual, n not less •candid than the series of tart criticism* >ooinnionry associated with the place •and the preacher. Nearly a year ago, tbetoie we had witnessed the braver} «ot the Canadians in Flanders or been «tirred to our inmost souls by the memorable epic of the" Australasians in Gallipoli, an effort was made hereto express .something of our affection, something of our gratitude, to those sons of the sister states who instantly rallied to the war-cry of Biitaiu. That was a friendly conference under a family roof. We talked to you as our friends, or rather as our relations who know us, laugh at us, love us, •cherish no ambitions against us. We greeted you as our kin, against whom jS' \\ is laid down by nature and by long unforgettable association that we can never express or harbor any description oi a threat. Welcoming your assistance not only as a great material asset, but furthermore as a witness in the eyes of the world ot many things now and hereafter, we gieeted you with tilt new*, that we by no means despaired of ourselves. "Now after a year of close association we look to you in pride, confidence, understanding and never-ending gratitude. We know now -that the task before us is a. longer, harder, a.nd more perilous one than any of us thought or than some of us yet believe. But the time is. please God, approaching when you need no i longer send your sons to die for our common cause, but when your verdict upon all that is done will be called for, when your proposals for all there is yet to do will be timely. That victory which we are determined to win will be a poor one indeed if, beyond the overthrow of Prussian militarism, it brings not in its train a wise :and workable Imperial Government. Last month in these pages handsome tribute was paid to all that Canada has done and is doing to win success for our arms. After this it would be Unseemly further to postpone a message long a-brewing for yourselves. It -will be but a friendly, homely talk between brothers. To attempt an expression of all we feel for your bravery, of all we know of your grim determination, would call for an eloquence far beyond the capabilities of the pulpit or its preacher. You kpow of our affection, of our deep, deep gratitude, of our determination never to forget. Between us there are things too sacred for public exprcssio... fer lings too deep fcr .open flaunting. That sentiment which moved you so earlv and so readily to volunteer enkindled in us as quickly an admiration, a pride for which we have no Avoids. No one can talk lightly cf the tragedy which we call Gallipoli. It will be n-anv years befcre proper measure can l>e taken of that ill-starred enterprise and its general influence upon the end of the war. But it is safe to predict for it a noble shrine in history; and if from the blood you shed there arises a wide p , kindlier understanding betweeu austral and boreal Britons, your dear, dear dead will not have died in vain. But let us talk together in a lighter strain. We hope that each of us has learned from the other; that we shall all be better men for the intimate association of these wearing, anxious years. In your eyes, no doubt, we have K'own old and slothful, sadly in need of the tonic which your fresh energy and your clear vision bring. On our • side, cradled in law-abiding orderliness, we have perhaps been a little too frightened at your reckless disregard for discipline and your scant reverenca , for those set in authority ovct you. At first we thought good Mr Punch was rather cruel when he gave us a picture of the overseas colonel on the occasion of a royal review calling out to his men please not to spit, and for heaven's sake not to call him "AH." Now, curiously enough, we have come to admire the very democracy of the relation between officers and men in tha imperial troops, and to find in. it a ■worthy counterpart of the. amazing fraternity which has made the French army one of the wonders of the war. We were early" acquainted with your Canadian brothers, for they came straight to these shores white you went to Egyot, turned for the time being into a "sort of military clearing house of the forces of the Empire. Cairo in the early day- of the war must have been a sight to stir even the inscrutable Sphinx. Dapper little Ter. riorials from Lancashire rubbed shoulders with tall Sikhs and Mongolianeyed Gurkhas, Sudanese soldiers from the desert gazed open-eyed at the easy swing with which you carried the last breath of modernity down the historic highways of Pnaroah's hind. When our great armada came sailing through the Indian Ocean it brought a collection of men unlike any other in' the great armies which all the Britons have raised. Cairo knew that you were better paid than any other soldiers, yet she -was not prepared to find privates each capable "of spending hundreds of pounds in Oriental carpets. It took her some time to grow accustomed to the difference between the Australian and the New Zealander, the genera? verdict being that the former i 6 taller and stronger, but the latter more nimble and smarter. Whatever the points of variance, they wore few in com"parison with your common virtues of enthusiastic courage, your ever-present fear that the war might bo over heforo you contributed your strong arm to its winning. Perhaps polyglot Egypt took greatest interest in the Maori soldiers from NewZealand, and in that resiment which had for its motto the saying of the old Maori chief Rewi. During the Maori War, when asked to surrender. Rawi replied: "We fight on for ever and ever." Any effort at a critical estimate of your value was almost impossible when the man from home came to know you and hear vou talk. An accent here a Ehiase there,' would carry your Une ack to the county of r*s origin; and suddenly he who looked upon you as a. strange son of a new race would re. rnejmhpr thar- you still cali |! ic Old Country "home." Out of all this concmiTse of troops by yf.tfr daredevil boisteroupness. amusing and lovable to us at home, but doubtless very trvir.f.' to these who had charge.over you. you soon became foreirost both in military fitness and hilarious relaxation. It may be amusing in a..spirit r,f p?r{ect. friendliness to re-c-jurt soiie "of the many chronicles reaching us of your Egyptian days. There is, for instance, that always rinusing storv of the big red hat and tha newly landed Commissary The day after'landing the Australian, who was a noted financier at home but a V.mbr officer ui Egypt, cal-ed to pay his re-poets to the general—l am not going to say which general, but there are ovev-many in Egypt, which is quite another story. "How ion? have you been in the Armv?" said the great man. "Only one day," said the Australian. "I landed yesterday." "Would Vou like to know what 1 think of your Australian troops!'" No answer. * "They have been giving me a blank lot of trouble." No answer. "I think they are blank, biark. blank. Why don't yon say something?" "I understood that when one was talking t r > a general one- never answered

back." ' "We)!. I give yon permission. What have von sot to say about it?" "Aft I have to say, Gen/inl, is that you are blank, blank wrong" This preliminary conversation having cleared the air, a consultation was held a% to the best method of dealing with the overflowing exuberance of the Australasians, who were nightly making the Cairenes sit up. The Commissary suggested a bte soldiers' club to keep the men out of loss reputable resorts. "AH.-right.*- said the big bat. "Go

yesterda}. We shall have to postpone it." ''Sorry, General, but it is already done." "What do you mean ':" "After I left yon yesterday 1 hired the Bourse, which is the largest glassroofed building in Cairo, and bought) out the furniture of two small hotels, to tit it up. Hie club will be open tonight." "Who the blank i.s going to pav tor it!-" "I don't know. Australia isn't." Ana with that the Commissary forgot his discipline, turned on his heel, and left the big red hat to ponder over the inconveniences of zeal and efficiency. Apropos of the noble army of generals infesting the Eastern Mediterranean, it is said that SaloUici uVard one day fiom Cairo that there had been an assault of oOX) Australasian soldiers upon the British generals, but the British generals had won.

Of course those of us who know and love you realise that whatever t-roubl? you gave in Cairo was almost entirely ,the fau't of the authorities, who mis. managed atfaiis from the begumini; Too negligent at first, with no sort of restriction over dancing halls, and drinking places, they became in the end too stringent, and naturally met with resentment over the sudden curtail-* meiK of liberties which you should never have enjoyed. But it was really too bad o! you to set fire to the motor car of one of the generals responsible! We can easily imagine your scorn ol the peculiar snobberv of the British generals* when they made a decent place like the Grand Continental bar and smoking room cut of bounds for you because Their Delicacies resented your presence near them, leaving open for you low dives where you were poisoned "in various ways. You may be obstreperous, but -you are very human; and those of us who know you love you for your very faults, and when occasion arises you can turn the tables in a manner worthy o; the best traditions of the Old Country. An opportunity arose when you came, from Egypt to take your place in the, terrific fighting in France and Flanders. Marseilles had been warned to/look out for you, and all manner of re. straints had been established. Someona must have tipped you off to the situation. At any rate you marched down

from your transports as mild as any baa-lambs, and made for yourselves in Marseilles a reputation as* the mildestmannered men who ever marched to war.

And who can say that without this exuberance of spirits we should have witnessed the amazing glory of Suvla Bay ? What you have done and now are doing in France is part and parcel of our common task, but as time goes on. the Dardanelles will be famous, chiefly for the part you played there. Now that the first poignancy of that failure has passed we are not sure that it was no better, did not bind us closer to share in a bitter defeat, than if we had been only partners in the ultimate victory. At first there must have been bated wonder' among us as to how you and those who sent you would accept that defeat, would absolve those responsible for obvious mismanagement.

But here, too, you were as fine it* the spirit as in the flesh. The brave words of your leading men both in Australia and New Zealand, and, above all. of Mr Hughes here, declining to criticise, accepting the Mow with unbowed heads, with unshaken determination, are unforgettable, will not be forgotten as long as a last remaining Briton survives. But here again we reach a sanctuary in the mother-house too deep for words, too near to tears. But, O Brothers of the Great Heartsi we do greet you and cherish you!