ANZAC DAY

Waikato Times, Volume 89, Issue 13750, 25 April 1918, Page 4

ANZAC DAY

CELEBRATION IN HAMILTON. Anzac Day—that day of all days to patriotic New Zealanders, marking as ; t did our real entry in the great world war—was fittingly celebrated in Hamilton to-day. The afternoon was observed as a close holiday, and, being beautifully fine, large crowds were tempted to take part in the service.

STORY OF THE LANDING. The landing of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps at the Anzac Cove, north of Gaba Tepe, was carried out before daybreak on April 25th, 1915. The troops were escorted and conveyed by the 2nd Squadron of the Fleet, under Rear-Admiral Thursty. The point selected was so difficult and rugged that Sir lan Hamilton, in his report, stated that lie considered the Turks were not at all likely to anticipate such a descent. The boats approached the land in silence, and were close to the shore before the enemy stirred. The moment the boats touched land the colonials' turn had come. The Turkish defences were formidable, and although covered by the fire of battleships, the infantry at more than one point were shot and drowned in the act of disembarking from the boats. The loss of senior officers was severe, but the seasoned regulars would not be denied, while the dauntless fighting of the Dominion troops, who had their spurs to win, compensated for their lack of training. Like lightning I'.

leapt ashore, and each man as he did so went straight as his bayonet at the enemy. So vigorous was the onslaught that the Turks made no attempt to withstand it, and lied from ridye to ridge, pursued by the colonials' infantry. By 2 p.m. 12,000 men and two batteries of Indians' Mountain Artillery had been landed. Desperate counterattacks were made by the Turks, who by the next morning had been reinforced to the strength of 20,000 mpn. Owing to these attacks further immediate advance was impossible, and the colonials entrenched themselves in the ground won.

While not immediately associated with the making of Anzac, simultaneous landings were effected further south by the 2nd South Wales Borderers, the King's Own Scottish Borderers, the Royal Naval Division, the Royal, Lancashire, Dublin and Minister Fusiliers, the Hampshire* and the West Riding Field Company, with four French battalions, of which Sir Tan Hamilton wrote: ''lt is my firm conviction that no finer feat of arms has ever l>een achieved by the British soldier."

THE PARADE. The military men paraded, at the Horse Bazaar, there lieing a very large attendance of each unit. They then marched to the Theatre Royal the procession being one of the largest ever seen in Hamilton. Place of honour was given to the returned soldiers, under Lieutenants Holland and McGregor. Then follow "G" T> .. :y under Lieutenant Farrer, Infantrv under Captain Bellamy, High School Cadets under Lieutenant Stace and Scrgaant-Major Purdom, and the Boy Scci.ts. Tlie Regimental Band and t':,' Municipal Band discoursed patriotic music. 'lhe large crowd which lined the streets were much impressed by the military parade.

MEMORIAL SERVICE. The Theatre Royal was packed fertile memorial service, at which the De-puty-M\.yor (Mr J. R. Fow) presided. tional Anthem; pravers were offered by Revs. R. Mackie and J. Clover; Pastor Waterhouse read the lesson (P.salm so.); hymns were announced by Pastot Waterhouse and Adjutant Hnltquist. The service was com hided y the Benediction, pronounced by Rev. J. T. Burrows The singing was led by the combined ?hoirs of the several churches, the orchestra being under the baton of Mr T. S. Webster. Rev. E. O. Blamires, in his introductory remarks, referred almost with regret to the necessity for speech on such an occasion as the present, when one's thoughts lay too deep for words, i. men of Anzac had left a legacy far bevi iid richc?. The Good Book says. " A irood name is better than riches," and I - v had bequeathed to u s a g».-,d nsmc—ANZAC. What's in a name? ["■!,» . i n-iicHur of the name Anzie was

I.i l! ut U •• uggesh ■! ,'.n mdica.l. of nati;.n;,l spirit, which ofti lines ;iLcr..i-cd the description of a people's character. Up to the present we in Australia and New Zealand had no «uch description of national character. People have simply spoken of us as ' colonials," with somewhat uncertain meaning. From the present time, how. ever, we have a name. Our baptism was with blood on April 25, 1915, and the name given was ANZAC. It is a welcome dignity. Our men have won a good name. Are we as a people able to keep it as unspotted and as reputable as it has been handed to us by those heroes. It suggests to our minds the nobility of a great daring. After referring to the landing and the evidence that someone had Sundered, the speaker said that that f.ct did not in the least detract from the J'onoui end glory of our soldiers. They lid their part nobly and failure or stic- > s is not the gauge by which their nobility is to be measured. It is gaugod, not by the result, but by the quality of the achievement attempted. The loftier the purpose, the bigger the task, the more the liability to fail, and the only man who never fails is the one who never attempts anything hig. A high failure overreaches the hounds of a low success. The History of the world would show few attempts that have been as soul Stirling as that of the men of Air/ae, but at the landing and in the subsequent stirring events on the shell swept shores of Gallipoli, amid shortness of food, scarcity of water, sickness and pestilence. It was a trial of courage and endurance that teste! the men as men had seldom hoen tested i:i warfare before, but they came ut with honour unstained, and spirits undaunted, te complete the remarkable liapter of heroism with an evacuation in which they prepared for 1U,(H)() wounded, and escaped practically lice Would the name Anzac as applied to New Zealand mean that we as New Zcalanders shall always possess the no. hdity ef great daring, that we prefer ■•> fail with high aims than to succeed with low ones, that we would rather he beaten on the better fide than win >n tbi' worse, rather die fighting for principle than live sin rendering it '? As the poet said :

Ii isn't the fact Mint you're dead that counts, Ihit oalv how did vou di°r''

l ! i;i tin l task which those men undorti>;k ■it (='alli|"oli is not finished, the fighting '.i which they fell is not yet completed. Vuznc was only the beginning, for the

inhumanity of r >crmany still faces us. and tlk- snored resnonsihility rcsiin» n:i us is to end the long programme nl •!'\ilrv with its latest devices of hellish malice.

"Vlmt is our task?" asked ;•■<> rrnker. ''ls it not to rise in nil V- righteous indignation We ean eom.•;nd and strike a How at the forces j that nre responsible for such cruelties? i And for this it is not sufficient to say i merely We must win this war.' 'We j must overthrow Germany.' If GerI many were wiped off the map to-mor-I row, that would not cud the inroads of

cruelty and brutality upon our life, ilioiv are worse foes than Germany. We have a present dub r 0 fight Ger. many but oi.lv because present-day Germany has yielded to the influence of selfishness and lawlessness and has exalted persona! pride and ambition active all considerations of what is right and fair. These forces are not unknown in our own lands. Thev are not always clothed in German mail. We have seen duel things in New Zealand. Selfishness takes root verv easily in our own hearts. Vice lifts its many heads in our streets, with its cruel grin frightening the weak and innocent, and wherever there is vice, depend on it, the inevitable result is the slaughtering of the the trampling on the rights of' the weak, the destruction of all in life that is worthy and good. The task is bigger than the present war. ▼* It is a fight between God-inspired and devil-inspired, between right* and wrong, lietween Christ and selfishness, and the mark of those who fight on Christ's side is seen in such service and such sacrifice as has l>een shown by the heroes of Anzac who, like Christ, left in an example and laid down their lives for their friends. It is a huge task which has l>oen left to us unfulfilled, but it is the spirit of the Anzac to tackle the big task, to climb the steep hill, to charge the well-entrench-ed ioe. Anzac is the name that has come tr ns. Whether we wish it or not, wuether we deserve it or not, we are, by association, with our brave heroes. Let the name ring out a challenge to us. until, responding to the challenge, we make Anzac a name that sU!*gests, as in an acrostic once made, ' A Nation Zealous After Christ.' "

SERVICE AT ST. PETER'S. At St. Peter's Church there was a celebration of the Holy Communion at 7 a.m., which was well-attended, and at It) a.m. Holy Eucharist and a service in commemoration of those who have given their lives for us. There was a large congregation.

Archdeacon CWie delivered a powerful address, emphasising that Anzac Day was not a day of gloom, but it should bo a day of thankfulness. We naturally thought mainly of the New Zealanders and Australians who participated in the operation, but we must not forget the other Imperial forces which took part, and lie especially referred to the naval contingent and the Lancashires. The last-named regiment was composed principally of youths fresh from the workshops and offices, who had, after experiencing the difficulties of the landing, acquitted themselves as men. There w'ere those who said that the operation had been a failure, aud had resulted in the needless cost of 300,000 men. This contention the Archdeacon vigorously combated. It had, perhaps, not been successful in its main objective, but when it was viewed in the of years be acknowledged that a campaign which had brought Italy in on the side of the Allies, kept Bulgaria out at a critical time, helped to save the left of the Russian armv, and possibly saved the Suez Canal, Egvpt and India, could not be characterised as a failure. The speaker concluded bv emphasising that the war was a conflict of ideals —the spiritual against the material—and while everyone could iiw, Kuiicipate i" the actual fighting they were called noon to take up their stand for Christian principles,' and those things which pertain to the Kingdom of God.

At the conclusion of the address, Chopin s "Dead March" was plaved bv the organist (Mr S. B. Sims'), and Bandmaster T. Donovan sounded the Last lost."