HERO OF ANZAC.

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 16856, 9 June 1920, Page 6

HERO OF ANZAC.

I * I GENERAL BIRDWOOD IB j CHRISTCHURCH. A "DIGGER" AND A "COBBER." General Sir William Birdwood. of undying Anzac fame, arrived from the North by the ferry steamer yesterday morning, accompanied by I-ady Birowood, Miss Judith Birdwood, and his secretary, Captain L. A. T. "Ward. The party travelled in a Ministerial carriage to Christchurch, where General Birdwood was met by Colonel L. \oung, O.C. the Canterbury IHstrict, Licut.Colonel Fenwick, A.P.M.S., LieutColonel J. E. Birton, chief staff officer, Captain Tahu Rhodes, and the Rev. W. Walker, president of the Returned Soldiers' Association. There were not many neonle about the station, but those who" were there heartily cheered the General as he left for "To Korahn," where he is staving with Captain and the Hon. Mrs Tahu Rhodes. THE CIVIC RECEPTION. ENTHUSIASTIC GREETING. The attendance at the civic reception tendered to the General at the Theatre Koval was not very large, but tno greater part of the ground floor was Ulled. The Mayor (Dr. 1 backer) presided, with him on the platform being Colonel Young, Sir licaton Rhodes Captain Tahu Rhodes, several cit> councillors, and_ stnft officers, n d «i number of prominent citizens and their wives. The General was loudly nppl iuded when he took his seat on the platform, and the applause was renewed in the body of the theatre when the curtain was raised. J)r. Thacker expressed his priuo at being able to introduce to the citizcns of Christchurch Sir "William Birdwood, who was looked upon as a fine soldier, a good fellow, and an officer who took the veiy best care possible of his men. (Applause.) „ ~ , r Tho Rev. W. "Walker, president of the local Returned Soldiers' Association, said he wished Sir "William to know that he had won his way to the hearts of all the New Zealand troops, in whom he had taken such an intetesfc, not only whilo they were away, but also since tliey had returned. (Applause.) Sir "William, on rising to reply, was greeted with loud applause and clicers. He addressed himself to the ''Mayor, ladies and gentlemen, and old digger comrades," and his speech, delivered in a clear, pleasant voice, with an easy flow of language, was an entertaining mixture of serious talk and humorous anecdotes. He apologised, for the •absence of Lady Birdwood, who, he said, was suffering from tho effects of a chill she had cnuglit on the day of their arrival in Wellington. As they had driven through Christchurch, ho continued, her first wrfvrds had been, ""Why, we are back in England again," and one could pay no greater compliment to anv town, country, or village than to think one was ba-ck at home again. (Applause.) That was also how Christchurch had struck him. Amidst :ts curroundings and amongst its people, one began to think one was back in England. That afternoon he wns going to .pay a visit to Christ's College. He wished he could visit other colleges, b\it his time would not permit him to do po. Thn reason he was going to Christ's College was that it was closely associated with his . old college, Clifton. Masters of Christ's College had bcen old Clifton boys—and the Goneral mentioncd tho names of Mc-s"s Morelnnd, M n- : t.ejthj and Carter—and ono of the liead boys of Christ's College}— Richards—wass —was now a master at-Clifton. The General added that although he could not find time to visit other colleges, they all had, 110 less than Christ's College, lxis very host wishes for their prosperity. (Applause.) Continuing, Sir William said that ho was'grateful to the Mayor for applying to him the term "cobber." Personally, he waf. rather doubtful as to whether iie should use tho wrvrd, as he had on one occision met a "digger" in France, and on learning that he was going across to a certain Lattery, had asked him whether he had a "cobber" in the battery. "Well, yes,'' was the man's reply, "hut that is not a word I would use myself." (Laughter.) The mail had proved to be a professor out here, and evidently despised the word, and therefore the General was delighted to hear himself spoken of in such n term, bv such a high dignitary as the Mayor of Christchurch. (Laughter and applause.) However, he was extremely glad that the boys who had been with, him looked upon him ps a "cobber." (Applause.) The people of New Zealand, ho went en, might well he proud of those boys. Ke and his brother officers who had served with them knew how absolutely the people might be proud of them-to tho last day of their lives. (Applause.) Ho wished his hearers could have heard the fine thincs said about the men by the young officers, and not merely by an old decrepit general such as he himself was. (Laughter.) The knowledge that he was decrepit was brought home to him in Australia recently. He had just given his daughter in marriage to a young Australian officer, and a gentleman had congratulated him on having "such a magnificent termination to his career." In Wcllinglon, a New Zoalander had expressed his pleasure that there were two daughters, and that as one had married an Australian, it was to be hoped that the other would find ,i. husband in New Zealand. "It she does." said the General amidst lauehter rnd applause, "I shall be delighted. But there is plenty of time yet for her t-> make up her mind. She is yet only 10 years of age." j Continuing. Sir William spoke of tho! magnificent work of the New Zcalanders | in tho trenches, of the exploits of tho ' British submnrines and destroyers in tho Dardanelles, and of the fine work j generally of the navy and of the air- ; men, whose deeds were such as should j make every,man and woman go down on their kr.ees, and thank God every day that they were of the same race , ns had prcdured su"h men. (Applause.) ; was right that history should record , their deeds, and the fact that this gen- ! eration had flayed its part. There were some people, particularly at Home, who tried to belittle the work of their own men, while giving all praise to what other nations had done. However, we ' as a race had done our part, and the generation had done its part. Marshal Foch himself had told him distinctly that had it not been for the British. ! France would have "gone out," and , that was true. Pl~d it not been for the little British Army of 1914. the speaker: honestly thought that tho Germans; would have been in Paris, and what j would have happened then could only j In- imagined. To stop that advance was j only one thing the British had done. He" himself had taken part in the Victory march through Paris, and had seen ' the" lines of men and women, who, when the British troops passed them, poured out their one word of English, "Grati- i tude, gratitude," than which more expressive thanks could not be conceived. There ware some people, General Birdwood continuedj who questioned whether the armistice to Germany should have been granted. They did not realise how completely Germnny had been defeated. Marshal Fcch had told him that when the Germans asked for the armistice, he could not, in tho name of humanity, refuse them. His terms amounted, practical.';-, to unconditional surrender. If he had not . granted the armistice, the lives of twentv or thirty thousand more of our men would have been sacrificed. Moreover, the Germans were in the French and Belgian towns, and the damage

they would have done to those towns could not be concoived. Again, had it> not been granted, the "whole of Germany might have become Bolshevik. Thero would have been no government with which to treat, and no one could toll what the Bolshevik crowd might havo done. All could rest assured that Marshal Foch undoubted!;- had very good reasons for granting the armistice at the time. in concluding his remarks. Sir William said that he wished to express the - gratitude of all the tokliers to those v who had stopped behind, and had given 1 them the moral which really won the war for us. LudendorfT m his book had ■ attributed the German defeat to the * failure of the "war-will" of the people > at home. The British soldiers knew . that they had the support ol" every man . and woman of their race, who,"while the soldiers always had excitemcnt to > keep them going, had nothing to iook - forward to but what tho ::ext mail . might bring. Ho was glad to be a.blo to tell tho New Zealand women that ' the women at. Home who eould help • had done their very best to take tho J I places of the mothers of tho boys. (Ap. l b pl.iuse.) Homes all over England had * t, been thrown open to those men, and I he did not know of a single case in , j which that hospitality had been abtis- ! ed. In fact, in answer to his letters i ol" thanks, ho had received hundreds of letters from English women stating that thanks were due not to them, bub from them, and that it was a privilege to have such boys with them. (Applause.) The war had shown us that the. hearts of the British people were still sound, that they wero tho same British as the British of hundreds of j ve-trs ago. (Loud applause.) 3 The gathering dispersed with hearty a cheers for Sir William and Lady Birds wood, and their daughter, tho general 1 hiving to submit to much hand-shaking T ns he made his way to his car.