PARADE AND SERVICES

Chronicle (Levin), 26 April 1946, Page 8

PARADE AND SERVICES

WREATHS LAID AT MEMORIAL Ceremonies in Levin were favoured by fine sunny weather, which lasted throughout the day and assisted considerably in making the parts of the ceremonies held out of doors more impressive. Proceedings commenced at 1.45 p.m. with a parade of South African veterans under the president of the Levin branch (Mr. E. Hogg), r.eturned personnel of the last two ■ wars headed by the president of the Levin R.S.A. (Mr. H. J. Lancaster) , home servicemen led by the presh dent of the Levin Homeservicemen's Association (Mr. J. A. Zuppicich) and Levin Boy Scouts, Cubs, Girl Guides and Brownies in charge of Scou-tmaster W. W. Benfell, Cubmistress B. Blenkhorn, Guide Captain F. D. Chainey and Guide Lieutenant Clapcott. The parade assembled at the Levin School and marched to the war memorial in the Public Gardens. Being the first Anzac com-memoration since the | end of the war it was notable for j the larger number of young men in the ranks of the ex-servicemen. The | parade was led by the Levin Boys' I Band. j There was a large crowd assembl- ! ed at the memorial to watch the i laying of wreaths by various organisations and individuals, and to Ihear an address by the Rev: G. B. j Stote-Blandy. During the laying of |the wreaths Piper J. Frew played a j Highland lameht: i We Will Remember Them i | Mr. Stote-Blandy prefaced his , address with a very Well-known Iquotation from the poem of Laurienee Binyon, '"For the Fallen." ; With proud thanksgiving, a mother for lier children, England mou-rns her dead across the sea. Flesh of .her.flesh they were, spirit of' her spirit, Fallen in the .cause of the free. They shall not grow old, as we that are'left grow old; ;Age shall not weary them, nor the T years condemn. ' At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, We will remember them. The speaker reminded the gath- ; ering of the need for their deeper igratitude on this first Anzac Day j since the end of the war, and how ; saerifice was not only made by those j who died, but also by those who still 'lived but did not speak of their sacrifiees. The essence of sacrifi-ee 'was not death, but a willingness to | give service.. to others, even at the cost of our-pwh ii'ves. . j Mr. Stote-Blandy told the assemb-; ly that life was like running a ra.ee in an ampithieatre, watched by . a great mass of people; those who died were the spectators, watching j to see if we made a good peace | from their saerifice, If we did that [ they would surely honour us as we hoiiour.ed them. At the eonclusion of the address, the parade and a large portion of the crowd moved off to the Regent Theatre for the memorial service, the route followed being by Cambridge Street, Queen Street and Oxford Street. SERVICE AT THEATRE " " A large crowd filled the theatre, and all those present joined in the proceedings with a solemnity and de.pth of .feeling which was fitting to the nature of the occasion. On the stage were His Worship the Mayor (Mr. H. B. Burdekin) , the president of the Levin R.S.A. (Mr. H. J. Lancaster) , the president of the Levin branch of the South African Veterans' Asociation (Mr. E. Hogg) , Padre A. Salmond (Presbyferian Church) , Rev. G. B. StoteBlandy (Church of England) and Captain Jackson (Salvation Army) . Meaning of Anzac In a short address, His Worship explained the real purpose of the gathering, and of the story and meaning of Anzac Day. He said it did not simply celebrate the lamding of our tfoops on Gallipoli, but honoured all the New Zealand. troops who had fought in the wars, particularly those who had given their lives. -The speaker read the text of the Act of Parliament which had brought Anzac Day into being, The service then began with the singing of the New Zealand National Anthem, followed by " a prayen recited by Mr. Stote-Blandy. "O God our Help in Ages Past" was then sung, and Captain Jackson read a passage from the Scriptures.' )

Cost of Our Heritage After the singing of "Eternal Father Strong to Save," Padre Salmond. gave his address, in which he urged his listeners not to regard Anzac Day merely as a -holiday, out to pause and look at some of the aspects of our heritage, which had been paid for at the cost of such a great saerifice. Words were not enough; sometimes si'lence was more eioquent. We should rememoer the lives that were given and the lives that were broken and make a vow to be loyal to the best aspects of our heritage. We were a free community, tne speaker went on, and the freedom we enjoyed from fear, want and conscience, and especially our freedom of speech, were the marks of this heritage, which w-as created by the shedding of the blood and the toil of others. Mr. Salmond related some of his experiences and impressions of Germany during his visit there in 1936, only a few y-ears after the Nazis had come to power, to show what it was like to live in a' country -where those freedorns were denied to the people. The speaker concluded by outlining tnree thoughts which had great importance in our life to-day. First, that although the victory had been won we lived in a world where the seeds of war had been sown. Victory had been" won, but the eauses of war was still with us.. Ihomas Mann had said "that war was a cowardly retreat from .the problems of peace." Peace Was the proauct of justice, and it was pur -•ccponsibility to see that justice was done. Democracy was not 'an easy sysiem to live in; everyone had to share the responsibility whieh privfiege brought with it. The second thought was the necessity for recognising fhe sovereignity of God. We should remember the purpose of God which prevented us from giving way to pfide. The third point was 'that a nian could not fight for peace unless ;there wasi peace in his heart, and only when we had fbund this peace would peaqe come to this suffering world. Following the singing df -"Abide with Me," the "Last Post" was played by Mr. G. R. Lester. The emotional effecb of the playing of this moving call was most notieeable, and the short silence. which followed added greatly to this effect. The Benediction was then pronounced by Mr. Stote-Blandy, and the service concluded with the singing of the National Anthem, accompanied by the Boys' Band. Before the public left the tlleatre, Mr. Lancaster extended the thanks of the Levin R.S.A. to all those who had assisted in the organisation of the day's observances.