The Dominion TUESDAY, APRIL 25, 1916. "A MIGHTY FEAT OF ARMS"

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2754, 25 April 1916, Page 4

The Dominion TUESDAY, APRIL 25, 1916. "A MIGHTY FEAT OF ARMS"

Anzao Day will never be associated in the mincls of New Zealanders with the idea of failure. ■ It will always remind us of one of the finest achievements in British, history. The Australian and New Zealand soldiers who fought on that memorable day' won f oi - themselves a place among the heroes of their race, and proved to .the wide world that Australia and .New Zealand have made good their right to share in the ..glorious military traditions o£ the Motherland. It mean's something more to be a New Zealander now than it did two years ago. The sacrifices made by our citizen soldiers have strengthened the character of the nation, and will* be a source of inspiration to future generations. ' And when we think of the young heroes who will never Come back, we will accord them the honour due to men who Snatch ifrom tlip ashes of our sires The embers of their former fires; AnS he who in the strife expires Will add to theirs a name of fear That Tyranny will quake to hear, And leave his sons a hope, a fume, Thoy too will rather die than shame; For Freedom's battlo once begun Bequeath'd. by bleeding Sire to Son, Though baffled .oft is ever won. The men who lost _ their! lives in Gallipoli' participated in the greatest fight for freedom and honour that the world has ever seen. The Dardanelles campaign has been described as a "splendid, failure.".' But as a matter of 4act the cheerful courage, loyal comradeship, and devotion to duty displayed by our soldiers were '/hot thrown away —far from it. , The Anzacs, like the glorious - 29th Division and other brave British troops, kept large masses of ' the enemy's forces employed, and lessened the pressure on the. Allied armies' in other theatres of the war. Though success did not crown their efforts they did all that mortal men could do, and in so far as they failed, it was one of those noble failures that far o'ertop mean successes. But they never fail who die for a great cause, and no soldier ever died for a greater cause than the Australians and' New Zealanders who lio buried in Gallipoli. Their graves are "the graves of those who cannot die.". After paying, tribute to "the everlasting memory" of his "dear comrades who will return no more," Sir lan Hamilton, in his dispatch on' the Dardanelles campaign, gives a special God-speed to the .campaigners who served with him "right through from the terrible yet most glorious earlier days—the incomparable' 29th Division; tlw young veterans of the Naval Division; the ever-victorious Australians and New Zeaknders; the stout East Lanes; and his own brave fellow-countrymen of the Lowland Division o£-Scotland.!' Tho . dispatch U a stirring story of baf-.

fled bravery—of a magnificent attempt to achieve the impossible. Though many phases of the Dardanelles campaign will be passing through the.minds of New Zealanders to-day, the commemoration will- have special reference to the Battle of the Landing, which took place on April 25 of last year. The story, of that wonderful battle is well told by Mr.. John Buchan in his "Historv of the War."

It is a fight without a precedent (ho writes). Tlioro liave been landings—such as Aljercromby's at Aboukir—fiercely contested landings in our history, but 110110 011 a scale like this. Sixty thousand men, backed by the most powerful Navy in tho world, attacked a shore which Nature seemed to luivo made impregnable, and which was held by at least twice that number of the enemy in positions prepared for months, and supported by tho latest modern artillery. The mere problem, of iranjport u;as sufficient to deter tho'boldest. Every rule of war was set at nought. On paper tho thing was impossible, as the Turkish Army Order announced. By tho ■ text-books no man should have left Che beaches alive. In Sir lan Hamilton's words, it "involved difficulties for which no precedent was forthcoming in military history." Remember that wo were lighting against a gallant enemy who was at his best in defenco and in this unorthodox type of battle. All accounts prove that the Turks fought with superlative boldness and courage—with chivalry, too, as their treatment of our wounded, showed. That our audacity succeeded is a tribute io the unsurpassable fighting quality of our men— the Regulars of the 29th Division, the Naval Division, and not least to the dasli and doggedness of tlie Australasian Corps. Whatever be the judgment of posterity on its policy or its consequences, the Battle, of the Landing will be acclaimed as a mighty feat of arms.

In years to come parent's might well reply in these words of Mr. Buchan when their children ask on Anzac Day "What mean you by this service 1" Shakespeare's line's about the men who fought at Agincourt on St.' Crispian's Day may well be applied to the Anzac heroes.

He that outlives this day and conies safe home, ' Will stand a tip-toe when this day is named, ' .And rouso him at tho name of Crispian. Ho that shall live this day and seo old

ago, Will yearly on the vigil feast his neigh- ■ hours, And say: "To-morrow is Saint Crispian." Then will he strip his sleeva and show his

scars, And say: "These wounds I had on' Crispin's Old men forget; yet all shalkhe forgot, But he'll remember with advantages What feats lie did that day.

Though our commemoration has special reference to the gallant deeds of the Australians and New Zealanders we are not unmindful of the fact that British troops also took part in the Battle of tho Landing, and covered themselves with glory. New Zealanders will cordially agree with tho chaplain who recently declared .{hat tho "immortal band of heroes" who fought in Gallipoli "did not seek any differentiation ; of honour.", English, Scottish, Irish; Canadians, South Africans, , Indians, and Anzacs form one great band of brothers in this war. They arc fighting in tho same generous spirit and' for the same great cause, and all—both the living and the dead—will have an equal share in the glory of victory. .We in_ New"Zealand will join to-day with those jwho gather iu Westminster Abbey, 1 in giving thanks "for- the unity of tho Empire, for the free-will offering of her sons and daughters, and the courage and loyalty of her soldiers and sailors, and the affection and devotion between the Dominions Overseas/ and the Mother Country." Our Anzac Day commemoration will bear, impressive witness to the oneness and indivisibility of the British Empire.