"ANZACS" IN THE WESTERN THEATRE

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2767, 10 May 1916, Page 5

"ANZACS " IN THE WESTERN THEATRE

FACING THE GERMAN TRENCHES STIRRING APPEAL BY GENERAL s BIRDWOOD v .•"'.'• ■ /. . In the' House of Representatives yesterday. the Prime Minister (the Bight Hon. Mr. W, F.;Llassey) made the following statement:— "I desire to read a dispatch which came through this morning from the Secretary of State for' the Colonies to His Excellency tho Governor. Tho dispatch is os follows;— : ■'•' "'lnformation that Australian and New Zealand troops have arrived in: France and taken over a portion of the front may now bo made public' '(Applause.) ; . ' ."I am quite sure," said Mr, Massey, "that I am expressing the sentiments of my fellow-members when'l say we are all pleased that the Australian and New Zealanders are again tv be associated, and I am quite certain of this—that they will hold the ,'part of the front allotted tv them in a way we would expect and wish the Anzacs to hold it. And if and when the order comes to advance, there will be no hanging back on the part of our boys—l am associating tho Australians and Now Zealanders—l am quite certain they will not bo the last \A the British Army to get through." : .' A similar announcement was made in the Legislative Council by tho Hon. Sir Francis Bell. The Hon.' G. Jones asked whether the news applied to the whole of the New Zealand troops. > Sir Francis Bell: I ara not at liberty to say. The authority is iu terms of what I have read to the Council.

COLONIALS EAGER FOR THE FR AY , FROM THE PYRAMIDS TO THE HUN TRENCHES. .By TeleEraDli-rPreES Association-Copyright . (Bee. May 9, 9.10 p.m.) " • • * London, May 8. ; Nearly half the Australians and most of the New Zealanders who are now on the Western front have seen fighting in Anzac or Western Egypt. Their losses in GaUipoli have been so heavy .that in order to make up the full quota destined for Northern France with adequate reserves it was necessary to diawlargely upon recent drafts from the Commonwealth and the Dominion. When the' expedition was being arranged there was much anxiety, soma regiments fearing that they would not go. Many men belonging to the Australian Light Horse disowned their regiments, hoping to be drafted into troous for France. None wanted to stay behind. Nine hundred men. of tho Australian Light Horse volunteered for the infantry in a single day. -The last of the Australians to leave .was.the Anzac Headquarters .Staff, with General Sir W. B. Birdwood and General' White. The .Submarine Peril. • The voyage was practically without'incident. Directly the men embarked they wore supplied with lifebelts, which they wefto all 2ay. Boat drill was part ofi the routine, every man being allotted his station. The navigation officers had several anxious hours, but the men were unaware of the proximity of the deadly submarines. Several false alarms were sounded to test the efficiency of the safety arrangements. The troops were required to stand by the boats, but the whole l>ody was transferred without a single mishap. There were • a few cases of sickness. "The Honour of Your Name.", .('■'■ ■ ■ On the last day of the trip a meeting was arranged on one of the troopships, when General Birdwood addressed 3500 men, a printed copy being,distributed to every member of the force as well, together with tho text of Lord Kitchener's message to the Britisli Expeditionary Force in August 1914, in the course of which the British Secretary of State for War said: "Fear God and Honour the King. Remember that you are fighting on the soil of a-friendly nation. . Abstain from liquor and looting. Be courteous to women, but not more than courteous." , General Birdwood urged tho Anzacs to live up to this ideal, and proceeded: "You have made for yourselves a national reputation as good fighters, which bun earned the esteem of comrades alongside whom you will soon be fighting. You have two .important qualities, fighting spirit and training, but the third quality, discipline, is essential to success, and the greatest of the three. Without it the best fighting troops in the world fail to achieve success. You will bo faced with temptations in France because you will probably be billeted in densely populated villages. Drink will, I fear, be obtainable. Vheso villages are mostly full of women, and children whose fathers, husbands, and brothers are fighting for their country against the common enemy.

Be Chivalrous, "I havo not the slightest doubt that you v:ill respect women,' because you well know how repugnant the idea of offence- against a defenceless woman is to every Australian and New Zealander. Against drink I wish particularly to worn you. I implore you to talto hold of yourselves, and in tho case of every man of you to absolutely make up your mind to determine for yourselves that yon w;ill not give way to it, remembering that the honour of Australia or New Zealand is in your keeping. "You know I am referring to a very small proportion. The great majority of you don't want such warning, and I earnestly beg of them to do all in their power to look after those 'comrades v:llo have not tho 6ame strength of mind. Remember that a few black sheep can givo a bad name to tho whole flock. Let's make x up our minds that the Australian and Kew Zealand forces are going to prove themselves as second to nono in discipline, as already they havo dono wfeere sheer hard fighting is concerned. "See to this, boys! You know you are capable of it. And if you do it you will return to Australia and New Zealand after victory and peaco with an unsullied reputation which' will go down to all times in your homo."