ANZAC DAY
MEMORIAL SERVICE HONOURING THE FALLEN HEROES RETURNED SOLDIERS FOREGATHER ' Yesterday was Anzao Day,\ the second anniversary of the landing of the "Australian and New, Zealand Army Corps oi Gallipoli Peninsula. Tho day was observed in fitting ways through■out Now Zealand... The Wellington celebration took the form of a united service in the Tottn Hall in the afternoon, in.memory of tho men who laid xlown their lives during the campaign "that was initiated on April 25, 1915. More than two thousand people attended this service, in addition to several hundred returned soldiers in uniform. In she evening the returned anen held a gathering of their own in •the Concert Chamber of the Town Hall, Vhere they exchanged recollections of great deeds, and honoured the memorr Ses of brave comrades. Tha service in the Town , Hall in the afternoon was one of the most impressive gatherings ever held in Welling•ton. Tile platform was occupied hy iiiemhers of-the Government, representatives of the military forces, civic j and members of the'clergy. The body of the; hall an 3 the gallery were filled to overflowing by the public, 'and it was easy/to see that those pre•sent included many who.had personal .Josses to mourn. Space had been left at tho front of the hall for. the x re-1 •turned soldiers and a detachment of | naval men. These representatives of tho fighting forces filed into their places immediately before the comsnoncement of the'service, and the gathering, standing, paid a tribute to the Bang's uniform. Some of the men /bore upon their bodies the scars of ',war. A few had medais, and many liad the strips of red and gold braid 'that told of honourable wounds. The service was conducted-by the clergy of the various denominations. n?he E«v. Dr. Gibb, the Rev. A. M. _vJonnson, the Rev. W. A. Evans, and 'the Rev. E. Drake, led in prayer, gave thanksgiving, and read the lessons from the Scriptures. Some familiar hymns,including "O God, Our Help in Ages tPast," "Abide .With Me," and "Lead, Kindly Light," were sung; and Lieu-tenant-Colonel Fyffe played the Dead •March from "Saul" on the organ. The , whole service was marke'd by deep feeling, which found strong expression in the address delivered by Rev. Dr. Gibb. '■Two years ago , to-day the men of New Zealand and Australia made their memorable landing on the shores of Gallipoli," said -Dr. Gibb. "They did ■so nn the face' of a tempest of death, storming the heights amidst 'a hail of lead and bursting shells that mightwell have turned the veterans,of a hundred fights. There many pf them fell, and their mortal remaine lie in graves that will ever have a green place in our memories. In Masefield's nohle took, 'Gallipoli,' their story is , told Ivith a literary facility and an intensity of moral and emotional passion worthy, if any words can be worthy, of the, deeds ho Telates. The conclusion to which Masefield comes is that the history of war affords no more inspiring instance of valour and endurance. . '. . The stalwarts' who charged up _ the death-belching , hills of Gallijpoli, and who afterwards for many yvoary months held perilous and noisome trenches with tenacity that never relaxed and patience that never failed, ~ only a few nrenths before had been following the pursuits pf peace in offices and warehouses, in school and college, in factory and mine,'on farm and station, with no thought that they would over be called upon to face the grim ordeal of battle. They had been changed from peaceful'citizens into ardent. warriors. We know how that, wonderful change had been brought about, [n their hearts there had slumbered, a waiting the call, the unquenchi able valour of the Briton. The sound of the trumpet raised the spirit of their fathers within them. : They leaped Jo arms, and after a few months' trainIng thoy were soldiers'who could en- - dure comparison with the men who stormed the walls of Badajos and held tho lines of Torres Vedras. "What had called these men forth? One tbingjvas the peril of New Zealand, shared in common- with the rest of the British Empire Was New Zealand to ■ share' the-., fate of .Belgium and Northern France? That ;■' '.might be if her . men \were not ' prepared to fight.. Then, for the Empire these men were ready to offer their all. They consecrated their young manhood to the vindication of the freedom of men. They'were moved by the spirit of Him who, exalted righteousness even above peace. They did not 'doubt that Britain must take her part in the struggle to tho death against . the_ cruel, merciless forces'of German ; Militarism. ... To those of them who ; ,;have fallen, wo say, with full hearts, • ■ 'Peace, to their ashes, undying honour ."; Hα their .memories.' They chose the ■'■■!;■■;-better part. They, died, but they did ■ , "not die in vain. j ■ <v;" What. is required of yon for whom i these men suffered and died? Their sac- : rifioe demands that individually and ; unitedly iwe shall see this thing :\ 'through. We must pledge ourselves to }.' see this thing through. .Wβ may be i'weiry and peace. But ■; I what we set out to do must be done. I i German militarism must be brought to :■ jthe dust. Hβ is no friend of his coun- ? i try or of manhood who desires a prei; mature peace. I havo no particle 'of •; sympathy with the spirit of vindicative revenge. If instead of dealing with : those Germans who are responsible for ; ;the war, which millions in Germany ■; ; desired as little as we, we are to punjish the whole German people and at- : tempt the fool's task of shutting sixty '■ or seventy million persons outside the .-'..s comity of nations, then we are going to lay up for ourselves a heritage of woe. 'Such a course will mean that the Ar- ;/ wageddon of to-day will be followed by another and a worse Armageddon. There are two Germanys. There is a Germany which is black to the soul, which cares neither for GM nor man, which loves war as a mistress, a'nd beJieves itself to be the elect of the na- , tions. That Germany must and will " pe brought to the dust. By the blessing of God, sooner or later we would havo brought it to the dust even without the aid of the TJnited States. When the United States joined us in the task, the Eaiser himself must have heard '-, the sound of doom. . "finally we are fighting this war in order that we may put an end to war, : -.that we may smite down not OnlyvGer- . ;man militarism, but militarism wherever it may exist. The treasure that has been poured forth and the precious lives that have been sacrificed are a pledgo of our hatred of war and our determination that when this" conflict oloses war shall cease. It is for this that these hundreds of thousands of ! British men have bled and died. It is. for TEds that our brave young fsons lie 'under nameless mounds ■; J on tho hills of Gallipoli. Let the endt j ing of war be our ideal. The coni (science of the nations must not be alii towed to slumber again,. It must be ; J shot by the realisation of the am— ,: j spoakaole carnage that war means, so ■ i that from all the peoples there will he •;. i-a great cry of horror and indignation i£ ever the spirit rises
again and demands fresh sacrifices of blood. ... No more resolutions will end war. Reforms drastic and sweeping are imperative; if we are to' seo tho dawn of a brighter day for the world. We must reform ourselv.es and our institutions. But all this, and much more will be accomplished if wo turn to the Lord our God with all our hearts. Is not this the word, that comes to us from tho men wlift Have died, from tho great multitude of those whose blood has been spilled upon the battlefields?" The service closed with, the National Anthem. ROUND THE SCHOOLS CLYDE QUAY. Thero was a dual function at the Clyde Quay School; owing to the impossibility v of getting all the children together in ono room. ■ The lower standards celebrated first, and later the higher standards paid their homage to the Anzacs. The function at this school was made particularly interesting! by a stirring address delivered by thejßey.' Archibald Hunt. He_ related how,'at the dawn of one morning two and a half years ago, ho ascended to the top of Mt. Victoria, and watched the grim, dark grey fleet of vessels going away with soldiers who were to tako part "in the landing at Gallipoli. And if the children had boer. privileged to be in the Indian Ocean about that time they would have seen one of the most remarkable sights ever witnessed in the history of Australasia They would have seen au armada or forty vessels in their grey war paint speeding across the seas. Twenty-nine ' of those ■ vessels were transports, cfammed with our boys in khaki, and tho others were the escort to protect the transports, manned Ey the no less gallant boys in blue: And even as they sped over the ocean they were able to do something for tho Empire, for news came flashing across the sea that the raider Eraden was near at hand,-'and one of tho warships (the Sydney) was detached to seek her out and destroy j her, which she did. Mr. Hunt related how the men were trained on the sands of the desert in Egypt, and how at last the order came to go forth and light. They did not know how they were, to ra, or where they were to go—tnoy only knew that they were to go forth and do their duty, and so m the darkness of the morning of April 20, 19J.0, they stole towards the coast of ballipo'li. There was no sound lathe darkness. All was complete silence. And so they went one by one into the boot* and were pulled towards the shore by tugs .and launches. They did not land where tliey were supposed, to land. A mistake had been, made-a fortunate mistake as it turned out. As the faint li°ht of dawn lit up the neighbouring ridge, dark figures could be seen nittini about. The Turks had taken advantage of every rock and bush and lonn- before the first boats reached the shore the battle had Burst upon them, and many a gallant soul passed away before the keels of tho boats scraped the shore. But let them be honest and give credit where it was due. I lie New Zealanders were not tho. hrstto land; that hotiour. belonged to the 3rd Australian Brigade, which was hrst to land at Gaba. Tepe. And when they reached the shore they found themselves without ammunition—not a cartridge among them, but without the order being'given bayonets and charged up the hill, knowing that it was imperative that the , enemy should be driven away if their comrades' landing was to be- protected. Clinging to the rocks, to scrub, and. grass tufts, they clawed their way to the heights above, and withm an hour had forced the enemy hack from the first ridge and cleared the cliff. In ten hours they .had landed 20,000 men. Many, aye many, were hit m the landing, and many gave their lives. One boy was hit no fewer than five, times. He was hit three times without much damage being done; then a sniper caught him and bowled him over. Wnen he recovered himself he dragged , himself to the edge of the cliff, and was about to slide down the hill in order to save himself if possible, when he was struck by a piece of shrapnel and hurled over the cliff. When he came to he was lying in the hospital on the shore.. "That boy," said Mr. Hunt simply, "was my own boy—my only son. I don't tell the story because of,that, but simply , because he typified the spirit of everyone who landed thero that day. Our young men did not go because of any lust lor heming. No, a thousand times no! J. here was not a. single man who .went for the mere desire of killing his fellowmen—they went, because were compelled in honour to go!" They all knew, what Anzac meant— the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps—but be had been informed that it was a Turkish word meaning honour. If that were so, what a fitting word it was to remember the men by, and the day to commemorate thendeeds on. Mr. Hunt reminded his juvenilo audience 'fhat the honour was not confined to Australia and New Zealand,, as there were.British Tommies tand French poilns there who shared the same dangers as our men, and should, share, the same honour. (Applause.) He. concluded his remarks by pointing out the object lesson of the landing at Gallipoli was for all children to do their duty and -play their part in this war in righteousness 'and honour, so-that in them, as well as others, the spirit and.chivalry that made the name of Anzac famous might be maintained. (Applause.) At the conclusion, Mr. W. L. F.oster (the headmaster) thanked Mr. Hunt for his very fine address. He had intended moving a vote of thanks, hut he thought that the spontaneous acclamation of the children had forestalled him. Miss Brenda. Mead recited "The Union Jack," after which Mr. David Robertson (chairman of the committee for a quarter of a century) 'paid a tribute to the noble address given by Mr.. Hunt, and the reverend gentleman was given three hearty cheers. The function came to a close by the sinking of the National Anthem. TERRACE SCHOOL. At the Terrace School, the (scholars were feelingly addressed by Sir J. 6. Findlay, M.P., who described the landing at Gallipoli in vivid language and. explained the derivation of the word "Anzac," which would live for all time in the history of the British people as one to he, honoured. In the course of his remarks Sir John Findlay mentioned that he had three sons .in the fighting forces, one of whom -had paid the full penalty. The National Anthem was sung in conclusion. ISLAND BAY. Anzac Day was marked at the Island Bay School, hv an address to the senior scholars by the headmaster (Mr. Thwaites) on the significance of the anniversary. Similar addresses were made to the othor standards bv the members of the staff. Miss Atchcson, mietress of the infant school, also made the subject one of interest to the little ones. BROOKLYN. . At the Brooklyn School the scholars "of the higher standards were addressed by Captain Cross, who pnid a fine tribute to the bravorv and chivalry of the men. who are entitled to be known as Anzacs. He was given a hmrty vote of thanks hv acclamation. The eiiurins of the National Anthem brought the interesting little function to a BER.HAMPORE SCHOOL. - " The school flag at Berhampore School, Britomart Street, was hoisted yesterday morning;, and later put at halfmast. After the teachers had spoken to their scholars, an address to grouped standard classes was given by the head-
master, who pointed out , tho origin and the significance of tho day and why it should ever remain a red-letter day in the history of the war and of New Zealand'. The sacred scenes were illustrated by largo maps of the Gallipoli Peninsula and of tho Dardanelles, and after tho singing of tho National Anthem the scholars were allowed to go homo for the rest of the day. MARANUI. At the Maranui School, the headmaster (Mr. A. C. Blake) addressed the scholars, detailing Fully the incidents connected with the lauding, naming those responsible for the conduct of the operations and giving a vivid picture of the' memorable events connected w,ith the great undertaking. In order to better,fix the historic events in the scholars' minds each was asked to write an essay on the subject and pass it on to the class teacher. CHURCH SERVICES In some of the city churches yesterday thero were special services of a memorial character in connection with Anzac Day. At St. Mark's Church communion services were held at 8 a.m. and 11 a.m., and in the evening there was a short memorial service, at which the Rev. Mr. Askew spoke impressively of those who had risked their.all on the shores of Gallipoli during tho great struggle against the Turks between April 25 aiid Christmas, 1915. Early Mass was celebrated at St. Joseph's Church, Buckle Street, and at 0.30 a.m. St. Mary's of the Angels, in .Boulcott Street, was packed to the doors, when a Solemn Requiem Mass was celebrated. Archbishop Redwood and Coadjutor-Archbishop O'Shea were present, the latter preaching a sermon on the text: "Greater love than this, no man hath, that he lay down his life for a friend." The Archibishop, in the. course of a brief but impressive addross, likened the Gallipoli campaign to a second campaign against all that was foreign to true Christianity. The Rev. Father Mahoney was the celebrant, and had, as his assistants Cap-tain-Chaplain La Croix (deacon), and Gilbert (sub-deacon).. Among the priests in the sanctuary was Captain-Chaplain Dore, who was seriously wounded at Gallipoli. SERVICE AT PAHIATUA. By Telegraph.—Press Association, Pahlatua, April 25. This afternoon a crowded united religious service was held. The Mayor, Mr. Crewe, presided. The Territorials and the Fire' Brigade marched procession. The chief address was by Captain Bower, of the Salvation Army. A collection in aid of the Firing Line Parcel JFund realised over £20. OBSERVANCES ELSEWHERE THE DAY IN CHRISTCHMOH. . By Telegraph.—Press Association. , Christchurch, April 25. There was-dull weather for Anzac Day;' Special services were held in the chief churches. Af soldiers' wreath was placed in tho Anglican Cathedral. There was a military parade, including returned soldiers, in ttfc North Park. Auckland, April 25. Anzac Day was observed to-day. The principal functions .were a commemorative "Service in the Town Hall and a dinner to returned soldiers. Dunedin, April 20. Anzac Day was celebrated by. suitable memorial services in several churches and a combined public meeting to-night. All were largely attended. The returned soldiers held a procession in the afternoon, concluding with a short religious service at the Octagon. Napier, April 25. The Anzac Day celebrations were successful. There was a procession and a united service. Palmerston North, April 25. An imposing parade of seven hundred men and an impressive memorial service at the Opera House commemorated Anzac Day. (By Telegraph—Special Correspondent.) Masterton, April 25. Anzac Day was celebrated by the; holding of a monster religious service in tho Town Hall, at which patriotic addresses were given. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Woo.dville, April 25. A united memorial service to commemorate Anzac Day was largely . attended. The Drill Hjill was packed. Among the speakers was Mr. G. Harold Smith, M.P. Several returned Anzacs were present. Timaru, April 25. The celebration of Anzac Day passed off well, and was favoured with fine weather. There was a good muster of returned soldiers (Anzacs and Boer War veterans), Territorials, and Cadets. After a combined religious service, addresses were delivered by Captain-Chap-lain'King (who was through Gallipoli), 1&. Craigie, M.P., and the Mayor. . Oamaru, April 25. : An'zao,Day was celebrated by a combined relfgious service in the Town Hall, which was largely attended. An address was delivered by the Rev. Dr. Lawrence. Tho returned soldiers were entertained at dinner by the Mayor and council. There was a largely-at-tended concer? in the evening, after which the returned soldiers foregathered for a reunion. Blenheim, April 25. Anzac Day was celebrated here. There was a crowded attendance in the morning at the combined memorial service. In the afternoon -there were 'patriotic speeches and a luncheon to returned soldiers. Creymouth, April 25. The Anzac Day commemoration Ser-' vices in the churches wore largely attended, and a great .open-air service was held, some 1500 attending, including several returned, soldiers. The Mayor presided and the clergy of varionr Protestant churches took part. Invercargill, Spril 25. Anzac day was celebrated in beautiful weather. The school children assembled and saluted the flag. Thanksgiving services were held in the churches. There were also a military parade and commemorative addresses, a returned soldiers' dinner, and patriotic meeting in the theatre. All functions were pronounced successes. i IMPRESSIVE MEMORIAL IN SYDNEY A NOON-DAY MARK OF RESPECT. By Telegraph-Press Aesociation-Copyriglit. (Rec. April 25, 10.15 p.m.) . Sydney, April 25. The second anniversary of Anzac Day was celebrated by impressive memorial services and a parado of troops, which included a detachment of the New Zealand Rifles, recruiting rallies, and a torchlight procession. All traffic ceased for one minute at noon, and the vast crowds in tho decorated streets bared their heads. ' RETURNED MEN SEND MESSAGE TO THE FRONT In connection . with the celebration of Anzac Day yesterday, the New tiealcnd Returned Soldiers' Association sent tho following, cablegram to General Sir Alexander Godloy:— . '•'.Please convey heartiest greetings from,' New Zealand Returned Soldiers' Association to comrades at the front, and to commander 29th Division. New Zealand returned soldiers are proud of recollections of Gallipoli associations."
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Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3063, 26 April 1917, Page 6
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3,518ANZAC DAY Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3063, 26 April 1917, Page 6
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