SERVICES RENDERED

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 221, 12 June 1919, Page 6

SERVICES RENDERED

J DEFENCE OFFICERS FAREWELLED I t ■■■ ■ ~~~ i COLONEL GIBBON'S WORK

! Colonel Gibbon, C.M.G., of the Im- ! .perial:.General Staff, who throughout'tho j. . leittire-jperiodiof-the war acted as Chief ! ." jof tho General Staff of the New Zealand I." -.- Defence Forces, was tho guest of honour 1 at a farewell dinmjr given by tho Acting-' , I ■ ' Priino Minister and Minister of Defence !-'.' at, the Wellington Club on Wednesday I / night. Sir James Allen, K.C.8., prei eicled, and- amongst thoso present wero •■ the Hon. W; D. S. MacDonaJd, Hon. Sir J . I'raucis ißell, Hon. W. , H. Hemes, i Hon. D. 11. Gulhrie, Major-General Si; , ; ' : AlfrcdiEobJ:i, G.O/.C, Brigadier-General ! D; J.-M'Gavin, D.G.M.S., Captain P. H. j. Hall-Thompson, Naval Adviser to . the i "New Zealand Government, and Colonel K ! ,'H. Hildy, late General Manager of Eail- ! . ways;. ■■■'■; ■ ■ '■' ;' ''. 'Keeping up Reinforcements. j After the. toast to "The King" had !. -,;. been honoured, j .' Sir James Allen proposed the. health of j '• 'Colonel Gibbon,, and, in doing so, said i they had met to say good-bye to two ■ officers.who .in a short time wore leturnI ing to the Old Country after having.done '' their duty to New Zealand and to the j. Empire during tho.'war period. The ■' : first of these officers was Colonel C. M. j. , '- Gibbonj C.G.S. Ho had also taken this !. , occasion to ask them to meet Colonel E. \.-'- H. Hiley. He wished . these officers ,to [" feel, on returning .to their own country j that the very valuable 'services they -had I Tendered to New Zealand , during the .war I time were fully appreciated. Of Culonci. ['. ■■ Gibbon he could speak especially, bej. cause he had been in the closest contact I with that officer'since tho war began. !■ No man who served his country well duri■■' ing this time of trial could hops to ]. : escape a certain, amount of criticism. !■• They could well pass that criticism by ! now, because the war was over and they j had the satisfaction of knowing that this i Dominion had fulfilled its task and done I , its duty as an integral part of the Brii tish Empire right well. He had fully. • ;'. realised during all tho war time.that in f- Colonel Gibbon lie had not only possessed ! a loyal officer, but an exceptionally brilf ' Kant and capable one. Colonel Gibbon i had devoted the whole .of his energy an<t i of -his great ability to the servtco oj ' New Zealand and.of the Empire',. &ir I Jam'e3"Allen.'was. sure .that the , G.O.C. i ' .would agree with him whon he said that ■ Qolo'nel Gibbon had been ono of. the i 'mainstays of the Defence Department, \ and particularly that he had been the I " driving forco that had spurred them ! on to keep up the steady flow of j t reinforcements for'; our. soldiers at !/■"■,'tjne",front.... He- .knew , of; no offiI cer.. .who had, dono more than Colonel ! Gibbon to keep the Minister and J . the'.Department' alive to the. essential I fact-ttiat if the New Zealand : Division; i. wr.-i to do i'ts duty at the front it must ; be maintained at ita-full strength. The ■ ■ very' greatest 'credit- was due' to the : Chief ' : of' the General ' Staffer that. i ■ That, however, 'was not the 'only work I -he had done. There might have been ; differences of opinion with regard to ! i ( the methods of training of our soldiers, , j out they could disregard all that now j '.because'they . knew that New Zealand ] had done, all she had undertaken'to (k>, j .and that'right up to the finish they had j ? kept the' Division lip to strength, and j -had supplied men of tho same stamp as J those who had gone away with the Main : Body and the earliar reinforcements, and :•. trained certainly not less efficiently than ; the first-drafts. He thought.they could •■' safely-eay'-'that the training "-of our sol- : diersv-.had been a success, .and to 'the : C.G.S.' was due the credit for a great ; deal of that success, because that officer ; ... had,been largely responsible for organisi ing' and carrying out this important :. work. ' It was quite likely that Colonel Gibbon in doing so had not pleased : every officer in the training camps; But it was not possible to please everybody, ' ; and. in fact, he would look with enspii cion on any man who did please everybody. He desired to thank Colonel Gib- ; bon for his. loyal help and great ser- \ vices to-the-Dominion, and to wish him ! . and Mrs. Gibbon all success and happi- ;. "ness'in their future life, i :?. -General Sir Alfred Eobin, -G.0.C., in ! 'supporting'tho toast, said there was ;■ -Tfttle." that'he could add to what the j Minister-had told them. As the Genj- "frnV'Offijcer.'i'Commnnding he had been in J the closest co-operation with the C.G.S. I since, that officer had arrived in New j Zealand jnsfc.before the war, and he yras j fully, sensible. of hie great capabilities I and of the manner in which he had de- : voted them to the service of New Zea- ; laindiand-the Empire. !' y./ ,' . Had' Done His Best. I '^Colonel;:C.M. Gibbon, in.responding, ! -said'a man "could only try' and do his i best, and if he did (hat ho could do ! .no -nigra.-,; If. he sucoeoded then it-was j all right. If he failed, it was .also all ! light, becauso ho had the knowledge I that he had done his "best. During tno \ . rtimo -he' had been in Now Zealand lie had I . tried to do his best for the Government . whom he had served under and for the J , Minister of Defence who had been so •. good to him during the whole of hi& I fitay in the Dominion. The Minister j- had referred to his work in , regard to--1 the dispatoh of reinforcements, and he ! wished to emphasise that the only thing i that' had mattered was to keep our j xforces in the field adequately, rein- ! • forced.;: He , alone could not.do that. I -.The Minister,.as representing the Govi -eminent, had to make the decisions/ and i ion'the General devolved the duty of eayI rSKg'hbw , ' these decisions were to be car-" J r li6d ont.""' -Colonel Gibljon said' it had I 'merely been his part to carry these de- ! and that had been a com- : paratively easy task. Whatever, success ; "that had-been achieved he owed very ■ ihuoh to-the assistance given him by his ; etaff. The work that ho had done" had ! xoally only been possible because of the j example set him by the Minister and the ! General, and by the assistance he had ; reooived from all branches of the statt j him.' I ■••?■ Colonel Gibbon said ho could assure ; ' thorn that if he found it impossible owing j. ■ to the conree of events to live peaceably ; ■ in Ireland there waa only cno tountry ii thatjWould see him again, and that was ! -New. Zealand. He. hoped, howevor, that ! things would be as prosperous and happy 1 in tho Old Country as he was perfectly 1 sure they, wero going to bo in this coun- ! try. Ho would always , look back on his i- experiences in New Zealand with feelings ; of the greatest pleasure. He could asi eui-e them that it would always be tho j greatesj pride and gratification to him j -in the time to come to know that he had j had some littlo part to play and , somo !• littlo to say in connection with the mag- | jiificent work which the New Zealand j Division had dono, at the front. He had ;. only one great xegrot, aoid that was that the Government had not seen fit to allow i him to go a-nd serve in tho field. On j behalf of Mrs. Gibbon and himself hi- ;"■ <lesired to sincorely thank tho Ministeij and tho Gonoral for thoir kind words of i appreciation iind good wishes. \ t A Business Man. 1 Sir James Allen also proposed the j health of Colonel Hiley, who ia departi ing from, New Zealajid by tlto tame. ! steamer as Colonel Gibbon, and whoso do- : parture the Minister said he regretted ! voiy much. Sir James said that Colonel , Hiley, as General of tho Ifail- ; way Department, had always had 'the : confidenco of his Dopartmont, but he was ; going to allude to him in regard to his : connection with defence matters. Colonel : Hiloy was oiie of .tho business men who had come forward voluntarily, without • any emolument or reward, to help the , Department during a time of trouble and ■ stress, and the Government owed him a i deep debt of gratitude for his assistance. I ! Aa Director of Works for tho Defence ■ Department his assistance had been of i inestimablo value. It was an immense ; gratification to a Minister to be able to ! rely upon an estimate, and some of I Colonel Hiley's estimates covering lengthy '] periods had been extraordinarily correct, f oven when very large figures were ini volved. This the Minister put down ; to Colonel Hiley's business capacity. ' • The- Minister said he was also grateful i ~to the.Railway Department, which had' I- ..realised what the country was up against : and had done its level best to meet ali : difficulties. He wished to express his gra- ! • titude to .Colonel Hiley for his pordonal ;. interest in the work ho had undertaken. ! The colonel had'well earned the honour ■- bestowed upon him, and he vou|d </p ■ away from New Zealand feeling , that his i work had been f.ully appreciated, and ho

carried with him the very heartfelt thanks of tho Minister of Defence and .of the Department, and also tho appreciation of tho Minister of Railways and tii'o Boihvny Depariuent. Ho hod tfon the confidence of the great Department over which lie.had had control, «nd certainly he won tho confindeneo of the Defence Department. Tho Minister wished Colonel-Hiley .every success. Ho hoped thot he, Mrs. Hiley, and family would have n very ploasant voyagfe back to thu Homeland, where, he left euro, Colonel Hiley would find plenty to occupy him.

The Hon. W. D. S. MacDonnld said he fully appreciated everything that had been said by Sir James Allen with ■ regard to Colonel Gibbon and Colonel Hiley. There was no question that during the last few years "fiie Empire had been passing through one of its greatest crises, and it was then that the men who administered the Departments fully appreciated the loyalty and work of those who served then.! As far as Colonel Gibbon was concerned, he had had a very har.l task. With regard to Colonel Hiley he had, through his own Departments, come into very closo touch with him. He recognised he was a man of experience ami knowledge; a mnn who cuuld be honoured and trusted by men. He thought that with tho Minister of Defence, General Robin,' Colonel.Gißbon, and Colonel Hiley, New Zealand had secured a record ot which slit! might well be proud. There was no question whatever with regard to Sir James Allen. Soldiers in camp and others had had to do their work, but Sir' James Allen had to bo the mouthpiece for all matters in connection with defence, and he thought the other gentlemen present would say with him that throughout the strenuous days Sir James Allen had done his part well. Our Costs Low. Major-General Sir Alfred Robin said that ho would nlso'lik'e to thank Colonel Hiley for service he had rendered to the Defence Department, and for the pleasant association that he himself had had with the nolonel during the last few years, Ho would also like to draw attention to the fact that a comparison of thi» .cost of construction •of the. different oamps nith the cost of similar camps in America and England showed that the cost- ot ours was well under that o! any ramp abroad. This he put down largely to ihe care and sune'rvision exercised by. the Director of Works'. Colonel Hiley's Reply. In responding, Colonel Hiley expressed his appreciation of tho remarks made by Sir James Allen regarding his services with tho Defence JJej>ar(yient. 110 was indebted to General Eobin in the first place-lor inviting him to. join the Department for this particular work, and to Sir James Allen for permitting it, and so giving. him.an opportunity of performing some small war service. Ho regarded it as a privilege, and would always look upon it as a pleasant memory .to. have-been of service to 'the Defence Department in its great schemes during the war. 'He was carrying away with him, as far as Sir James Allen, was concerned, u most sincere respect for « gentleman who had displayed extraordin-' ary -courage and steadfastness < during very great itrials. It had been a great honour to him to be connected with the administration of the Defence Department. When'asked to work with them he did not expert to receive any sort of reward, and the honour that had been conferred upon him had been quite uiiexpeuted. It was one which "he personally valued as a recognition of Hie part lie had been t priviliged tc take. _ Referring to labour .matters, he thought it would always bo of interest to people at Home to watch the progressive methods of dealing with labour in New Zealand. Hβ thought that in many respects the Old Country would bo following Now Zealand ways with regard to labour administration and labour methods. He felt that during 'the inst five years his time had not been wasted in New' Zealand in the experience ,he had gained in these matters. Many New Zealanders had yet to realise how benimcient and how uprto-date they were in this country in regard to social, questions, andhow much their practice would be followed by tho older countries. Colonel Hiley concluded by thanking the speakers, for the complimentary remarks they had made regarding him.