ROLL OF HONOUR

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 253, 21 July 1919, Page 2

ROLL OF HONOUR

UNVEILED AT MIRAMAR GASWORKS EMPLOYEES WHO FELL A Roll of Honour was unveiled at the Mirainar gasworks on Friday afternoon, Tho tablet, which had been provided by men employed at tho works in honour of fallen comrades, had been placed on tho front of the office building, close to the entrance to the works. There was a large gathering of employees and their friends. Dr. C. P. Knight (chairman of tho company), Jlr. E. A. Wright, M.P., Chaplain Taylor, and tho Mayor of Miramar wero among those present. Mr. A. Dougall, on behalf of, "tho committee responsible* for tho arrangements, welcomed tho visitors. He mentioned that the idea of erecting the roll of honour had come- from tho gasworks employees, who had. borne the whole of the cost. Dr. Knight said ho was glad to assist at the unveiling of the (ablet. The company would have its own roll of honour exhibited in tho ijain entrance of the city office building. This roll of honour would contain the names of G7 men who joined tho Expeditionary Fon/as. Of these 11 had been killed, and many had boon wounded. One employee, after re--joinin,? the company's service, subsequently died as a result of his exposure to the rigours of the campaign. "It offords me very great pleasure to Jio preeent here to-day because it is an indication that the staff realises that the Board of Directors is desirous of doing ita best for all workers of the company, and that any feeling of unfriendliness which may have existed has npw ceased," said Dr. Knight. "Tho .best results for all concerned will follow from renowed confidence between nil classes of the company's service, and I trust that tho new housing scheme' and proposals of the company in regard to affording recreation to its workers will , be assisted materially by a feeling of comradeship. The soldier.s of Now Zealand have been singularly fortunate in the Gcencs of their service. Their first entry into Hie war was the capture o? Samoa, endeared to all lovci'3 of English story as the scene of Louis Stevenson's last years and deathplace. The next scene was historio Ity.yrt. Then our enldiors landed on Gallipoli and fought their way to the top of Chunok Bair and overlooked the Trajan Plain, where fought tho Grefk and Tra-ian'heroes recorded by Homer. Our soldiers left the sunny sea-girt cliffs of Gallinoli for fie muddys fields nf Plunders. There they kept back the Hun from Ypres. Their next service was on the sluggish banks of the Somme, where hundreds of years a?o their forefathers fought at Crecy and Agiucourt. Hero the sons of New Zealand showed, at Flers, that they wore- worthy of their sires. The- following year the New Zealand Division formed tho spear-head of General Plumor's Army and took tho ridge- of .Messines. Then followed the tragedy of Passchaendaele and the necessary re-formation of tho Division. Last year they hurried to stop the rush of (he victorious Hun. thrust him kick in the hour of victory and saved Amiens. Then they formed nart of the British Force that drove the Germans out of France. All this time nmid tho arid sands of Egypt and of Palestine the New Zealand Mounted Force formed a conspicuous portion of tho Tenth Crusade. They stormed tho heights of Beersliehn, and thus forced the Tuirko-Gonnan Army to fall back, and obtained Jerusalem. Finally, by their capture of the fords of the Jordan they compelled ■ tho Turkish Army to surrender. In all these campaigns your comrades and fellowworkers nobly bore their part, an<7 wo are. hero to-day to honour the memory of those who have fallen, and to rejoice with those who have fought and come back once more to their homes."

Jlrs. Ramsden unveiled tho tablet. She cut the cord with a knife made nt the front by ono of tlie company's employees from shell fragments, A bugler sounded "The linst Post" in honour of the men whoso names were inscribed on tlio tablet, and then the school children' sang "Oh, God, our Help in Ages Pa6t." Tho Mayor of Mirtunar spoke briefly. Ho road an official telegram from tho Minister of Internal Affairs inviting the people to 6uspend all activities jfor five minutes at Biidday in honour of the bravo dead. Mr. R. A. Wright, M.P., said he was not one of those who thought that the men responsible for the war should escape punishment. Tho ex-ruiers of Germany ought to be brought to trial, and if they, wore proved guilty they oimht to pay tho penalty of their crimes. Military despots and would-be rulers of tho world hud often been able in the past to e3cape punishment after their jimbitions had cost tens of thousands of lives. : The. nations owed it to. themselves to see that a better precedent was established as a warning for -possible tyrants in the future. Chaplain Taylor spoke of the needs of the returned men and the dependants of the men who had died that the nntion might live. Patriotism, lie said, was apt to come- in. waves, and the people of New Zealand ought to ba on' their guard against forgetting in the ye.ire to como the debts that now they were ready enough to acknowledge. Let everybody remember that many of the returned men wero not in normal condition. It was a mistake to ask wounded men to resume work before they were really ready. There had been no hours' clnuM, no holidays, and no stop-work meetings in the trenches. Many of the returned men had accumulated a lot of overtime. ' • , The gathering dispersed after singing the National Anthem. The inscription on the roll of honour is as follows: Ml of Honour, 19H-1919. All honour to the bravo men from Miramar Gas Works who answered their country's call. Killed in Action. C Tait, H. Hullam, J. McCarthy, C. Stephens, T. Shannon, J. Bray, W. Corbett, J. Carney, J. Goldsworthy, G. G> Campbell. Erected by their fellow-em-ployees at Miramar. \