RUAHINE REGIMENT

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 234, 28 June 1921, Page 6

RUAHINE REGIMENT

REUNION OF OFFICERS

COLOURS CONSECRATED

NEW ZEALAND AND DEFENCE By Telegraph—Special Correspondent. j Masterton, Juno 26. ; Under tho new Defence organisation ( the 17th (Ruahine) Regiment is being , merged in tho third battalion of the . Wellington Infantry Regiment. To com- . meniorate this event and tho handing over of the colours to St. Matthew's . Church for safe keepi'ng, a reunion, taking the form of a dinner, was tendered io officers and cx-officera of the regiment on Saturday evening This morning: there was a church parade, a ceremony in the Municipal Park, and a special service in St. Matthow’s Church. Saturday evening’s dinner, which was held in tnc Municipal Hall, was a decided success, thanks to the efforts of the promoter, Lieutenant-Colonel Cowles, and his. assistants, Ueut. R. S. Halliwell and Lieut. W. S. Brown. Liciit.-Colonel Cowles, O.C. 17th (Ruahine) Regiment, presided, and among those present were: MajorGeneral Sir Edward Chaytor, K.C.M.G., General Officer Commanding the NewZealand Military Forces; Colonel 11. Hart, C. 8., Mr. G. R. S y ke ; s - Mayor (Mr. O. N. C. Pragnell), Sir M alter'Buchanan, M.L.C.‘(honorary colonel of the regiment), Rev. G. I. (chaplain), Colonel Holdeniess, Co one Becre D.S.O, Colonel Saunders, Colonel Herbert, Captain Stewart. Captain A. B Wiliams, D.E.0., Captain Wardrop, Captain Herbert, Captain Martyn Roberto, Lieut. R. S. Halliwell. M.C. (group commander). Lieu! W. S. AIM. (Adjutant Rualnnes), Mr. I . G. Maunscll (donor of King s and regimental colours), Rev. Walker, Drs. Cook Pryoi, and Cowie, and Mr. T. Southall (district repatriation officer). Apologies foi absence were received from many prominent military officers, includiug'MajoiGeneral Sir Andrew Russell. Navy, Army, and Air Force. Sir WaMer Buchanan proposed the 1 •'*Vnw 41’inv mid Air I 1 orc©. wooden walls of .AnriM achievJutland, when Dmdnou<i.te of the latS pattern had tote 11? be n decisiveness of that J’ ad To bt ' n .’TT'Arvfii J A* ordinary civilian in e ~ w n ttle sufficient that from tn » ven tured iho German fleet had ncvei for a navy as Britain had, bat the ae to realise that jI.Al.u. picture Easels ■positions boioie ‘KTaw ZeaI Xid f i5 e 1 was concerned.’ Referring to the Army ?^Tscen e the C phthetic aC figiire of the late taken of t o might be deprived that New Zealand o{ wRr support to Lnvlaff . redeemed How that promise had been they all knew rorc6) The subject! ot rne . • i Bir AValter Buchanan, m faK1 1 n was comparatively new, conclusion. wr British aviation 2 remarknbto 5 The hlnglish hnd be£rs because they had superior men ami in responding the toast said that though a man of Uee he believed that in order to secure eace it was necessary to Prepare foi irod ST™ was ’necessary for every man “turned’soldie'rs had the i = from the canteen funds for naval defence. The Regiment Toasted. "The. 17th (Ruahine) Regiment” was pro--1 I v Colonel Hart, who detailed tho in .... the Maori wars. the earne i had a notable history up io the. tin .(which they were incorporated with Ih lp (Hawke's Bay) Regiment, Uns I ‘ U ,.„,,it of Lord Kitchener’s rebcing the r w forn ,e d F f °L V Um wn^’^olo^^ter to go to the vnr thank 'been in command. r „„; Mr F Maunsell for K"’ing the regiM to colours. In future the regiment its ■ d battalion or jr Wbn’ton RoXcnt, under ..the ciminaiid of Colonel Holderness, of NaP'rYriol Cowles responded to tho toast. |„e id tmt they were not averse from i the new arrangement, because hm- reali • lb nt the improvement of the no ' ripe of‘the Dominion was the cause. 1 lie had been associated with the regl- ! ~,?„( and volunteer compnnit-.- preceding ! it for tire mist thirty-one years, and he was 1 of the fact that tho commander of tt unft M the Expeditionary Fore.e, ■ the Rifle Brigade, had come from Ans regiment. General Chaytor’s Speech. In responding to the toast of "Tho New Zealand Defence Forces.” Major- , General Chaytor. who was greeted with I prolonged npplauso, said that the forces had been established when the first settlors came into conflict with that brave and warlike people, the Maoris. The Militia Act. of those times was strict in its enforcement of compulsory service. Tho speaker lielieved in that principle still. (Applause.) If this country was good enough to live in. it was good enough to fight for. (Applause.) Before and after the Boer War there had been people who advocated that all New Zealand needed for its defence was to teach every man to shoot. Those who had seen service knew the fallacy of

that belief. Organisation and discipline were necessary. He, did not concur In ilie opinion expressed by a previous speaker that the U.S.A. should enter politico because tluit would mean the end of the association. There had been a lot of opposition to co-ordination of the forces; to his mind, it was most essential that they should join in partnership with the Empire, so that oil means of defence .might lie used to the best purpose. , Musical items were contributed by Lieut. Halliwell and Messrs. C. E. Boss, W .lago, T. Vaughan, E. Gooder, and E. J Heffer. Mr. 11. Worsley acted as accompanist. SUNDAY’S CEREMONY THE CHURCH PARADE. On Sunday mornin" about 200 officer, and men paraded nt the drill-shed whence under the command of Colopel Cowles and headed by the Masterton Municipal Band they marched to the park. There a great crowd was assembled. A hollow square was formed, and the colours, after being unfurled and placed against piled drums were consecrated by Chaplain G. T Brown. After this ceremony, Captain G. Wardrop (officer in charge of the colour partv) handed the Kings Colours to Sir Walter Buchanan, honorary colonel, who passed them on to Lieutenant R. LeeCaptain Martyn Roberts then presented Sir Walter Buchanan with the yc£>montal colours. Lieutenant C. F. Strafford eventually taking charge of them. The colours were conveyed to St. Matthew’s Church under armed escort of four senior n.c.o.'s. In the presence of a very largo congregation Archdeacon Watson, of Wellington, a. former chaplain of the regiment, officiated at the dedication service, and received the colours from Colonel Cowles for preservation in the church until such time as they should he required elsewhere. An appropriate sermon was delivered by the archdeacon, in which he urged unity and discipline as stqndarijs to which Hm» people and the Government of the country should conform. The arrangements for the parade were m the hands of Lieut. IV. S. Brown, adjutant of the regimen t.