HONORING THE DEAD

Evening Star, Issue 19801, 27 February 1928, Page 11

HONORING THE DEAD

WAIKOUAIirS MEMORIAL ARCH UNVEILED BY SIR JAMES ALLEN FACTS ABOUT OVERSEAS ■ MEMORIALS. Like every other district in the dominion, Waikouaiti has contributed generously as regards man power to the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, which helped the Empire to win through in the fight for humanity. Altogether some 185 names are engraved on the war memorial, which was unveiled in the northern town by Sir James Allen last Saturday, and of these forty-two of the soldiers whoso names are inscribed have passed on, into the Great Peace. Surely a lino record for such a comparatively small place. That the district is proud of her sons’ achievements and sacrifices was proved by the numbers, old and young inhabitants alike, who gathered for the unveiling ceremony. Here a description of the memorial would not bo out of place. It takes tho hum of a bridge spanning the main road utrfiT the Post Olhcc. The ■abutment walls and parapets are built of blue stone from Woodhaugh, Dunodin, and tlio bases of tho main arch, which span tlio footpath, aro 'ot tl)o same materia). The memorial arch )s of Tudor design, and is composed 61 Australian sandstone, with six white marble panels. On two of those the names of the fallen are engraved, and on the other tour is the roll of honor oi all those who left the district to seive in the Groat War. This list in'c hides one sister (a nurse). Of the fallen, one gained tiio Military Medal, and of those who were fortunate enough to return six gained the same distinction, one the Meritorious Service Medal, and one the Distinguished Conduct Medal. As the arch spans tlio footpath, pedestrians must of necessity pass the panels containing the namep. The arch has been designed by Mr 0. Macfie, architect, Dunedin, and the

work has been carried out by Messrs

H. S. Bingham and Co., Ltd., Onnodin, the structure costing in all about £Gfi,ll. Tho committee which has worked so hard to achieve this object comprises tbe following:—Messrs R. Templeton (chairman), A. Heckler, E. Ollcrnshaw, J. A. Thomson, 0. Maclie, (J. M'Callum, A. Bremncr, J. Preston, and J. W. Timmins (secretary). Saturday’s unveiling ceremony was carried out with just that touch ot reverence and appreciation necessary for such an occasion, and Sir dames Allen, in a- particularly inspiring address, took his audience m thought to many far-off battlefields on which other memorials had been erected in remembrance of New Zealand soldiers. Bugler-sergeant-major Napier played tho ‘ Last'Post ’ and 1 Reveille ’ with his customary aptitude. Miss Summers was the organist. Mr A. Heckler expressed his pleasure at seeing so many people present to pay a. tribute to the. illustrious dead. Alter apologising for the absence of tho chairman (Mr R. Templeton), ho introduced Sir James Allen, who, ho said, was well-known for his good work in times of war. As Minister ol War ho had been indefatigable in offering his assistance in the way of keeping tho flag flying. A hymn, ‘Onward, Christian Soldiers,’ in the singing of which the children took a prominent part, was then given, and it was followed by ansalm read by the Rev. G. P. Vf hi It lesion e.

A pmvcr was conducted by the Rev T W. Potts. Prior to Sir James Allen’s address the Chairman announced the receipt ol apologies from the Hon. K. H. Clark, M.L.C., and-Sir J. Bitelfener, ll!P. Sir James Allen regretted the absence of Mr Templeton, and expressed the hope that he would soon be better. Because he wanted to be with the Waikouaiti people when the memorial to all those men when went away from the. district between 1914 and 1918, and also to those who did not come back, was unveiled, the speaker said that be did not hesitate to accept the invitation to officiate. It was right to have that memorial, in order to have constantly kept before them the sadness of those episodes which had darkened flic world and in order to build up the hope that no such, tragedy would occur again. Sii James referred to the. work of the League of Nations, which was a gather' i. Aat Geneva representative of all the most powerful nations of. the world, and which was gradually but surely producing an effect believed by him to b i opening up the safest road towards peace.

Ho wished ho could take all those present with him in thought to the places which it had been his duty to visit during the hist few years in England and in the war areas. Altogether tli&ri were six war memorials on the field of battle to New Zealand soldiers. First of all, there was a fine stone standing on the Somme battlefield at Langncvnl, just between two woods, on tbo .spot from which New' Zealand troops made a very valuable advance into the Somme area. It was worthy of note that all the memorials were designed by Now Zealand architects. The Right Hon. Sir Eraneis Dell happened to bo in England when the Somme stone was finished, and lie went to France to unveil it. This striking_ tribute to the dominion’s dead was in a position so prominent that it could bo seen from places for many miles around it. On it was inscribed “ From the uttermost ends of the earth,” and it certainly was a lifting indication ol what thr.se men did who came from so far overseas to save their country. The second memorial with which the speaker dealt was that at Lo Quesnoy. This was a French town walled in ail round and defended by that wall. The Gentians were in occupation of ' the place at the end of the hostilities, and the New Zealanders were told to take it in their stride In order that the buddings should be preserved the attack was eventually carried out by means of ladders, which enabled tbo men to scale the walls. At Le Quesnoy at the present time there was a beautiful memorial consisting of a carved ladder and showing men climbing up. At the top was a figure of Peace placing a blessing upon them, and around a section of the moat outside the wall New Zealand shrubs grew in such profusion that the whole constituted a typical Now Zealand garden. This memorial was unveiled by Lord Milner, now deceased, who was a great friend of the Empire.

The memorial at, Messincs. constructed on the same linos as that at Langucval, was the third to be unveiled. It stood overlooking a rise of ground, up which the New Zealanders came when they faced and accomplished the task set them to do. The King of the Belgians himself unveiled it. Not far away was the cemetery. At Gravenstafel there was a fourth memorial, erected as a tribute to those who fought and died in the Passechndaele sector,. It was the only occasion in the whole of '’’e war when the New Zealanders were called upon to perform a task they were not able to accomplish, but the failure was due to the adverse weather conditions, which produced mud which men and guns alike sank hopelessly, the latter in some cases disappearing as far as the axles. It was an impossible task. Sir James stated that he was so impressed with the memorial that he determined to unveil it personally.' In design it was like those at and Languevnl, and similarly was surrounded by a New Zealand ■ "■Vden.

Sir James stated that he was present at the unveiling of the Gallipoli memorial, which had been designed by Mr Hurst Seagar, who had arranged that it might bo visible, even irom the Dardanelles; It ;was so placed that hall of it was always in the sunshine and half in the shade. When General Godley unveiled it many Turks were standing close by, including those who could be called the mayors of the various villages in . the neighborhood j as far as could be gathered all animosity was buried. The cemetery was close by it. As one sailed away from Chunak Ruhr the memorial could be seen for miles away out iii the HSgean Sea. -Lastly, there Was the general memorial in Palestine, a portion of which was devoted to perpetuating the names of New Zealanders. Sir James said that all the designs for it went through his hands, although for the purpose of making it general forces were joined with Lord Allenby. It took the form of a small chapel roofed with a dome of mosaic work, and representing in all its features peace and goodwill. Jt was unveiled not very many months ago. Sir James assured all those who had lost sons who were buried in foreign lands that their departed ones were being cared for in a way which would satisfy their relatives if they could only see these places. The New Zealand Government, at its own expense, had decided to send tp each dead soldier’s next of kin three photographs of the place where ho was buried. One photo was taken of the headstone in such a manner that the inscription stood out clearly, and the other two, which were done in colors, showed distinctly the nature of tlio cemetery. He hoped that these would give some gratification and prove that the bodies were being well care for by the imperial War Graves Commission, The speaker sympathised with all in the district who had suffered loss, and, without meaning any disrespect to the soldiers who had come back, he stated that, New Zealand had in the war last some of her very best, ft remained For those who did come back to fill their places as best they ■could. He was glad the returned soldiers were keeping together; and he hoped they would always remember the work done by them at the front. lu conclusion, Sir James remarked on the fact that no fewer than 185 men had gone away from the Waikouaiti district. Of these forty-two had lain down their lives for their country. This was; indicative of the efforts made by | New Zealand to keep its force up to I full strength. Theirs was the’ only division which, had Succeeded in doing so. As the people of Waikouaiti passed under the arch they would think of the time when the men went away and of the sacrifices made not only in wounds, but in death.

Sir Jautes then unveiled the memorial,, and Bugler Sergeant-major Napier sounded the 1 Last Post.’ His Worship the Mayor (Mr J. G. L. Kerr), after speaking briefly on the history of the memorial, pointed out how much it stood for. There was no necessity, lie said, for a memorial to remind those'who had lost dear ones of the sacrifices that had been made, nor was it necessary to remind those who had been maimed for life or.those who had been to the front. He was glad the tribute had been finished, and he tendered his deepest sympathy to those who had lost sons. He referred with appreciation to Sir James Allen’s fine discourse. and supported him in his attitude towards the League of Nations. Mr Kerr, after stating that the Waikouaiti Patriotic Association had presented medals to the soldiers who had returned from the front; announced that there was still one to be given out, and lie asked Sir James Alien to present it.

Mr Patrick Tourney, tho recipient, then stepped forward and received his medal from Sir James. Mr J. Preston, the chairman ol tho Waikonaiti County Council, stated that there was no need for a memorial to remind them of what the men had done, but if in years to come the children who wore young now would realise as a result of it what war meant, he felt sure they would exhaust every means at their disposal to settle a dispute before taking up arms. Men who were forced into the last great sacrifice realised that there was no possibility of maintaining the Empire unless they went out and fought. He hoped that this would be the last memorial erected to fallen soldiers.

Mr A. C. Laing, the president of the Returned Soldiers’ Association, while expressing a. certain amount of regret that it should ever have been necessary to have a memorial, stated that at the same time there must be sumo feeling of pride in the heart of every man who had been away when be came back to see his name perpetuated. Although they had a memorial to perpetuate the names of the dead, there were also hundreds of soldiers who had lost more than those who fell. The hospitals were still full of soldier patients, and there were between twenty and thirty per-manently-disabled men in Dunedin. Some returned men were constantly breaking down in health, and there were some whose economic conditions bad changed because of their service. The Returned Soldiers’ Association was only too pleased to do what it could for them. The Dunedin Association’s mote was •“ service,” and the great bulk of the citizens were loyal to it to the core. Whenever people saw an opportunity of doing good he asked them to do it for' the sake of those who were suffering. Mr Heckler returned a hearty vote of thanks to the speakers. The Rev. Mr Whittlestonc pronounced the Benediction and Bugler Sergeant-major Napier sounded the ‘ Reveille.’

The ceremony closed with the National Anthem. Afterwards all tho visitors were given afternoon tea by the Memorial Committee, Sir James Allen returning thanks for the hospitality.