ARMISTICE CEREMONY

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 33, 2 November 1937, Page 3

ARMISTICE CEREMONY

-Pre88 Assooiation.)

Niagara^ Crew to Place Wreath at Honolulu

(By Telegraph-

AUCKLAND, Last Night. Whexi the liner Niagara reachet Honolulu on November 12 about 40 members of her crew who form the sub-branch of the Keturned Sailors and Soldiers ' Imperial League of Australia will place upon the cenotaph there a wreath to commemorate the 28 British residents of Honolulu who fell in the Great War. The occasion will be honoured by the attendance of detachments from the United States Army, Air Force and Navy and will be fittingly celebrated. The wreath has been cleverly wrought in artificial wattle, gum leaves and po^pies to form the outline of the Australian coast. Mr. James Urquhart, president of the sub-branch, will place the wreath f;on the cenotaph. Had the Niagara reached jort on November 11, the date of the signing ,of the Armistice, the ceremony would have formed part of the main Honolulu celebrations. Nevertheless, through the co-operation of the United States authorjtieg the returncl men on the vessel will take part in a special ceremony. Mr.Urquhart himself has had an in- . teresting army career. He served with the Koyal Scots Greys for 17 years and took part in both the South African War and the Great War. During tho South African war he was captured by the Boers and placed in a concentration .c|,mp, but escaped and within a few hours of his capture had found his way back to Eis own regiment. He went through the war without a 1 scratch. Nor was he wounded in the Great War, but he was twice gassed in France. . His only son, who was a drummer boy in, the Liverpool Scottish, was killed in France.