The Hokitika Guardian MONDAY, APRIL 24th., 1922. ANZAC DAY.

Hokitika Guardian, 24 April 1922, Page 2

The Hokitika Guardian MONDAY, APRIL 24th., 1922. ANZAC DAY.

The Empire and particularly Austialia and New Zealand have taken the commemmoration of Anzac Day much to heart. It is well that it is so. The occasion commemorates a notable event in British history and to the overseas dominions, the rallying of the far-flung parts of the Empire to the common cause of the nation. Ii will be seven years to-morrow since those stirring events were enacted on the foreshore of the Peninsula of Gallipoli in Eastern Europe. It was a long way to go to defend the hearths and homes of the folk of the Antipodes and to light a* nation and a people unknown to our brave combatants. All will remembei' the news of the first flush of success which was received here on that memorable Saturday. The news was cryptic cmd even foreboding, but there was pleasure and pride in the fact that in their baptism of lire our men bad done right nobly, and upheld the best traditions of the race. But the news did not end there: There had still to come the casualty lists, arid for days names were added telling in bold relief what the cost of that great expedition had been to these far-off places. Every part of New Zealand suffered in the loss and shared in the glory of the great event. Since then, official reports and historical records have put the deed of the Anzac Landing on a higher plane than our imagination could have fashioned it from the first fragmentary news. It was an episode to he proud of, hut it was a feat that took toll of our best, and called forth all that was supreme in the New Zealanders to achieve the success they did. They did not attain a signal victory in that they accounted for the defeat of their foes. The liest they could do was to win a footing on the open beach, and then to work their way up the difficult heights to hold the enemy. That task was performed with su. perb valour. In another column tu-day the Anzac .Landing is retold from the pen of a Canterbury writer who was there, and whose account gives the historical record for New Zealanders. No one can read that plain statement without understanding the difficult undertaking which was set the Anzacs. To land on an open beach in face of an entrenched enemy, and then to secure and hold a footing and 11 position, was a I work of great magnitude. The Anzac Landing and the eight desperate days which followed were terribly exacting. | for the long drawn out period was a | time of severe fighting under the most { adverse conditions. The Turkish posi-I tion was stronger than it was deem- j ed to he, and the wonder was that the | [great adventure attained the success it 1 did. Although the final victory of oust. : ing the enemy from Gallipoli was not ! achieved, the study of history since ; shows that the enterprise was almost a. I pronounced victory. It was touch and j go, and there is knowledge now of what • might have been. But there need he no vain regrets on this Anzac Day anniversary. It is commemorative of the display of all that was best ill our New Zealanders, They lived up to the national traditions. They comforted themselves ip looping with th® J»i?r

tory of the race, and side by side with their comrades in arms won undying fame. It. is well to honor their ■memory. to appreciate their work. Anzac Day is mm a very prominent milestone in New Zealand’s national record, and it is iitting it should remain so, for the day marks the occasion of the supreme sacrifice of our men who went forth to tight the battles of the Empire in stern reality.