The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. THURSDAY, JUDY 2nd, 1925. A CHAIN OF MEMORIES.

Hokitika Guardian, 2 July 1925, Page 2

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. THURSDAY, JUDY 2nd, 1925. A CHAIN OF MEMORIES.

F«om time to time the cable news tells us of war graves being marked by special memorials. The Great War caused the graves of the British soldiers and sailors to be spread all over the world—or rather in most parts of it. Now. after a lapse of time, it would be difKcult indeed to note any war graves of the British which are not marked by some notable memorial. These memorials will constitute ’a chain of memories round the world iis it were, for all time to come. In that wav the memorials will fill their chief task, to be a memory and reminder for all who come after. Perpetuity in memory is retained often by other means, but there is no finer method than with an outstanding memorial which all who pass by may see. Many of our mighty dead have been buried in some historical place tiiu h as the Abbey or other notable centre of religious thought and life. Tin- Unknown Soldier of the Groat War was laid away in peace and pomp in such a distinguished burial place.

But the thousands who fell in France and Flanders, in the Near East and in Africa, as well as in other distant places, have their memorial now, and the memorial is the more notable license it is a link in the chain girdling the Empire itself, and carrying the mind from point to point as the ravages I of the war on sea and on land are re- | called. When it was decided to set up a War (.'raves Commission to determine this great national work (for which the Empire should be ever grateful for such loving remembrance on the part of the authorities) it was

said that cemeteries were to he erected to the British dead on all battlefields, and in all theatres of the war. It was proposed that the memorials should lie distinct and entirely different from the ordinary cemeteries marking the resting place of the ordinary departed. Tlie British graves created by the war were to have a special set- j ting and were to he supported and < sustained by the wealth of the Empire. ( It is a fine thought to think of this j consideration, which means that in ( the years to come, the distant years which will approach in the course of

the flight of time, the graveyards in France and elsewhere will remain an abiding and supreme memorial to the efforts, and the glory of the British forces, and the sacrifices made in a great cause. These national monuments are unique in the nation’s history. But best of all they hear testimony to the recognition and regard for those who served and fell—those who made the supreme sacrifice, and they will carry their message on through the ages and assist in keeping intact that association of Empire which is the national strength and source of influence and power. The men died to maintain the Empire, and after death their memorials will be outward and visible signs of what their sacrifice stood for, and that message will not be unheeded hv the succeeding generations.