ANZAC DAY.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXX, Issue 5416, 26 April 1929, Page 2

ANZAC DAY.

' OBSERVANCE IN PAEROA. IMPRESSIVE CEREMONY. Anzac Day was fittingly honoured yesterday in Paeroa, a great number of people taking part in the proceedings. Unfortunately, owing to the inclement weather, the actual service could not be held in the Domain, so that the Gaiety Theatre had to be brought into use, a building that proved so small for the large gathering that many were denied admittance. School Roll of Honour. The Mayor, Mr W. Marshall, members of the Borough Council, the Rev. Father Taylor, the Revs. Weadon and Bateup, and Lieutenants V. J. Innes and Heal, first placed wreaths, along with many others, on the Roll of Honour at the District High School. Admiration was expressed for a very fine chalk drawing of the landing on Gallipoli executed by one of the schoolmasters, Mr C. W. Malcolm. Supporting the main picture on one side was a smaller one depicting Dawn, and on the other side Sunset — the New Zealand memorial at Chunak Bair. Hung with laurel wreaths and garlands of flowers, a most effective scene was enacted. Inspection of Troops. The official party inspected the parade of infantry, firemen, and girl guides of a total strength of 175 and under the command of Major E. A. Porritt, M.C., formed up on the school quadrangle, complimentary remarks being passed on the fine bearing of all present. The parade moved off from the school in the following order : The Hauraki Regimental Band (total 28); Returned Soldiers (16), under the command of Captain. Bassett, V.C.; Hauraki Territorials (14) ; the Hauraki "Cadet Band (18); Hauraki Cadets (45) ; Paeroa Volunteer Fire Brigade (11) ; Girl Guides (20) ; Brownies (23). To the strains of a stirring march played by the Cadet Band the parade marched into Nonnanby Road, where the Regimental Band of the Haurakis took over from the Cadets. Opposite the Borough Council Chambers the official party was stationed, the Mayor taking the salute of the march past, the. various units carrying themselves like veterans. Branching off to the left, the parade filed into the Gaiety Theatre, occupying a goodly portion of the ground floor. . - With every seat in the theatre occupied, the official party took their places on the platform, at the rear of which was the band of the Haurakis. The Service. The proceedings opened with a magnificent rendering of God Save the King, after which His Worship the Mayor, in the course of a short speech, said that they were gathered, to use the words of- His Excellency the Governor-General, on a solemn but not a sad occasion in honour of those men who had laid down theii’ lives. The hymn “O God, our help in ages past” was succeeded by a prayer conducted by the Rev. Bateup. Audible applause was naturally out of place in such a service, but under ordinary circumstances the selection “Wondrous Cross,” played by the Haurakis, would have received well-merited acclammation. Kipling’s awe-inspiring Recessional followed the reading of the 20th psalm by Ensign Sommerville, of the Salvation Army. The Address.

The Rev. W. G. H. Weadon in his address referred to the day 15 years ago when the flower of New Zealand marched down the streets of Wellington and Auckland to board the transports which were to bear them to the battlefront. Men of all walks of life marched together, shoulder to shoulder, all differences overshadowed by the one common ideal they had in their hearts. Anzac Day was not in honour of just one day, the landing on the Peninsula, but in honour of all the battlefronts where the Australians and New Zealanders fought. Egypt, France, Flanders, Palestine, and elsewhere. The speaker referred to the sacrifice made by those who fell, the spirit and unselfishness of sacrifice first instilled into them by their mothers, and then at school by their masters and by team games. The vision of soldiers, sailors, armies, and battleships was not a sign of war, but a sign of peace, preparedness to defend God, King, and Country. The pages of history recorded the names of many great soldiers and sailors who had helped to further the Kingdom of God besides extending the Empire. Although he might hurt a few, he said he must refer to a type the vast majority had no use for—the conscientious objector, a coward mentally and morally, one who chose to hide behind others who were defending his womenfolk and children.

The Rev. Weadon drew attention to the fact that after all these years Paeroa had no war memorial. He suggested a town clock opposite the post office, and the transference of the memorial on Primrose Hill, where, in his opinion, it served no useful purpose, to the Domain, where children could see it and be inspired by it. To those who had lost their sons and dear ones the speaker offered the consolation that they had died a noble death of sacrifice, which was better far than dying in bed of old age after a life of selfishness. They were not dead, they lived. The War Memorial. After the Rev. Weadon had concluded his address Mr Marshall said it was true that Paeroa had no war memorial, and to those responsible for civic affairs the reproach was greatest. But it was neither the time nor the place to discuss their duties. For six years it had been his place to initiate Anzac Day ceremonies, and he had found that in Paeroa, if anywhere in the British Empire, people had a sense of indebtedness to those who fell. Mr Marshall asked: “Let

us all help to keep unsullied the memory of those who died and their great sacrifice.” The Last Post and Reveille. The sounding of The Last Post and Reveille by the Hauraki buglers brought many memories to the returned soldiers present, their beauty appealing to all, especialy in the knowledge of their meaning on such ceremonial occasions. Benediction was pronounced by the Rev. Weadon, and the proceedings terminated with the National Anthem. ADDRESS AT SCHOOL. On Wednesday afternoon Lieutenant V. J. Innes, N.Z.S.C., delivered a stirring address on the meaning of Anzac Day to the pupils of the Paeroa District High School. The gathering was held in the open, with the children formed up on the quadrangle, and Lieut. Innes, the headmaster, and the teaching staff on the dais. Mr Innes informed a most interested and attentive audience that AnzaC Day was not only intended to commemorate one single day, . but the whole participation of New Zealand forces in the late war. Recounting a brief history of New Zealand’s Army in the various theatres of war, the speaker started with the departure of the transports from Auckland and Wellington and took his listener? right to the Peninsula, and recounted from personal experience incidents which occurred on the voyage. An historical naval event mentioned was the detachment and recall of the Japanese warship Ibuki from the escorting squadron of four men-of-war and the substitution of H.M.S. Sydney in her place to deal with the German, raider Emden. The New Zealand and Australian troops disembarked ait Alexandria to undergo further training before going to the battle front, and after strenuous weeks spent in the desert were despatched, some tp the Island of Memnos, some right to the Dardanelles. Gallipoli. There the Australians landed first, with the New Zealanders some twb hours behind them. As it happened, the Australians landed at the wrong beach, which was fortunate, as thfe other one was a mass of barbed wire entanglements under water. The landing at Suvla Bay was a failure; but a glorious one. One morning the bay was just a deserted cove oif scrub-clad hills, withqut a sign of human habitation; the next, two •wharves had been built, the beach and hills swarmed with khaki-clad troops, and the bay itself held some 40 or 50 ships. The attack on the enemy took place by bayonet and bomb alone, rifle-fire being forbidden. The landing failed, as the men, owing to th? strength of the defence, were not able to advance to secure positions, and also because the troops were too weary. One New Zealand unit went into action 378 strong, and all that came out were one officer and 22 other ranks. The Evacuation. The evaculation of Gallipoli was a masterpiece of military strategy. All sorts of devices were put into operation to delude the Turks into believing the allied troops were still opposing them. So successful were the ruses that the Turks were quite unaware of what was going on, with the result that instead of 20,000 dead that the actual evacuation was estimated to cost, only one man* J was. wounded. As for the last man actually to leave the Peninsula, in the speaker’s opinion, was the present Commander-in-Chief of the New Zealand .Forces, General Young. Flanders and Palestine. Upon the conclusion of the Gallipoli campaign the New Zealand, infantry were drafted to France, where in a little over a week they were in action on the Ypres sector, while the mounted regiments landed on the Sinai Peninsula and so into Palestine. Here they took part in all the manoeuvres which brought about the defeat of the Turkish 4th Army, and eventually the whole of that country’s forces. In France the infantry covered themselves with glory in major battles as well as in lesser operations. A procession of historic engagements were mentioned by Mr Innes —Messines Ridge, Passchendaele,, the great German offensive of Mhrch, 1918, and so on to victory and the triumphal march of the war-worn and depleted New Zealand troops into Germany, where they took charge of the bridgehead at Cologne. N.Z. Nurses. In recounting the prowess and brave deeds of the New Zealand Forces Mr Innes pointed out that the women must not be forgotten—women who helped make munitions, etc., and especially the courageous nurses, many of whom went to their death through shellfire and direct enemy action. Reiterating, Mr Innes stressed : “Do not forget what the women did.” At the conclusion of the address Mr Taylor first thanked Lieut. Innes personally for his splendid address, and then the children in no uncertain manner displayed their appreciation of the lieutenant’s words.