GENERAL BIRDWOOD

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 10608, 5 June 1920, Page 8

GENERAL BIRDWOOD

GOVERNMENT LUNCHEON STIRRING SPEECHES AT YESTERDAY'S LUNCHEON. THE LEADER OF THE "ANZACS." TRIBUTE TO THEIR GALLANTRY. An official luncheon reception -was tendered to General Sir W. R. Birdwood at Bellamys j-esterda-y by the Government of Now Zealand. Amongst those present at the head of .the table were the Governor-General (Lord Liverpool), the i'rime Minister (Hon. W. r\ -uassey). Sir Cecil H: Rodweil, and members of the Legislature and military staff, etc. lu the members' wives' room Lady Birdwood was entertained at. luncheon by a largo gathering of ladies. A WARM WELCOME ;tO A DISTINGUISHED SOLDIER. The toast of tho General was proposed by tihe Prime .Minister, who referred to the fact that at the present time the, country was having the pleasure of entertaining several distinguished visitors. They had just welcomed and farewelled the Prince of Wales, and were now about to say farewell to a Governor-General who had been in New Zealand fur eight years. (Applause.) Admiral Jellicoe was about to arrive, and he was sure of a warm welcome awaiting him. A Visit was also about to be paid by a party of English journalists. Now they- were receiving General Sir AVilliam Birdwood and Lady Birdwood, to whom they were very glad to extend the hand of welcome. Referring to the I necessity for continuation of the Dominion's* defence scheme, Air Massey said that he was not for one moment J in favour" of "a standing army or of a'; military- casffc, but the country should do everything in its power to preserve the system of universal training which in, these countries of the South Pacific had been in operation for a number of years. A good deal had been said against the system, but a good deal could be said in favour of it. Though much had been said against it, he hoped it waa worth preserving, if only from the point of view of the fact that with universal training there would also vanish the tremendous improvement in the physique of the youngsters of the Dominion. Bub there was another sdde to the defenuce question. Much more would have to be done in the way of preserving the supremacy of the British Navy. It was exceedingly essential that more should be done in the future in the way of putting "the Pacific into a proper atato of defence., General Birdwood had made reference the previous evening to the presentation to the Dominion of the warship Chatham. Ho was well aware that the Chatham was a useful' ship," but she alone cottld play only a very small part in the defence of the Pacific. What would we not have given for such a ship on the New Zealand poast during the war?. The Chatham: nasi practically tho same, typo and caste of vessel as tho Sydney, which smashed the Emdea; she had a history of her own, having smashed up tlhe Koenigsberg. He hoped her coming would be the result of the inauguration of a naval policy. He trusted also that the Empire would never be ■unprepared to the extent it was at the end of 1914. The Empire must bo ait any cost and at any sacrifice connected closer together. We did not need to look far to see the signs ot the times, and the lessons of the war must not be forgotten, especially by those who were entrusted wiwi the management of public affairs. 11l conclusion. Mr Massey asked the assembly to drink the toast of a name which belonged to a great British soldieruand .a, great British statesman—General Sir W. R. Birdwood. "THE GENERAL'S REPLY "ANZACS" AXD NEW ZEALAND LEADERS. The general was loudly cheered as he rose to respond- He thanked tho assembly for the honour it was con- , ferring upon him. Ho honestly ap- ; predated it, and more especially when . he realised all that thev and the New : Zealand Government had done during ; tho war. He recognised how wholeheartedly they had played their part ; in tho interesta of the Empire. They : had faced their troubles with their shoulders square to the front, determined that New Zealand should be right at the top in all things. He believed that the warmth 01 the welcome that had been extended 1 to him was not due to any personal attribute he possessed, .but because he was their comrade. He could not too warmly his.appreciation of tiiat ™ lw ?% A J*f f, £ ring to the New Zealand forces n Egfpt and on the Peninsula, he *aid tfirt ho was there in charge of them to serve them as their commander to tteS of his .ability .He would never forget his feelmg.of pride when ho received his instructions while m India to take over tho command of the combined Australian and New Zealand forces. New Zealand was the fort of the Dominion, to . have the privilege of takjnte possession of ono of the German Colonies. PERSONAL REFERENCES. Turning to personalities, tho general referred In turn to various commanders of New Zealand regiments who had played their part in the war. He was elad to see present pionel Porter, his old associate in the Boor War. Ho also paid a tribute to Sir James Allen He had never met him personally during the war, but tiey were n'd schoolmates at Clifton College. He had observed* durine tho war how whole-hesrtedlvhe had the well-being of the' New Zealand*" at heart, and he had learnt from him all about the training thev were subjected to. He hnA f c lt along that every-Npw Zealand soldier owed a personal deht of erntitnd* to sir -If" for tho lr |- terest h" had taken in tho troops' welfare The soldier" were nl=o trently Indebted to the Hi<'h Commissioner S hewar. Sir Thomas Mnck-n- - never failed t„ look after the tidier; to whom hi. offices were ab-aohit-elv opon nt *n Um«». When hr- arrived m Egypt to tako over the command of tfc« AnrtraW and TW Zealanders, ihGm under General Godlcy. Ho then an™ in rontaet with some of the. splendid officers that were in V***™ tho time. General Johnson, later killed in France, was a fine, officer, nnd lie vorv much regretted 1n« death. The. general went on to refer heads of each battalion and battery 1

tii 'the New Zealand forces. He was glad to know that Colonel Pluggo was back again in New Zealand, and hoped he was well. Ho - had been very devoted to the late Colonel Malone, of tho Wellington infantry, who was , a whole-hearted Soldiery- Tho speaker said "ho wa*s~nov*er happy on tho Pen- : insula "about "tho*" safety of Quinn's Post, whero the trenches were only about eleven or-twelve yards apart, and he entrusted tho full responsibility for. the-position t« Colonel Malono. As.the-.result of the~defences thrown up bv him,- afteiv>the withdrawal of tho Wellington Battalion, his mind was absolutely- at rest in regard to tho safetv of "that Post. He was an officer of" whom Wellington might well bo proud. Ho noted with pleasure the presence of General Russell. He doubted if Now Zealand recognised how much it owed to him : he was a man who was endowed with the extraordinary rare gift of commonsense, and he never failed to look after his men under anv circumstances. Another officer ho must refer to, Colonel Ban-e-hop, was-the beau-examplo of the oheerv British fighting spirit. " THE ANZAC TROOPS. ■

In Egypt the Anzac Division was a very umall. force, but it was really a very big one, continued the General. Ho could not conceive anv finer body of men than those who rusued to the colours for Australia and New Zealand at tho very beginning; they were the very best men of these islands. Nothing could surpass them. The Britfih Expeditionary Forco was a most es-cellentlv-traincd army, but tho Anzac Divisions lacked the training that they had had. He thought it was due to tho British Forces that, the war was not won by tho Germans in its early stages. If it had not been for them the Germans would undoubtedly have reached Paris. In the early days there were only two or three machineguns to a battalion. Owing to the excellent training of the British troops, however, the Germans -were made to imagine that there- were about fifty to the battalion. Tho beau ideal of the British soldier was Lord Kitchener. He hoped the visit the famous Field-Marshal had paid New Zealand in 1910 was beneficial m enabling tno Dominion to carry out its part in the war. Continuing, the General said that as long as the people of New Zealand remained shoulder to shoulder, ho was sure they could face the future with the assurance that tho British flag would always fly m those southern part 3. THE NAVY.

Speaking of the . Navy, the General endorsed the remark of General Sir lan Hamilton that, it was both a father and a mother to the forces engaged on , the Peninsula. Flanking them on both sides, it would tuck them in at night and afford the protection of its guns. They could tako their hats off to the Navy, which had saved their lives. Detailing the work done by the various branches-.-af... the Army Service, General Birdwood paid a tribute to that of the members of the nursing section. The men realised what they owed to theee women when they reached hospital. He hoped they would never forget the services the nurses rendered, and that they formed just as much a part of-the N.Z.B.F. as nny digger in the line. Amongst the chief officers of tho New Zealand Army he mentioned tho names of Generate Chaytor, Richard-eon.-Braithwaite, .JBjirt, Young, and Melville. SLHe-referred to Mr Malcolm.. •RossT the'- official-war correspondent or the "Dominion," as a-really good friend of the~soldier,"*who-never failed to do the best he could for him. "KEEP IN CLOSE TOUCH."

In conclusion, the speaker urged Now Zealand to keep in close touch with Australia and India. These colo nies should' render mutual assistance to ono another. India was tho nearest i member of the British family which I kept a considerable number of troops under mobilisation, and, should it be necessary, could ..dispatch a force to any part, of the Empire He would ;also suggest the advisability of continuing the oxchango of officers be-tween-India -and New Zealand, for ' they : received * a most useful training in'thafcOtOatfy. He realised tho Dominion's"'limitations; and he knew it was impossible to 'make its defence policy perfect, but he knew that'"when the new Governor-General (Lord Jellicoe) arrived he would bo able to give valuable advice in making that policy more adequate. The . British Navy might possibly be unable to render as- ■ s'ntanco when New Zealand was threatened from without; the country ' should, ' therefore, have a navy of its iown upon which to rely. In regard i to the League of Nations, he thought iwe should support it as far as possible. 'The time might come when it might :be of use to us. In view of the. i possibility of further trouble with Germany, our own right arm must bo strong. The proceedings closed with the singing of the National Anthem.