LAUREL AND ROSEMARY

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 338, 25 April 1928, Page 11

LAUREL AND ROSEMARY

SERVICES AT CEMETERIES With wreaths of laurel and rosemary and autumn flowers, the gra.ves of soldiers and sailors at Waikumete were heaped high yesterday. Speaking at the service held near the soldiers’ memorial, Canon P. E. James said : “The lesson of Anzac is this, ‘Do your duty simply and straightforwardly wherever you are/ The men of Anzac would have disliked the extravagant praise which was sometimes heaped on them.” The men who fought and died had not joined up “to make the world safe for democracy,” but simply to do their duty. King and country appealed ai!*i they answered. The famous passage from Ecclesiasticus beginning “Let us now praise famous men,” was read by Mr. George Knight and the Last Post was sounded. The Municipal Band played sacred music. The C Company of the First Battalion, North Auckland Regiment, formed a guard of honour round the memorial column^ A memorial service was conducted at the O’Neill’s Point Cemetery, Devon port, by Canon E. J. McFarland, and addresses were given by the Rev. A. M. Aspland and Major C. ( R. Spragg. IN THE CHURCHES MEMORIAL SERMONS “Ye are bought with a price,” was the text of Canon Grant Cowen at the memorial service held at St. Matthew’s yesterday morning. Wreaths were heaped high on the memorial in the church. In the evening he spoke on “Memories of Anzac.” Both services were broadcast. Solemn High Mass for the repose of the souls of tlit men who fell was held at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in the morning. Bishop Cleary spoke of the depths of tenderness and devotion and courage which he had found among the soldiers. It was impossible, he said, for men to remain atheistical in those scenes. There had been a deep religious feeling in the front lines. The prayer which all men offered that day, said the bishop, was that modern democracies might learn the value and the blessings of peace. Services were held in all Roman Catholic Churches. Bishop Liston spoke at St. Benedict’s. At St. Mary's Cathedral, Parnell, the Rev. U. K. Vickery spoke, after the evening service, on “From Camp to Battlefield With the Anzacs.” Speaking at the Synagogue, the Rev. S. A. said that the sacrifices of the fallen were a reminder of the duties which went with the privileges of living under the British flag. The sacrifice and suffering of the soldiers Lad been the price of a peace which meant something more than the mere cessation of hostilities. The worir*, would come nearer to the recognitir/i of spiritual ideals by remembering this. Solemn requiem communion was celebrated in St. Paul’s Church during the morning. The celebrant was the vicar, who had associated with him an officer in uniform as altar server. In the course of the service the names of some 40 men of the parish who gave their lives were read in remembrance.