PRIDE IN BRAVE SACRIFICES

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 833, 29 November 1929, Page 6

PRIDE IN BRAVE SACRIFICES

Auckland Remembers Her Fallen MEMORIAL MUSEUM OPENED Deeply Moving Ceremony A DOMINANT note of ringing pride in brave men’s sacrifice, rather than one of sorrow and mourning, made touchingly beautiful the ceremony of opening the Auckland War Memorial Museum and of consecrating the Cenotaph which took place yesterday afternoon on tlie Domain Hill. Perhaps it was fitting that nearly a decade had gone by since the people of the province said, “We will make a monument to our dead*.” In the intervening years the weight of sadness and crushing grief which had bowed the bravest head, had eased gently and perceptibly. And today, in this year of 1029, the death of Auckland’s sons has assumed a radiance and a glory not apparent at any earlier assembling of the citizens.

STANDING there in the sunlight, the noble cenotaph -- cenos taphos, empty tomb, as the Greeks called such a monument —carried thought hack almost 2,000 years to another empty tomb, when the first resurrection gave its message of hope and comfort to a new civilisation and a new world. The ceremony had for its foundation the spirit of religion. The people would not have had it otherwise. Their feeling was given words by the Archbishop of New Zealand, Dr. A. W. Averill, in his sentences of dedication, "May this cenotaph be a link between the dead and the living, and a solemn appeal to present and future to remember the past and give honour to whom honour is due.” And there beside Dr. Averill. the Rev. W. D. Morrison-Sutherland, Moderator of the Auckland Presbytery, read from the apocryphal book of Ecclesiasticus that magnificent passage, which begins “Let us now praise famous men.”

A deep hush came over the 8,000 people when the little party or ecclesiastics proceeded from the official dais in slow procession fo the base of the cenotaph. No sound except the fluttering of Empire flags from their standards on the monument, at the corners of the court of honour, disturbed the quiet serenity. Preceded by Archdeacon Simkin, who carried the primatal cross, there came the Archbishop and Mr. MorrisonSutherland, and a. pace to the rear, Archdeacon Hawkins and Archdeacon Mac Murray.

Then, in the hearing of the bareheaded thousands, his Grace solemnly consecrated the tall white column, declaring it forever set apart from "all common and profane uses.”

And as the Archbishop’s voice concluded the resonant declaration, there broke In the roll of drums —war drums not many years since, but now drums of peace, a salute to the dead. The roll began in a fiery crash, swelled in a long crescendo, and died on the afternoon breeze. No sooner had the thrilling reverberation ceased than from the parapet of the memorial building rang out as one eight bugles blown by cadets of King’s College. The "Last Post”! When the mournful notes had concluded the assembly sang Kipling’s Recessional”—“Lord God of Hosts be with us yet, lest we forget, lest we forget.” The grand verses were sung as the poet intended —the prayer was uttered as a heartfelt petition. After the Primate had pronounced the blessing, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son. and of the Holy Ghost," the trumpets once again pealed cut clear, and on another note, the note of hope, expressed in the "Reveille." A STRIKING SCENE The scene at the Cenotaph was striking. A blustering wind caught the flags on the cenotaph and robes of the leaders of the churches officiating at the dedication. The spirit of the scene touched the hearts of the watchers. Vibrant hymns, buglestrains, and the machine-like precision of military movements, carried out by a squad of men from the Royal Navy, wore elements contributing to lhe spirit, of the function. xUI eyes were turned on the figures of the clergy detached from the remainder of the assembly as they stood in a solemn group by the cenotaph, rearing in its brightness from the flags of the court of honour. The last act in the consecrating of (he cenotaph was the handing over of it by his' Excellency the GovernorGeneral, Sir Charles Fergusson, to the Mayor of Auckland. The task was performed simultaneously with the giving of the memorial museum into the keeping of the Auckland Institute and Museum. What may be called the civil aspect

was performed by his Excellency. This was the opening of the museum and, as said earlier, the trusting of the cenotaph to the Mayor and his successors.

THEIR EXCELLENCIES ARRIVE Sir Charles, in the uniform of a general of the Imperial Army, arrived with the Lady Alice Fergusson at two o'clock. They were met by the reception committee and escorted to a dais over which was an awning. With their Excellencies were Captain E. P. O. Boyle, military secretary, and Captain E. L. Orr-Ewing, aide-de-camp.

Mr. A. S. Bankart, chairman of the Citizens’ War Memorial Committee, presided. The Prime Minister was represented by the Hon. J. B. Donald, Postmaster-General, and among others present were the Mayor, Mr. G. Baildon; the Mayoress, Mrs. A. D. Campbell; Commander G. W. T. Robertson, R.N.; Commander Nelson Clover, R.N.; Lieutenant-Colonel J. E. Duigan, Mr. A. C. A. Sexton, president of the Auckland Returned Soldiers’ Association; Sir James Gunson, former chairman of the Citizens’ War Memorial Committee, and Lady Gunson; Mr. H. E. Vaile, president of the Auckland Institute and Museum, and Mrs. Vaile. and Miss Mowbray, representing the Victoria League. Archbishop Averill was accompanied by Mrs. Averill.

Immediately his Excellency had taken his place he received a salute from a detachment of King’s College cadets drawn up on the court of honour and near the cenotaph. Their salute given, the lads gave place to a guard of honour from H.M.S. Philomel, which kept watch throughout the service.

The Auckland Municipal Band played "Onward Christian Soldiers” as a prelude to the service, and shortly led the people in the powerful sentiments of “O God Our Help in Ages Past.” GOVERNOR-GENERAL’S SPEECH GLORY OF THE FALLEN “I want you to take back your minds to a period 2,000 years ago,” said his Excellency in handing over the cenotaph to the Mayor. “When In Ancient Greece it was the custom for .the inhabitants to assemble on some beautiful spot to which were brought in beautiful caskets the remains of those who had died in battle, with other caskets representing those who had died and who had not been brought back. . . . Someone was then called upon to pay a tribute to their memory, and after that the people went away quietly to their homes . . Above the doorway of this museum would be seen the words of a great Athenian statesman, Pericles, who liad spoken on an occasion of the kind to which he had referred. The -whole tenor of his speech was that we should not grieve too much for those who had died for their country, hut rather that our eyes should turn to the glory which surrounded their memory. He had said it was easy to talk of brave fighting, but he would rather that his hearers should fix their eyes day by day upon the greatness of their country, and reflect that the Empire had been acquired by men who knew their duty and had the courage to do it, fearing dishonour and being willing always to give their lives for their country. Today’s function was similar in its circumstances. This Cenotaph did not represent the graves of the fallen but rather the glory of what survives them. It reminded us that these meu knew r their duty and had the courage to do it —surely the noblest of all attributes. It depended how each one of ns responded to the call of duty as to the answer to the question: “Were these lives wasted; did they die in vain?” The lives would have been wasted if we today did not dedicate our lives to duty and to our country. On the upper wall of the museum were pictures typical of the men who fell —men of all branches of the services and different types of war instruments —a picture of war. Then there was a contrast in a nearby picture representing peace, reminding him of a widely-known quotation beginning: "I dreamed that overhead I saw in twilight grey. An army of the dead marching on its way . . The lessons of these comparisons were that everyone should strive to ensure a state of things in the world that would make war impossible. The Bishop of London had recently said that the world needed a great revival of religion. “I have now to ask you to take care of this Cenotaph, which has been

erected to commemorate those from this province who died in the Great War,” Sir Charles concluded. “I know it will be tended with loving care not only "by yourselves, but by those'who follow you.” A COMMUNITY TRUST

The speech of Mr. A. S. Bankart, chairman of the Citizen’s War Memorial Committee, who spoke eloquently of the memorial's history and what the people hoped in its building, was published in yesterday’s Sun. Also published then was the undertaking given by the Mayor, Mr. G. Baildon, in reply to his Excellency at the handing over of the cenotaph to the City’s custody. Mr. H. E. Vaile, president of the Auckland Institute and Museum, in accepting the museum from his Excellency, said:- — ’’The Auckland War Memorial Museum belongs to no individual or group of individuals, but to the community as a whole, and we shall merely hold it iu trust for them.” "I think citizens decided wisely when, after full consideration of the proposals, they selected a museum as the most appropriate memorial. There will be enshrined in this building not only the history of the Great War and of other wars, but of New Zealand itself —including that of the great Maori race, of which we are so proud. “The museum will be a living thing in this community, and I need scarcely assure you that the institute which controls it will, as far as its resources allow, do all possible to inculcate in the present and future generations a love of country, a pride of their city, and a proper appreciation of the sacrifices made by the soldiers. “This is a great and solemn occasion in the history of Auckland and marks the consummation of a great ideal conceived years ago, and whatever criticisms may be made both committees can truthfully say that they have done their best, and I believe that the vast majority of citizens will he well satisfied with the result. At all events Auckland now has a memorial and a museum of which not only this City, but the whole of New Zealand may well be proud. “It is hardly necessary for me to assure you again that the trust reposed by you today in the Auckland Institute will be faithfully administered,” Mr. Vaile said. Before actually handing over the building, Sir Charles Fergusson expressed appreciation of the part which Mr. Bankart had taken in the work—requiring, as it did, great courage and perseverance and fraught as it whs with great difficulties. The result was worthy of a great city, and it would stand for centuries as . a monument to those who had gone before.

Sir Charles then handed the building into the keeping of Mr. Vaile, president of the Auckland Institute, expressing the hope also that the scheme to have inscribed the names of the fallen as a lasting memorial to their sacrifice and courage might be carried through. He felt that if the proposal now afoot with this objective were finally carried out, it would give gratification and relief to thousands of people.