ANZAC DAY.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3470, 26 April 1920, Page 4

ANZAC DAY.

I\L'EMOR.T_-Xl, .‘¥F.R\'l(f."l‘] RT TAIHAPE

Yesterday ufrernoon a. memorial service was held in the Town Hall} which was crowded with people anxious to solemnise in a devout mannerthe fifth. :Inniversary of the lunding_ of the ti-oops of the southern Dominion at Anzac Cove, -on Gallipoli. Anzao Day will for ever beheld in "reverent I‘(.‘l11(.‘]l1bI'{1I1(:e by the nations of the: Southern Seas, and in the meeting yesterday, many of whom present had‘ poignant memories of the historic landing, there was a spirit of deep emotion as they entered into the presence of the Almighty. Previous to i-he opening of the service, the returned §oldiers to the number of about 60 marched from th.e Fire Brigade Hall to the meeting. Several were Vain Body men, who had partici-

pated in the campaign which the service was held to solemnise.

P "901-3915’ at 3 o’cloek, the service opened with the singing of “0 GO3 our Held in Ages Past.” His Worship the Mayor (Mr A, J, Joblinj in a. brief address, remarked the service that afternoon was to re~ vere the memory of those brave soldiers who made the supreme sacrifice for their eoiihlry on the rugged cost of Gallipoli. Those who now lie on Gallipoli, and in Palestine and France and Belgium are wrapped in immortality and sleeping in- glory. The sacrifice they made was the price of our liberyt and freedom, and the one thing that should most appeal to us was to see that what they died ‘to attain was accomplished. This great responsibility lay entirely on :the people. It Was; - sad to have to way that the great peace-—the lasting and abiding peacewhich everyone looked for and expected at the conclusion of the Great War,’ which had -niade such 2. terrible demand on the best of our young manhood, had no.r..develope<l. It has been very rightly said that this Anzac service was not the time and place for rejoicing over victories won, but -a day‘ for honouring our illljs'trious dead. It was not for us to remember what. had". been gained, but to remember what had been lost. This idea should‘ be the keynote of the service they ha_d'_ met to solemnise. After referring in‘ feeling ternis to those who had’ lost. their lives in other spheres of operations in the Great War, Mr“ Joblinl concluded: “And let us hope that then Great War which our soldiers, throughout the Empire won will be the last. of’ ‘ all wars, and that we have now reachied the tinle———the long-expected time, fi the time looked for down the_coun‘flesS‘ ages, the time foreseen by the Prophet }and the Psalmist, the time Wlicn I nation shall not lift up hand against" ‘ nation——there shall be no war.” ‘ After a Scriptural reading, “I am the Resurrection and the Life,” by Mr Stent, tlle"sad and solenln.hym-n_.. “When our Heads are Bowed With \Voe,” was sung.

The C-apt:l'ln of the Salvation Army then read the lesson from Ephesians Vl,, 10-18.

l The Rev. J. C. Loan delivered an eloquent address, taking for his text: ‘the lesson just‘ fiid, dwelling parti.-» i cularly on the verse: “For we wreystle ' not against flesh and blood, but. against principalities, against powers, against" the rulers of darkness of this world,_ L against spiritual wickedness in high l places.” Such, he said, were the forces ‘arrayed against us. ‘fie illustrated lthis most effectively by a. quotation ’.from Bunyan ’s “Pilgrim’s Progress,_”' i in the spiritual fight in the “Valley of i the Shadow.” The tragic story of the ' Dardanelles won for us respect, respect for the fact that our men dared and won. 111% graphically described the landing on the peninsula, -and when the new_s of the awful losses came ’through it fell’ like a thunderclap. As itlfe lists of dead and wounded were ‘published; among all the bitterness of lgrief, tliere was a proud though sad consciousness that our boys could‘-fight and sufi’er—-and die. There was one word, one thought in_."our hoarts——Gal~ lipoli. It was a time of sore travail, iand the immediate effect was to reinvigorate and regenerate, our shores of the Southern Seas. A new life was created, and we were called to take up and carry on the work of the Empire. The war was not only a physical one, it was a spiritual one-—the. powers of freedom against the powers of darkness. bringing out all that was {God-like in humanity, fortified by the ;{prayers of those who believed in Almighty God. Mr Loan quoted the inspiringl‘ Words of A.dnli’r7il Beatty, that in the drunken orgy our men did not fight for more bloodshed, but for the improvement of mankind. “Did these men die in vain?’ asked Mr Loan; “are we better and truer because they gave their lives on our behalf? If we are not living up to high ideals, then their efforts were in vain.” Address- _ ing the children present, Mr Loan said.’ it was part.iclllarlg fitting: that they should be here, as the child of to-day was the man and woman of to-morrow, and on them would devolve the work of carryingout the duties of citizenship and the Empire. Mr Loan~ con-’ eluded an eloquent and inipressive ad-< t

dress by quoting Kiplingfls “Recessional”: “God of ounfathers, known of oldLord of “Far far-flung battle lineBenezith whose awful hand We hold . ‘Dominion over palm and pine, Lord God of Hosts? be with us yet Lest we forgo.t—lest we forget.” Hymn: “For all the Saints who from ‘Their La'boufs"Resf.” Rev. W. F. St?-"11'fi delivered the "Lord’s Prayer,”"participated in by ‘he congregation. ' Rev. VV. H. Lee delivered the prayers, and the Doxology, and the singing of the National An"Cllem brought the service to a close. SIR WM. >BIR.DWOOD’S GREETING.‘ AUCKLAND, April '25. ’ The Prime Minister received the following cable from General Sir William Birdwood to-day: Greetings and ;remembrances for all A.I.F. to -our New Zealand comrades. "" ‘ ‘

IN ENGLAND.

Received 10.30 a.m.

LONDON, April 25.

Admiral Keys, and many mafines, who took part in the Zeebrugge expedition, besides tliousaffds of the public, participated-in Anzac Day celebrations on the Plymouth seafront. ’ I T_ Harvey and W. Prc-n-‘rice, who took part in the Gallipoli landing, laid wreaths at. the foot of the Armada moilument._ The Mayor paid a tribute to the immortal dead. 5;? lAN HAMILTON ON THE DARDANELLES OPERATIONS. LONDON, April 24. Speaking at an army dinner at Shefiield, Sir lan Hamilton read cabled greetings from Ge~ncral Birdwood on behalf of Anzac Comrades. Sir lan Hamilton declared: After the successful landing -at the Dardanelles, the forcescould, on several occasions have advanced and captured Constantinople, knocked out the Turks and joined hands with the Russians, and immobolisel Bulgaria, but the higher direction of the Entente could not make up their minds. “There were periods ‘when’, without. endangering the safety of Calais or Paris, the forces at the Dardanelles might have borrowed for ‘a few days a small number of howitzers, trench mortars, and aeroplanes, which would have ensured absolute success. We British never make ‘use of our amphibious powers to carry out stragetical movements on‘ a grand scale. Undoubtedly mistakes were made, both on the spot and at Home, but the idea of forcing the Dardanelles ,was essentially jouqd, and must have triumphed if the ends of. British direction had been held in Lon- i don, insfeadof in Paris andxthe West Front.” _ O . .....__ IN AUS’Ffi"ATZTA.

SYDNEY, this day.

A body of New Zeziland troops participafired in the Anzac Day procession, which was headed by General Birawood.