ANZAC DAY.
It is only right and fitting that the anniversary of the landing of the New Zealandera and Australians at Gallipoli on April 25, 1915, should be kept aa a red letter day in the annals of the Dominion. No more brilliant and heroic exploit can be found in military history, and the honor and glory attaching thereto are all the greater by reason of the daring exploits being performed by men with only a "few months' military training, who had answered the Empire's call, many making great personal sacrifices, but all animated by the highest spirit of duty and patriotism—and these men were peaceful dwellers in the youngest countries on the Globe. It is not necessary to recount the deeds of our young manhood at Uallipoli, for they are all fresh in memory, and will so remain while life lasts. W,hat is more to the point is that the anniversary should be fittingly kept, not only to reverently honor the memory of those who made the supreme sacrifice, but to keep green the magnificent example shown to the world of heroism, grit and determination in accomplishing tasks beset with colossal difficulties. Any nation might well be proud of the achievements of such men as the Anzacs, not with a pride in their strength cn& indomitable pluck, but in their devotion to duty amid such opposition that might well have made the stoutest hearts quail. Vainglorious boasting of military victories is rightly deprecated, but a justifiable feeling of reflected glory in the heroism of New Zealand's manhood is a vastly different matter. It matters not that the marvellous bravery of the Anzacs was not productive of absolute victory, and that an evacuation was eventually ordered. Though the direct results of the campaign were negative, the indirect results were most important and far-reaching. The achievements were a triumph to which no parallel is to be found, and in observing Anzac Dav the keynote should be one of devout thankfulness that the Dominion's manhood so nobly did their duty in the Empire's cause, and thereby materially helped to free the world from the menace of militarism. It was on the Gallipoli peninsula that the New Zea- ' landers proved themselves worthy of the best traditions of British military history in upholding the cause of freedom and humanity, and it is most appropriate that the people of the Dominion should reverently honor those who fell and pay a tribute to the living and the dead. Never should the anniversary of this glorious campaign be allowed to fall into neglect, but be made an inspiration to greater and higher efforts on behalf of humanity.
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Taranaki Daily News, 25 April 1919, Page 4
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440ANZAC DAY. Taranaki Daily News, 25 April 1919, Page 4
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