RETURNED SOLDIERS'!
ANNUAL REUNION DINNER.' The first annual reunion dinner of the Now Plymouth Returned Soldiers' Association, held last night in the Coronation, Hall, proved a very successful function,' The hall was decorated with flags tuft' the tables were tastefully decorated. Nearly 300 men sat down to dinner. Chaplain Lieut.-Colonel Evans (president of the association) presided, and there were Beated with him Mr, W. At Collis (Deputy Mayor), Messrs W. F, Chancy (Patriotic Committee), L. A. Nolan (Taranaki Jockey Club), J. W. Hayden (Peace Committee), A. IL Johnntone (lion, solicitor to the R.S.A.), D. J. Hughes (representative in land purchase matters), 0. Colson, Lieut.-Colonel Weston,'Captains Hartnell, MacDiarmid, and Roberts. Apologies for absence were received from Messrs 8, 0. Smith And W. T. Jennings, M's P., Colonel Belbinger, Padre Briscoe, Capt. Stratford, Una* Newton King, and W. Kelly (Awaldn*). After the dinner a number of taste were given, interspersed with nnariail items. The loyal toast, prapoaed bf {to' chairman, was honored in' the una! manner.
The toast of the "Returned SoUUW Association" was proposed by Mr. Oooit> who, after expressing pleasure at being associated with the mon on such an occasion, and at seeing such a large number of them gathered together, taid hj» believed the real purpose of the UMoWfcu was to foster or preserve the spirit of comradeship that had been born amongst the men while engaged in active service. ,He hoped the reorganisation would be carried on along sound lines, and tiutt Ki spirit would be maintained and the men would be helped to strive after and reach high ideals, so that its formation would not have been in vain.
Mr, E. B. Ellerm, in replying, slid the proposer had struck what was really the key to the whole purpose of the fttsoeJation when he spoke of comradeship.' Ha hoped the soldiers would stick toge&er to help each other. The returned soldier had a duty to his country as well M to himself and his dependents. He referred to what hod been done.in regard to repatriation, regretting that, while the scheme adopted was a useful one, its administration had been bad. The executive of the association had a big responsibility, but the association would help the soldiers if the soldiers stood by it Membership in the association was more than the wearing of the badge; it should mean an active and lively interest in all that concerned the soldiers in connection with the work of reconstruction.
Mr. A. H. Johnstone proposed the health of the "Now Zealand Division.* He referred to the opinions that had been expressed of its work by high British officers, all of whom were glad to know they had the "Diggers" on their flask when they were in a tight place. He reminded his hearers that five yean ago there was no New Zealand Division, bat said no one could read the history ot their doings without his blood being made to course faster through hie body than before. He recounted the exploits of the Division in the various fields, and said it was a division that was uniformly good throughout. "Even Ludendorff,'' said Mr. Johnstone, "dated the downfall of the German army from the time the New Zealanders occupied Bapaume." The men of the. Division might well "bare their arms and show their sears and stand an inch or two higher than other men." He called on the assembly to drink to the health of the division that never retreated and was never defeated and only- once failed to achieve its object, and that failure was due to the weather. He coupled l with the toast the name of Colonel Weston, "one of the finest officers who went with it."
Colonel Weston, who was enthusiast!cally applauded on rising to respond, Mid it was with a feeling of prido that ho acknowledged the toast, the feeling bring heightened by the eloquent tribute pin? to the, Division by Mr. Johnstone, w*o, through no fault of his own, wis not able to accompany them. "If he had,™ laid the speaker, "he would have planned battles there as well And as successfully as many of his legal battles were planned." Colonel Weston then went on to refer to tho idea in some people's minds that there was nothing in the soldier's experience that should not be forgotten. As a matter of fact, most of them had got a good bit of fun out of it, though some had been badly "Smacked up" in the process, One thing about their experience was that they had been freed from the spirit of competition. TJie only competition had been to get the good jobs at the base. (Laughter.) He envied the men of the Main Body their privilege of seeing the Division grow from the start and of following its doings throughout the whole campaign. H* hoped it would never be forgotten that the Division left France without a stain on its honor.
The toast of "Absent Comrades" wan appropriately and feelingly proposed by Capt. MacDiarmid, who dwelt on "the spirit of comradeship that existed amongst all ranks at the front. New comradeships wove formed at every tulro, and, though the comradeship was shortlived, as men "wont west" the memory of those men woutdV live for ever in the hearts of those who remained. The toast was received in silence. Captain Hartnell, in the course of a feeling reply to the toast, dwelt on the great sacrifice made by the men who would never return and said, "We may I well take pause to remember the men 1 whoso blood has stained the land on which the New Zealand Division, has fought." Ho pleaded that the soldiers and tho work they had done should n«Tff !be forgotten. - Mr. A, S. Allen proposed the health jot "The. Ladies." In doing so, he made appropriate reference to the great war work done by the women of tho Umpire, and especially tho nurses (applause), by which they had become entitled to an place with men and a vojee in the future counsels of tho Empire. The ultimate peace of the world Would be brought about largely by the influence of the women.
Mr, A. L. Humphries, In a happy speech, suitably acknowledged the compliment, and said if ever it became necessary for the nation to estimate its war strength again the women would be counted in as well as the men.
The toast of "The Press" was proposed by Mr. Roper and responded to by one of the press representatives present. Mr. D. J. Hughes proposed the health of "The Chairman," and said that, irrespective of his personality and hit cloth, ,he deserved credit for the association he had with the returned soldiers. He referred briefly to the matter of placing soldiers on the land, expressing regret that the wealthy landowners ofTantnatt had not done more in the interests of the returned soldier in that direction. All the toasts were enthnsias&ally received, being accorded musical hours. The songs were contributed by CttMCal Briggs, Messrs Andrews, Smith, Hewlett, and Cooper. Mr. P.. Eredede Pl*rt44he
'wmtKti
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TDN19190830.2.55
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
Taranaki Daily News, 30 August 1919, Page 5
Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,181RETURNED SOLDIERS'! Taranaki Daily News, 30 August 1919, Page 5
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Taranaki Daily News. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.