ANZAC DAY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 20 May 1938, Page 3

ANZAC DAY

MANNER OF OBSERVANCE. SWEEPING CHANGE SUGGESTED. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) AUCKLAND, May 19. A sweeping change in the manner of observing Anzac Day was proposed by the president of the Australian Imperial Forces’ ex-Servicemen’s Association in Auckland, Mr E. P. Tichener. He suggested that New Zealand should follow Sydney's example and not only institute a dawn parade, but also limit solemn observances to the morning, making the afternoon a more cheerful occasion. Such a change, he said, would be commonly supported by those men who had attended the recent Anzac Day ceremonies in Sydney and the co-op-eration of the Auckland Returned Soldiers’ Association for the holding of a dawn parade was now being enlisted as a first step toward altering the manner of celebrating Anzac Day. Mr Tichener said the general reaction of those who had gone to Sydney was that the form of New Zealand’s observances should be reconsidered by returned soldiers’ associations. He himself felt that the lapse of time since the landing, even although the present generation were with the soldiers in spirit and sentiment, was such that returned men should be prepared to concede something to those who had not known the war. Sydney's way of celebrating the day not only enabled everybody to pay a fitting tribute to the men who had lost their lives, but also made that concession to the younger people which he was advocating.

The dawn parade in Sydney would live long in the memories of those who had attended it, said Mr Titchener* and there was a general feeling among returned soldiers in New Zealand that the Dominion should make a similar contribution to the ceremonies of remembrance. The suggestion had now been made to Mr J. W. Kendall, president of the Auckland Returned Soldiers’ Association, who had welcomed it and had expressed pleasure at Australian soldiers initiating the move, since it was they who had actually landed at dawn. Mr Kendall had said that his association would give full support to the proposal. Nn 1940, said Mr Titchener, it was expected that large bodies of Australian returned soldiers would be in Auckland for the centenary celebrations, and it was felt by his association that the Anzac Day service in that year would not be complete without a dawn parade. When it was first held in Sydney, about 10 years ago, the attendance of returned men and the public had been about 1000. At the recent service it was over 40,000.

Another advantage of limiting solemn observances to the morning, said Mr Titchener, was that reunions of returned soldiers would be greatly facilitated in the afternoon. In Sydney many regiments held their reunions and, since more men were in the city on that day than at any other time during the year, the practice of having no service or parade in the afternoon made for their complete success.