ANZAC DAY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 April 1939, Page 4

ANZAC DAY

SERVICE IN MASTERTON

TOMORROW ARRANGEMENTS FOP. PARADE. ADDRESS BY REV E. J. RICH. Anzac Day will be observed in Masterton tomorrow when a service will be held at the Soldiers’ Memorial in the Masterton Park, commencing at, 10.50 a.m. If the weather is unfavourable for an outdoor gathering, the service will be held in the Municipal Hall but no decision will be made until the last minute. Ex-service men will assemble at the Soldiers’ Hostel, Essex Street, at 10.15 a.m., wearing medals and decorations. The Wairarapa College Cadets, the Territorial units, and the Legion of Frontiersmen will also assemble at the same hour and place, in readiness to move off for the Park at 10.40 a.m. The parade will be headed by the Masterton Municipal Band, which will also supply the music for the service, which is to be presided over by the honorary chaplain of the R.S.A., the Rev E. J. Rich, who will also give the address. Mr H. J. Brass, chairman of the Wairarapa R.S.A., will deposit the Association’s wreath on the Soldiers' Memorial after which two minutes' silence will be observed. At the conclusion of the service, the returned men will be the guests at the Soldiers’ Hostel of the ladies of the war time Liverpool Committee and their friends at morning tea. COLLEGE SERVICE MR RICH ADDRESSES SCHOLARS. SIGNIFICANCE OF ANZAC DAY. An Anzac Day service was held at the Assembly Hal), Wairarapa College, this afternoon, when the scholars of the college, together with the senior pupils of the Masterton West School, were addressed by the Rev E. J. Rich. In making reference to actual incidents associated with the landing at Gallipoli, Mr Rich pointed out that before any worth while achievement could be carried out considerable preparation and training was necessary. Preparation and training were never more imperative than those necessary before the landing at Gallipoli. While it was good to remember and honour the men who gave everything at Gallipoli and elsewhere, said Mr Rich, the main significance Of Anzac Day was the spirit that inspired the men of that particular period. The Anzac spirit stood for sacrifice for what was right. There was something in the world today that was absolutely right, something worth upholding at any price, that took courage and grit to carry out. The men who fought in the Great War believed they were fighting for something that was right. Britishers as a race felt they were fighting to protect a weak nation and there was a duty on us to try to protect the weak. The men who went to the war did not think they were doing anything wonderful. They considered they were doing their duty and we had to do our duty in these days in which our lot was cast if we were going to make our future worthy of the men who had gone before. SCHOOL CEREMONIES. ■' OBSERVANCES IN MASTERTON. Anzac services are being observed at most of the local schools. At Central School this morning the pupils gathered in the Assembly Hall, when suitable songs and recitations were given by the children. The headmaster, Mr E. G.-Coddington, recalled the landing at Anzac and pointed out that Anzac Day was not merely in memory of the landing but in memory of the 16,000 New Zealanders whose lives were lost during the Great War. A wreath will be deposited by the school at the Soldiers’ Memorial at tomorrow morning’s service. The pupils of the Lansdowne School jjeld an Anzac service this afternoon, the speaker being Mr J. H. Irving. Solway College girls will hold a service tomorrow morning at 10 o’clock, at which the speaker will be Mr C. C. Marsack. St Matthew’s School girls will attend the public ceremony in the Park tomorrow.

A short service will be held at Hadlow Preparatory School tomorrow morning at 9 o’clock. The lesson will be read by the head prefect, D. Adams, and Mrs Miller. Hope will preside at the piano. The Principal, Mr A. W. Don. will address the pupils on “New Zealanders in War.”