Northern Territory Times and Gazette (Darwin, NT : 1873 - 1927)(about) |
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Saturday 17 August 1918
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The Roll of Honor.
The Roll of Honor for those who have fallen in the great war was un- veiled on Friday afternoon by the Mayoress, Mrs. D. C. Watts, in the presence of a large and representative gathering, which included Mrs. Lauder, Mrs. Walter Quick, Miss Gerty Styles, and Messrs. Lauder and W. A. Pott, relatives of fallen soldiers whose names are inscribed on the roll, also the Bishop of Carpentaria, Dr. Newton, Rev. Father Fanning, Rev. F. H. Lane, Rev. J. Albert Pratt, the Mayor (Mr. D. C. Watts), Crs. Carey and Witherden, Lieut-Col. Johnson, Captain Barker. Mrs. Gilruth, Mr. N Waters, Mr. and Mrs Kelsey, Mr. C. J. Kirkland, Mr. W. C. P. Bell, and
others.
The Mayor, in announcing the pur- pose of the gathering, said it was fit- ting that a " permanent memorial
should be made of our men who have
given up their lives in the fight for
the freedom of the world. The Roll had been obtained as a result of public subscription, and would be dedicated to the Council for preservation for the people. He invited the Mayoress to
unveil the Roll.
The Mayoress then unveiled the memorial, and as the Union Jack was withdrawn, the Guard of Honor paid the last token of respect to the fallen, Bandmaster Clark the while sounding
the Last Post.
Mr. Carey, the Government Secre- tary, in the absence of the Administra- tor, said:-"I have first to express the Administrator's regret that he Is unable to be here to day and to read the following telegram he has sent for that purpose :
" 'I regret exceedingly that I cannot be present at unveiling soldiers Roll of Honor to-morrow and ask you to express to meeting my regrets, and gratification that citizens of Territory recognise heroism and devotion to highest cause of those who have so nobly obeyed country's call and made supreme sacrifice, also that those unable by age or other disabilities from following their example yet do them all the honor they possibly can.'
" He would be a cold blooded indi- vidual who could not feel the warmth of pride kindled within him this after- noon. We are here to do honor to those of our fellow citizens and our friends and in some cases our kin, who as soldiers from this Territory have laid down their lives for freedom We hear that the Roll is not yet com- plete; we hear that with pride as well as with pathos. Pride that citizens of Australia are ready-to take the place of those who have fallen. Pathos in that the price Australia has to pay in blood has not yet been paid to the full.
" Our first thoughts probably this afternoon are with those pathetic and lonely figures to whom an occasion such as this must bring the poignancy of their first loss back to them. One scarcely likes to say a word to their
folk left, lest even well meant sym- pathy tears open the wounds of heart and spirit. We hope, however, that there will come some consolation to them in the realization that the sacrifice of their dear ones is honored and remembered. That the people who have known them as individuals, some as friends, and some as kindred, have decided to do all that lies in their power to do them honor.
" Of the men themselves one can say very little that is fitting. Their bravery and death has put it far above any mere words to add to their honor or detract from their memory. Ask any of those crushed peoples of Meso- potamia, ask the fellaheen of Egypt, ask any of the passionatety patriotic people of France, ask again of our own folk in the Old Country what they think of the Australian soldier to-day, and they will say that he is a brave fighter, cheerful almost to gaiety in the face of difficulties which would stagger most of us ; that he is pitiful with the strong man's pity for the women and children of the despoiled countries he is fighting to restore. To speak of regret for this kind of men, of men who in one or two short years
have turned from the humdrum works of everyday peace life to the fiercest application of warfare the world has ever seen, and have become in this short time pastmasters in the art of war. I repeat that to speak regrets of them would be futile in the extreme. Indeed, in the hush which surrounds the passing of brave men one feels like saying little, but if these could speak this afternoon, I feel certain that given assurance those of us left will do our part to make that triumph complete, there is not a man who has earned the right to a place on such a, Roll of Honor as this who would not say he would choose no other passing to " where beyond these voices there is peace." The triumph of the cause they died' for must be the compensa- tion for their loss.
" To those of us who remain, those' too old to go, or too unfit to follow these men we are honoring to-day, I do not think I can do better than quote the immortal words of Abraham Lincoln, which electrified the world some fifty-five years ago. He said :-
" ' It is for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us,
that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause tor
which they gave the last full measure of devotion. That we here highly
rosolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom and that Government of the people by the people and for the people shall not perish from the earth,'
" That freedom has never been in greater peril than during the past few months. My own opinion is that any man who says to-day the danger is past is foolishly optimistic. To us, then, Lincoln's words come as a clarion call to duty, and be that duty great or small, let us hope we shall be as whole hearted in our devotion thereto as these our friends have proved them-
selves to be "
The Bishop of Carpentaria, the Rev. Father Fanning, and the Rev. J. Albert Pratt also gave appropriate
addresses.
The names inscribed on the Roll are as follows :
R. J. Lewis T.F. Beck
J. L. Cain M. C Byrne E. Johnson S. J. Lauder J. Godfrey J. B. Nolan S. Dowling A. O'Neill
W. Gar H. B. Potts
W. E Budgen J. W. Powell G. Seabright V. Sawyer
R T. Waters G. W. Thornton
Names of other Territorians who have died in freedom's cause are yet to be added, including those of Messrs
Philpott, J. Buckley, Robert Butters, and another of the Gar boys. As it is desired the Roll shall embrace the name of every Tecritorian who has fallen, Mr. Stretton, who has been the prime mover in the erection of the Roll, will be glad to receive the names of any riot yet included.