Townsville Daily Bulletin (Qld. : 1907 - 1954), Saturday 26 April 1924, page 4


THE SOLDIERS' MEMORIAL.

THE UNVEILING CEREMONY.

For the afternoon, the unveiling of the Soldiers' Memorial in the Strand Park, there was a great attendance of the public. It is doubtful, indeed, whether there has ever been so large a crowd in the Park as on this oc-casion. Round the Memorial monu-

ment, a large enclosure had been fenced off for the official party, returned soldiers, relatives of deceased soldiers and the military forces. Shortly be-fore 3.30 this area contained a large number of people, and on the Strand Road and on three sides of the enclosure a great crowd was gathered, whilst from the big trees on the Strand Road, a number of venture-some folk commanded a grand stand view of the proceedings. A guard of honour composed of mem-bers of the Citizen Forces under the immediate command of Captain Cripps and Lieutenant Smith, was drawn up outside the Customs House in readiness to receive His Excellency. The Governor, accompanied by the Mayor, arrived in good time, the Band playing a few bars of the National Anthem whilst the guard stood at the salute. After an inspec-tion of the guard, His Excellency ex-pressed his rec**on of their soldi-erly bearing to Captain Fullarton, the Adjutant of the Battalion, stating that it was on of the best and steadi-est guards he has seen in the State. On arrival at the enclosure His Excellency was greeted by the Chair-man of the Soldiers Memorial Com-mittee (Mr W.H.Green). Alongside the Memorial Steps, a platform had been erected for the official party, and

from which the ceremony of unveil-ing was performed. In the few minutes before the ceremony com-menced, a number of the Aldermen and prominent members of the Committee were presented to His Excellency. The proceedings opened with the rendering of a sacred selection by the Band, which included a number of well-known hymn tunes. This was followed by a fine rendition of Chop-in's 'March Funebre.' Captain Chaplain F. S. Harris then recited the opening prayer as fol-lows: "Almighty God, with whom do live the spirits of just men made per-fect, we yield Thee heartfelt thanks for the noble example our Brethren who laid down their lives for King and Country. We pray Thee that we may never forget that example nor the sacrifice they made at duty's call, and that we may have strength each of us to do our task and make our sacrifice, remembering those that have gone before. Help us that survive so to number our days that with them we may in the end attain everlasting life for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Rev. J. Sinclair then gave a very impressive reading of the 46th Psalm, beginning "God is our refuge and our strength, a very present help in trouble." Following the psalm, came the unveiling of the Memorial, which had been partially draped in flags. In unveiling the Memorial, His Ex-cellency said:-'The Memorials and Honor Boards that I have unveiled in the course of the last 3 1/2 yrs number near half a hundred. It is a wonderful thing visiting the cities and towns, and shires all over Queensland and seeing these witnesses to the loyalty of the people at each and every place. Some-times I ask myself what were the motives which moved men remote from the horrific scenes of the war to go to them in vast numbers with

all haste. The spirit of adventurous youth impelling towards adventure counted, no doubt, but I think but a little. The sense of gratitude to the old country for past protection went for more. Then there was the belief that the cause was righteous, that if on this occasion might were to be al-lowed to overcome right, the whole world would presently come under the rule of unregarding force. Most potent factor of all was the feeling that the lands from which parents or ances-tors had come and of which the earth, the water and the air working from a distant past had moulded the body and the mind of nearly every Aus-tralian, had a claim in their hour of trial that could not but be heard, and was not weakened because a wider growth had been sought under a tenderer sky. Whatever be the cause, the men from the new island continent of the Pacific went in their thousands, and the old island kingdom of the Atlantic rejoic-ed not only because of the help she so sorely needed, but also because of the evidence it gave of union be-tween the people of one blood now growing up differently conditioned. And if this continent should be in-volved in a war in defence of the right— which God forbid—I have no doubt that the same feeling of union would brlng free soldiers from over there to fight on the shores of the Pacific, and that the people of Eng-land would gladly send them even if it meant more crosses and obelisks shining white on the commons of

Surry and by the road-crossing of Somerset. But it is not to create thought of a future struggle that the monument which I am to unveil to-day has been erected. Rather it is to remind us that the men whom it com-memorates fought in a war which was to end war and that we must go on fighting for that purpose by building up a State broad-based on righteous-ness and by training a people to make sacrifices for peace and so to deserve this greatest of all God's blessings. It is only by these things that we shall keep our country worthy of the gift of lives made by the men whose names I shall now uncover. " As the flags fell away from the Me-morial, the guard saluted, and the "Last Post" was sounded by Bugler Waller. A minute's silence whilst the audience stood bare-headed gave an impressive note of solemnity. His Excellency then laid the first wreath on the Memorial. The Mayor (Ald. Ogden) next placed the Council wreath, saying, "In sincere recogni-tion of those by whose supreme sacri-fice we enjoy peace, happiness and prosperity, I place this wreath on the Memorial Stone." Other wreaths were then placed on the Memorial. The proceedings then concluded by the singing of the hymn, "Oh God our help in ages past," the sounding of the Reveille bugle call, and the play-ing of the National Anthem. His Excellency then went amongst the people in the enclosure, chatting for some time with the returned sol-diers and then spending some time talk-ing to parents and relatives of de-ceased soldiers. Another ceremony which was per-formed on the occasion was the pre-sentation to Rev. Canon F. G. Wil-liams of the Volunteer Officers' De-coration. In pinning on the decora-tion, His Excellency stated that the volunteer naval forces in the part had done a great deal to prevent possible raids on Australian ports, and it was a great pleasure to him to recognise the service of one of them by pinning on the decoration. Canon Williams afterwards received a number of con-gratulations from friends at the func-

tion. Arrangements had been made to al-low His Excellency speaking through an amplifier, to reach a much bigger section of the audience than he could with his voice. Unfortunately, just be-fore he lifted the receiver to talk into, a connection was broken, which rend-ered the machine inoperative, though it was in excellent order shortly be-fore, and immediately after the speech. The arrangements for the amplifier had been made by Messrs. Atkins and Donald. THE MEMORIAL COLUMN The erection of the Soldiers' Me-morial in Townsville has been some-what belated by reason that several ambitious schemes have been dis-cussed by the Committee. Land on the Strand having been secured for the erection of some form of public building such as museum or public hall the scheme has been long under consideration. It was always intended, however, to erect some form of ceno-taph, and at last it was determined to proceed with this, and designs were invited by the Committee. The local firm of Melrose and Fenwick submit-ted the design which found most favor and the work has been proceed-ing for some time past, with the Idea of unveiling on Anzac Day. A most suitable site has been chosen for the memorial stone. On a gentle grassy rise in the Park, close to the Strand Road, the monument stands. The design is a good one. From the top to the little mound, three broad granitic steps have been built up, these having been manufactured from

Townsville granite, and being of a pretty pink tinge. Surmounting these steps is a base of rough marble from New South Wales, which in color goes well with the steps. From the base is buillt up a square granite column of 25 feet in height, a clock with four faces topping the structure. From the base on four sides rise columns of white Queensland marble, surmounted by buttresses in white Italian marble. On the four sides of the Memorial Stone are white marble tablets on which are set out the objects of the Memorial and the names of Towns-vllle sons who lost their lives in the Great War. On the western side of the stone, facing the Strand Road, appears the following inscription:— "Erected to the Glorious Me-mory of the Brave Men and Boys of Townsville, who gave their lives in the Great War, 1914-1918. "The moments pass but ne'er shall die The memory of our honored dead Who, marching whither duly led, With Death met immortality." On the tablets on the remaining three sides appear the following names: C. A. Mc. Anderson, A. C. Alexander. G. E. Aplin, R. E. Armit, H. P. Armstrong, A. A. Andersen, D Baxter, N Baxter. E. F.Barnard, J. A. Barnicle, J. R. Baldey, H. Baker, T Barryman, W.J.H. Brown, C. Brent-nall, W C. Brooks, C. E. Burt, J.L. Burton, R.J. Bradshaw, R.S. Burstall, D. J. Barry, C. Benson, P.Bergin, S. C.G.Carse, E. A. Cahill, A. Camp-bell, J. J. Carmody, F. Carney, G. Church, H. V. Cottell, M. D. Collings, H. G. Cope, W. A. Crales, A. H. Clegg, C. Crales, D. Cameron, J. Cameron, W. J. Chapman, C. H. Clarke, N.R. Carse, F.H.G. Cudday, E. Chandler, W. F. Deschamp, T. G.Dearness, J. Doran, E.Diprose, A. S.H. Doorey, J. J Dredge, T. J. Desmond, N. V. Ed-wards, W. H. Flowers, H. D. Foot, A. Foot. H. F. Ford, T. J. Ford, J.Fry, G. C. Fuller, J.W.Feetam, G.D.

Gordan, J.P. Gilvary, N.V. Gordon, J. Gregory, L. G. Griffin, H. Green-slade, C. H. Gully, W. N. Gordon, R. J. Hays, P. Hatchett, J, M. Hirst, L. F. W. Hooper, A. J. R. Hoar, J. E. Hotson, G. Hammond, A. L. Hum-phries, C. M. Johnson, L. L. Johnson, C. C. Jameson, W. Jurekey, P. J. Keane, J. J. Kelly. L. E. Kelly, L. G. Lowth. F. W. Lowe, R. G. Latch-ford, J. Lawson, G.C. Lilly, J. H. Lilly, R. F. Lonerganne, T. Lomax. M. R. Murray, J. C. Murray. H. Mabin, W. B. Mackley. H. F. S. Martin. H. H. S. Marks, S. R. Mears. P. Meehan, C. Murphy, V. McKay, G. McQueen, T McCormack, W. McColgon, J. Mc-Kiernan, D. J. McKillop, J. F. Nix, A. H. Norman, E. C. Norris, J. O'Cal-laghan, W. H. O'Connor, M. P. O'Dowd. H. Pascoe, P. F. Pilkington, C. B. Pridmore, J. Pope. E. A. Potts, G. H. Pugh, F. R. Penny, W. C. Putt, H. Quinn, J. L. Ryan, G. Redpath, M. O. Robertson, G. S. Rogers. W. Ross, C. E. Roe, W. J. T. Rowe, W, J. Summerfield. A. J. Sheehan. R. A. Sheehan, E. E. Sabadine, J. Scully, H, H. Shaw. F. Sheehan. T. Smith, W. Smith, J. Inglis Smith, A. Snelham, J. A. Sooning, H Sturgess, A. Tuffley, R. P. Thompson, H. F. Touch, W. E. Tomkins. E. C. Todd. W. G. Trix, G. T. Vidler. G. Vaughn. F. W. Viles, K. McL. Viles. G. M. Wilson. C. H. Worboys. E. J. Wil-liams, W. O. Wilson, H. E. Williams, C. G. Wotton, K. Watson, T. J. Wat-son. V. Welsh, A. P. Yeatman, J. E. Yates, A. Whyte. The Clock in the Memorial column is an electrically controlled one, and there are no works in the tower it-self, the master clock being erected in the Customs buildings, the hands going in half minute movements. BIG EVENING GATHERING. The Theatre Royal was packed for the big evening gathering, which was presided over by Mr. W.H. Green, Chairman of the Anzac Day Com-mittee. The massed choirs, under Mr. J. T. O'Connor, were accommodated on the stage. Proceedings opened with the National Anthem, played by the Naval Band, and the anthem, "The Heavens are Telling." by the massed choirs. The Lord's Prayer was recited and then followed the hymn, "Jesu, Lover of My Soul. " After solos by Miss T. Whybird and Mr. J. Sim, the Gover-nor rose to propose the first resolu-tion. His Excellency stated he was in hopes to have been accompanied when attending this Townsville celebration of the 9th Anzac Day, by representa-tives of the Royal Navy and Rear Admiral Sir Hubert Brand was very anxious to meet my wishes in that re-spect by detailing officers who would have rejoined the Light Cruiser Squadron in New Zealand. On going into the matter, howeever, he found, much to his regret, that this was not possible. In informing me of this, he asked me to deliver a message from the Squadron to this meeting to the effect that the first Anzac Day will always be memorable to the Royal Navy as creating that close alliance with the Australian Imperial Force and through them with the whole visiting fleet has seen such strong people of Australia, of which the evidence throughout their visit. The co-operation of the navy with the force that landed at Anzac was one of the most memorable features of that day. One who was present with our Queensland troops, writing to me on this subject, after referring to the Navy's tasks of putting the A.I.F ashore, of covering their landing with gun fire and of supporting them by engaging the army's batteries and breaking up the Turkish attacks, re-ferred to the risks taken by the ships in their turn:— "The Bacchante, Euryalus, Triumph and others, and all the destroyers constantly come so close in shore firing every gun, that we thought they must surely run aground. Time after time in this fashion they drew the Turkish artillery fire on to themselves and saved us. The points where our flanks rested on the sea were a great anxiety to us. We feared heavy at-tacks there under cover of darkness, but every night two destroyers, one on each flank, put a fixed beam on tbe beach in front of our trenches, and it can easily be imagined how grateful we were for this protection. It was only a beam of light, but it meant rest, security, confidence. The Turks made several attempts to cross that beam but were severely punish-ed, so they desisted. The sailors also gave us moral sup-port. They encouraged us by every means in their power. We got cheery letters with such signatures as "Your messmates on the Triumph", and these missives were generally accompanied by gifts of tobacco, cigarettes, matches, tinned fruit, writing paper, etc., which they knew we could not otherwise obtain. It appeared to me that they spent all their spare pay on us. They gave us their mirrors to make periscopes. On one occasion one of my two maxim guns re-ceived a direct hit; two men carried it down to the beach with the inten-tion of asking the Navy to repair it. In half an hour they were back again with another gun. The men on the 'Triumph'" pinnace had insisted on us taking their solitary maxim. We had that gun constantly in action for over a year thereafter. So Australia's entry into nation-hood was sponsored by the Royal Navy. to the members of which the Anzacs have acknowledged their in-debtedness on every possible occas-ion. It is certain too, that the feel-ings of the Anzac soldiers are warmly reciprocated. Throughout the Navy the diggers are held in the highest regard and esteem. The Australians have seen the Royal Navy in action and that is something not seen by many of our Empire's manhood. The sight of the grey warships stripped for action, firing rapid and accurate broadsides, made a lifelong impression and thril-led our hearts, as we thought of those gallant men being of our own blood. Small wonder is it that the bond be-tween the Navy and Australia is so strong." The words that I have read are not mine but those of an officer present at the landing. I like to get direct impressions of those who were actors in this great drama, as these make one better appreciate the heroism there displayed. It has to be remrm-bered that this was the first occasion in the war when the Australians were in action and that they were brought suddenly, with no preliminary skir-mishing, face to face with modern fighting with all the horrors that had been added to it in the dozen years since the Boer War. I have come to the conclusion that it is a mistake to represent them going into action moved by any spirit of careless brav-ery or love of adventure and that it is also a mistakr to represent them as lacking in the disciplinary qualities of the regular soldier. It was with a spirit of deep loyalty to their coun-try and strong desire that they might exalt her that they stormed the craggy cliffs and hrld on to the perilous heights. In those early days men were,. I am told, less undemonstrative than is usual with Australians and indeed with all those of the British race. When consolidating the cap-tured positions about a week after the landing, while at work in the trenches amidst the falling bullets of the enemy the then new song of "Aus-tralians will be there" made itself heard above the din of artillery and musketry fire. Then again, though in the A.I.F. no strong insistence was ever made on the mere outward forms of discipline, the Australian soldier was taught the reasons for cleanliness, soldierly bearing punctuality and the exact carrying out of orders and in battle reliance was placed upon intelligent co-operation rather than on mere obedience from force of habit. The Australian Army developed "team work" to the highest pitch of eff-

Rouls of the Drltlah 'plant elalTtd by MseUrtn end patty Inlu round tht world fllsht which hat tl reteV etmmtnetd from Aldteshst (Sng) it Ksrsthl a dl.ttnM ? eMO nW .An Amtrltan 'plint It fly Inj roue/ ant world tht re/ent way, I

? ? . ? Rouls of the Drltlah 'plant elalTtd by MseUrtn end patty Inlu round tht world fllsht which hat tl reteV etmmtnetd from Aldteshst (Sng) it Ksrsthl a dl.ttnM ? eMO nW .An Amtrltan 'plint It fly Inj roue/ ant world tht re/ent way, I

ciency and the collective discipline thus obtained was founded upon in-dividualism. Though each man was prepared to act on his own there seemed to be a natural realisation of the fact that success could only be secured by common action. In those tangled gullies where battalions, com-panies and platoons, became hope-lessly intermingled during the first few days of the Gallipoli fighting,. men separated from their unit followed the true soldierly method of putting themselves under the nearest non-commissioned officer or officer and taking his directions. Further, when the number of officers became fewer and fewer, so more and more were heard such demands as "We want an officer in No. 4 Platoon." The officer was called for because the men wished tor some-one with authority to set the task or decide upon the plan. The acceptance of a general direction with the exer-cise of individual initiative makes the best soldier under the conditions of modern warfare and generally, in these days of a crowded world, this principle has application to the con-ditions of peace. The activities of individuals have most result when they are intelligently exercised under a general guidance towards a specific purpose. That nation is likely to be most effective which is self-disciplin-ed to the extent of accepting leader-ship and acting under it for the na-tion's common good. Factions pulling in different directions destroy a na-tion's strength. We have to seek unity of purpose and this implies unity of thought and feeling and this again the sacrifice by individuals of per-sonal interests, desires and ambitions. And so the lesson to be learnt on Anzac Day is the value of selflessness and the better it is learnt, the more each of us thinks of others rather than of himself, the fewer disputse in the world will there be between in-dividuals, classes, Communities or nations and the more will the effect of the Great War have been in the direc-tion of the Great Peace which, how-ever remote its establishment may be, is the greatest object in the world for which to strive. I move the first resolution: "On the Ninth Anniversary of the immor-tal landing on Gallipoli this meeting of Citizens of Queensland expresses its unalterable loyalty to the Throne and Empire and its admiration of the magnificent heroism, self-sacrifice, and endurance of the sailors and soldiers of Australia and New Zea-land, who on the first Anzac Day, and throughout the Great War, conferred a glory on Australia and New Zea-land that will never fade." I would ask you all, in support o£ that resolu-tion to be standing. The big crowd stood for a few seconds in silence. The Hon. C. Jameson proposed ihe second resolution as follow: "This Meeting voices its heartfelt sympathy with the relatives of those who died, and who have suffered on behalf of the Empire, and its assurance that those who have fallen, and those who have survived the perils of War, will ever be remembered with gratitude by the people whose hearts and homes and free institutions they voluntarily went forth to save." It was true, said Mr. Jameson, that these young men who went from Australia, not only went voluntarily to save their hearths and homes, but they joined the unit-ed nations and joined the great brotherhood to save the hearths and homes, not only of Australia, but of the nations of the world. There was no doubt about it that the Germans— the Prussians— had set out for world conquest. They openly boasted they were the only men who could rule the world and they set out to do it. They tore up a piece of paper and went into Belgium. They broke every article of the Geneva Convention and treated noncombatants, men, women and children of Belgium, with the utmost cruelty, and if they protested it was the stone walL They could see now if Germany won the war the world would have been enslaved. He asked what would have happened it the Allies were beaten and he (the speak-er) had heard General Sir Brudenell White say it was only those who were in positions such as he was who knew how nearly the Allies were beaten, not only once, but more than once. Had the British fleet been surrendered as the German fleet had been. had the British territories been surrendered as the Germans were, had Britain been forced, to an indemnity as Ger-many was, what would have happen ed? Australia would now have been under German military rule and the Germans would have wrought re-venge on Australia, for having gone across the sea. The speaker quoted an article in the London "Sunday Chronicle" by Robert Blatchford on the Australian troops. The Austra-lians in taking the heights and saving Amiens saved the world. Referring to those who died in the Great War, the speaker quoted Lincoln's words over the graves of his men, after the death blow bad been struck against slavery in America, and concluded with, "let us hope that our dead may not have died in vain." At nine o'clock the crowd stood In silence for one minute and remained standing while Mr. Green read the names of Townsville soldiers who lost their lives. The band then played the Dead March and Bugler Waller sounded the Last Post. Sir Matthew Nathan left soon after to catch the southern mail train. Mr. Green expressed gratitude to His Ex-cellency for coming to Townsville to assist on this day. After the hymns "Abide With Me" and "Nearer My God to Thee," and solos by Mr. and Mrs. C. Shann, the Rev. J. Sinclair rose to second the resolution. The Rev. Sinclair said it was diffi-cult indeed, especially after that solemn minute's silence, to try and put into words an expression of their heart-felt sympathy and gratitude to those who had been bereaved and to those who had suffered by the ravages of the late war. All over the Commonwealth that day men and women had been re-joicing, but many of them had been rejoicing with tear stained eyes and with a heaviness of heart that no amount of joy could overcome. Over the stony ridges of Gallipoli, in France and in Palestine, lay the dust of their dead. As these men went forth leaving behind them their be-loved, there were many bereaved souls, and they had their heartfelt sympathy and gratitude indeed. Memory was the key to their identity. Take out of a nation's history the record of its noble deeds, aod they practically killed that nation's life. Rob a man of his mem-ory, and thy robbed him of his self identity and what was true of the in-dividual was true of the nation. It would be a sad day if they ever forgot their dead. There were many there to-night rejoicing with tear dlmmed eyes. They thought of their men with a cheery smile and a happy laugh, and they went to their death, many of them, with a smile. They were think-ing to-night not only of these men who met death with a smile, but of the mothers and sisters and the wives and sweethearts who gladly gave up those men with a smile, and, which, perhaps, after all, was the hardest thing to do. A solo by Mr W. S. Jones, the an-them "Gloria In Excelsis" by the com-bined choirs, the hymn "Lest We For-get," and the National Anthem, con-cluded a very touching meeting.