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'The- M OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE W.A. BRANCH R.S.S.A~L.A. CIRctJLATION: 10,000 COPIES GUARANTBBD Commenta, unl... acknowledaed u auc~ muat not nec­ llellttered:ar the O.P.O., -•rlly be. acCepted aa ttadnl the omdal viewpoint Perth, for tranamiuion b., Pott u a Ncwapapu E.tabu.bed 1920 VOL. XX, No. 4 PERTH, WESTERN AUSTRALIA APRIL 1S', 1941 WB CBLBBRATB the re-arming for an· anniversary of the G'entlemen: J'·he Toast is ·Anzac! other war. That at• epic landing oo Gal· titude, which persist· lipoli in an atm06· During the years between the two wars, Anzac Day has become something more ed over a p eriod of phere of uncertainty than a Mti9nal holiday h~ld in reverent commemoration of an epic feat of arms. more than ten years, this year, but that It has become the annual reminder of all that is best in Australian life, a com· must be blamed for uncertainty is not memoration of the past, which is at the same time a clarion call for endeavour the circumstance& synonymous w it h in the future. that have plunged a doubt. We are by nation's manhood no means uncertain of the dangers that age and devotion to duty, saved Austra· into the maelstrom elf battle once more. face us, nor· of the Jia· once, and men like them, hard struggle that men of the To decry war is one thing; to attempt confronts our fighting men in overcom same flesh and blood, a.re saving Austra · · to outlaw war may be a laudable effort; ing them. The atm06phere lia again to·day. of un~r­ but to decry the men who fought in the tainty is merely the fog of war which A few years ago, it was fashionable last war and to belittle their achieve· veils the immediate future from our eyes. for all sorts of futile people to talk about ments is a bull of a different brand and At the back of that is the knowledge the futility of war and to decry the ear•marks. In recent years, by a process that Australia's valiant young manhood soldiers who won for them the liberty of the constant dripping that will wear is again under fire. With that know · to say stupid ~hings . Such people were away the hardest of stones, it has become ledge comes the serene confidence that ever ready to rush into tlie limelight on the generally accepted view that victory must and will crown our arms. Galli· historic anniversaries like Am:ac Day and poli was a magnificent but tragic Any other ending to this war would blunder, Armistice Day and tell us that the an· and that the valour and sacrifice mean the end of all that is worth while of our nual commemoration was merely foster· men were in vain. Those who harp in our civilisation, and of all those per· on ing the military spirit. How a simple act that string commit the very sonal liberties which make life common worth of national reverence could be interpreted error of l living. ooking at a· campaign merely as sabre-rattling was something known as an isolated event, and estimating its The story of Gallipoli is in one sense only to the vague interpreters them· value without reference to the general an epitome of the story of Australia. It selves. Even League spokesmen occas· situation. The Gallipoli campaign was is a tale of man's achievement in spite sionally trimmed their sails to the hot no hare-brained adventure set in motion of difficulties that seemed insurmount· air of the pacifism that was 'the fashion· by an enthusiastic amateur. It was die· able. It was the spirit of the pioneer able respectability of the times and al· tated by the ne~s of the moment, but who braved the unknown bush, who most apologised for celebrating Anzac there was also present a long•range view plodded with swag and billy over leagues Day. Fortunately, the League as an of a strategic problem. I~ was an at• .of uncharted waste•lands, who triUmphed organised body never lost ·sight of the tempt to create a diversfon that might over flood and bush-fire until he tUrned important plank of its constitution, that end the stalemate that had set in on the an unknown island continent into a land of insisting upon an adequate defence Western Front; an effort to do the very fit for h'eroes to live in. That was the force for Australia. That il)sistence has thing Hitler is trying to do now from the spirit that impelled young soldiers, most been the keynote of many presidential opposite side. Further, there was the of whom were under fire for the first addresses on past Anzac I>ays. For· urgent necessity of bringing aid in the . time, to charge across a fire·swept beach, tunately, too, the military spirit which shape of munitions and equipment to our scale heights in the teeth of a capable became dormant in the years of oppres• Russian ally who, even at the beginning and well -armed enemy, and hang on to sion flamed into life again with the of 1915, was on the verge of collapse. an almost untenable position for months realisation that the Empire was being There was nothing unsound about the · in defiance of wounds, sickness, and the menaced once more. It was not the mili· idea ~ opening up ~e waterway into other hardships that are the inevitable ~spirit, which after all is only an· the Black Sea, bringing sorely•needed accomp\mimertt of trench warfare. It is othe.r'hame for patriotism, that was re• help to an ally, and perhaps taking the to that spirit we do homage as a nation sponstble for this war. The greatest con· enemy in the rear by an attack up the on this day elf days. In doing so, we tnbuting cause to the unreasonable ar· central plain of the Danube. That was honour not only the men who fell at rogance of our present foe was the well· the "way round" for which the Ameri· Anzac, but all who paid the supreme meaning pacifism which compelled our can attache advised General Buller to sacrifice in all other theatres of the war. country' tb become almost impotent in look after the Battle of the Tugela. Un· These men, by their self-sacrifice, cour· the military sense, while.. Germany was fortunately, as history has shown, a PAG! l APRIL, 19-41 IOWld idea was marred in execution by war, namely that it was a tremendous against the Italian. Now, at long last, Aus• for a very small This time, the A.I.P.'s" try-out has been f~ulty preparation and tactical blunders expenditure of blood tralia's manhood · stands beside the manhood after the plan had -been launched. result. The ansy.rer to that was given of other nations who still adhere to the On the debit si<k. we failed to take by our own William Morris Hughes at a canons of decency in public and private life, dealings. In the Bal• ~a and open up the Straits recent gathering in Sydney: Referring to and in international the · kans, they are defending Australia and· the Impregnable. On the credit si~e. blun· the threadbare fustian of the futility of and the vanity of sacrifice, Mr. Empire, just as surely as if they were lighting ders were redeemed by the incomparable war on our own soil. and they are lighting the valour of the British, An%ac and French Hughes declared in his usual vigorous main enemy. The Minister f or the Navy. trooP.B who fought through the campaign. style that the men who fell in the last (Mr. Hughes) said: ' 'The conflict at hand . In this war, as in the last, where The 'men of the new armies gained an war did achieve much. By their sacrifice is Homeric gave the world at least twenty years the fight .i& hottest, there the Australian is experience.and established traditions ~at they bound to be. Australians are now to meaaure proved invaluable in subsequent ·cam· of peace. themselves apinst foemen worthy of their paigns. We Certai:nly lost heavily, but steel. Their fathers met the Germans Ion~ ago and learnt to respect the Germans as so did our opponents. The Gallipoli lighting men, but, in the end, they whipped campaign, if it did nothing else, averted THE NEW FRONT them and sent them reeling back home.'' the collapse of Russia for more than a All Diggers, 'we feel sure, will be thrilled Commenting on the news of the arrival of our by the news that Australians, and their old troops in Greece, the Acting Prime Minister year. It immobilised the flower of th~ refusal to bow Had comrades in glory, the New Zealanders, are (Mr. Padden) · ea.id: "By their · Turkish Army for many months. to take a share in keeping brutal and ruth· to the German demands, Greece and Yugo· those Turkish troops been left free to less invaders out of Grcecc-and Yugoslavia. slavia have rendered a tremendous service to operate against the Russl ans in Asia Our political leaders,.Mr. Menzies in London, civilisation. Events may prove that their Minor the 'fall of our Ally would have and members of the Cabinet, as well as the stand has been the turning point of the war.'' Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Cortin, in It is beside these nations that Australia is been sudden and ignominous.

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