AN ANZAC DAY A D D R E S S
BY
Capt. C. Sinclair at Casino, 25th April, (ANZAC DAY) 1944

Mr. Mayor and fellow citizens,
Before commencing this address, I would like to say to you very briefly, -- That it has given me very much pleasure indeed to have the honor conferred upon me of being asked to perform what I would term this most sacred duty on this very Auspicious occasion here today. And I do hope that when my task is completed that you will all more or less feel that the confidence of those reponsihle was to a certain extent Gratified. Now it is needless for me to tell you that my story is of ANZAC. It is a story that has been told on many occasions. A story that will never grow old, but before proceeding with this story of ANZAC, I would like to quote to you three lines taken from that wonderful Poem the WHITE CLIFFS, but first I must apologise to the authoress for alterations made.,

Here are the words:--
I have seen much to hate here, much to forgive.
But in a world where AUSTRALIA is finished and dead
I do not want to live.

ANZAC
What visions of glorious deeds of heroism and sacrifice are conjured up in this word that will live for all eternity throughout the nations of the world.

Looking down the corridors of time, our, pulses quicken and our whole being thrills though mingled with pride and sorrow as we consider that soul stirring charge at the DARDENELLES.

Many went forward who never came back.

Many came back never to go forward again, their bodies broken but not their spirits.

At the darkest hour of dawn on that grim morning of APRIL 25th, 1915 a nation was born, born of the flower of AUSTRALIA and N.Z. manhood. The pangs of this birth suffered by men as well as their loved ones, on the blood stained shores of the heights of Gallipoli. This was no birth in hushed silence, but a birth accompanied by the sound of shrieking shells and death dealing bullets from an enemy who more than met his match in Australias sons, who on foreign shores gave their all in the cause of justice and freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of worship and the right to live for those ideals which we Australians hold most dear and sacred.

We are gathered here today to pay tribute to those gallant men who fought and bled for a principle, who fought for right and not might.

In the golden pages of the worlds history, their deed will ring down through the ages, deeds that made the whole universe ring with their praises.

They are gone -- They are not dead; They will live on in the dignity of deeds, and their names are inscribed on that imperishable roll of heroes, whose courage is a fragrant memory.

Those lads did not want war, they had not been nurtured in the bosom of a war lord whose great ambition was to turn plough shares into swords, and plunge the world into bloody chaos. They were men who lived in peace, proud of the country that gave them birth, living from day to day in peaceful harmony with all men. But when the clouds of war broke over, our beloved empire, they answered the call from the Motherland to assist to crush out that threat to our national freedom.

Men from farm and factory, from office and workshops, the sons of toil banded together with men and lads from the professional world, all resolved to put their shoulders to the wheel in the common cause for our Commonwealth.

They did their duty, they did not stop to reason why, they did not ask what is it worth, they were in the battle to do or die for you and me. An on those far flung shores of Gallipoli, through a storm of whining lead, through flesh tearing barbed wire entanglements, and up almost unscalable cliffs, those gallant lads charged unflinchingly with the inherited spirit of their forbears, surcharged with grim determination to gain the shore heights that were belching lead on every side.

Never will their glory fade. Never will the telling and retelling of their glorious deeds lose its thrill and never will the memory of what we owe to them grow dims

But is their sacrifice to be in vain? No.

The sons of ANZACS are now flying at the throat of the war monster that has raised his ugly head in Europe, and those islands close to our beloved shores and who has thrown the whole world into a state of chaos.

They are the ANZACS of today.

We have been left a glorious heritage by our heroes of far away Gallipoli.

Let their sacrifice be not in vain.

Let us emulate their example of heroism, and if we cannot take up arms, then let us pull our weight by helping those who are keeping the enemy from our hearths and homes.

And let the spirit of ANZAC permeate our minds while we strive in our particular spheres to win and end this war and all its abundant misery to human beings.

Today the theme is ANZAC and we bow our head in prayer and thankfulness to our comrades, who brought our sunny land to Nationhood, and whose deads of daring and courage "made the welkin ring" throughout the four corners of the universe.

Let us remember that they are not lost but gone before.

They have left us an example of heroism and patriotism that is more than a heritage, an example of the lowly Nazarine who said: "Greater love hath no man shown that he lay down his life for his friends."

So let us realise at this Easter Season, that, like the Christ, they passed on that we may live. Live in the freedom and security under those emblems of liberty, the UNION JACK and the flag of the SOUTHERN CROSS which float in the breeze over an empire on which the sun never sets.