GALLIPOLI GRAVES

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 150, 21 December 1929, Page 11

GALLIPOLI GRAVES

"PEACEFUL AND DIGNIFIED"

Particulars of a visit made by;' Sir Fabian Ware, viee-chiirman.oi'tfce itttV' perial 'Wai'-graves. Commission,-ito ftheV cemeteries on the Gallipbli Peninsula, are ■: contained in a letter written f rbm "Cojiv' '. stantinople to Sir James Alien (Dun- '■ edin). / .■■'.'■• ." Sir Fabian Ware's letter, inter alia," states:-— . ■_■...... .. ■ .... •. -■ , "I have just spent .two" days *rith Hughes on' the Peninsula," and" thought that you would-like to hear .ofrom jfie'.at'" first hand, how things are going there.'" I had.not been there for four yeari and was very pleased, with the ..'develop- ' ment of the cemeteries; in yours as ii ■! all others (except in the one or two right * down by the seaside exposed to salt 1 spray) the trees are growing well—«y-: press, pine, and tamarisk—and the effect •; of large spherical clumps of rosemary^ is excellent. Tile horticultural work I done by Kett in. this respect is really i very remarkable, and though we cannot.' grow the flowers we do in France and '■ Belgium, they quite hold their own in; comparison with the cemeteries there, ■ and have a dignity and very peaceful ■ permanent appearance which was very moving. ' Hughes'a work is still beyond! all praise, and he retains to the full ; his keenness,and his sense of the great- i ness of his task and its value to the ; Empire. lam very happy, about itj and; I know it will give you pleasure "to hear -'■■ about it. The stone everywhere has retained its whiteness—l had- expected it to weather niuch darker^and the view of the cemeteries from■'. Chanuk ' Bair, and other/KeightSj, is .very much. • as it was, absolutely overwhelming .in < its impressiveness, though the growth of the trees is adding, a green framework to the cemetries which makes them living in the landscape. You may remember that I ; never liked" the form of headstone we had adopted there; but since the Horti-" culture has developed; all my ofejetions have disappeared. - The-New. Zealand memorial at Chanuk Bair Btands strong and solid, and will do so for a thousand years or so. I was very interested to see that the Italian boats (I expect: some of the others do so too) in passing the Cape Helles monument, blow three' blasts, dip their flag and ask (in a not-' ice put up the day befoje) everybody to observe three minutes' silence. The work generally is going very well, but, of course, one has to keep a constant watch on the Treasury; but I think I shall see the Five Million1 Endowment ■ Fund established." !

The letter adds that Mr. Kett died s short time.ago in Egypt as the result of a motor accident. <