Fiji Remembers American Dead

IN the quiet of an Allied Nations cemetery in Fiji, on Armistice Day, a small group of men and women gathered to pay tribute to US Service men buried there, A warm tropical sun struck brightly on rows of crosses nestled at the foot of green hills, as poppies were placed on each grave.

Those participating in the ceremony were: Major-General C. F. Thompson, US Commanding General Second Island Command; Major-General Sir Phillip Mitchell, KCMG, Governor and High Commissioner for the Western Pacific; Mr. Alport Barker, editor of the “Fiji Times”; Mrs. Barker; Mrs. T. J. John son, chairman of the Yearly Poppy Asso ciation; Capt. Fred. H. Cantrell, ADC to

General Thompson; and Capt. J. S. Bid will, ADC to the Governor.

Addressing the group, Mrs. Barker said:— “We have set this day apart to honour those gallant men of the United States of America who made the supreme sac rifice that we might live. Our American cousins have given their lives in the hope that we may live in peace and comfort.

I ask that you will convey to the mothers, wives and relations of these men, the deepest sympathy of our women in their bereavement. I would like you to assure them that even 'after you have left these shores, this bit of America will not be neglected by our women . . . and this spot, to paraphrase a well-known poem, ‘shall be forever America.’ ” —H.E.L.P.

The party entering the Allied Nations Cemetery, preparatory to placing poppies on the graves.

Corporal Stuart Munro, AIF (late of the NGVR, Edie Creek, New Guinea, who was serving with the NGVR when the Japanese landed in New Guinea) was

recently invalided to Australia. He has now regained his health and is serving with an AIF signals unit somewhere in Australia.

Mrs. Alport Barker, wife of the editor of the “Fiji Times,” reading a memorial to the official party attending the Armistice Day ceremonies held at the Allied Nations Cemetery, Fiji.

Standing (left to right): Captain J. S. Bidwill, ADC to the Governor; Mrs. J. T. Johnson, chairman of the Yearly Poppy Association; Major-General Sir Phillip Mitchell, KCMG, Governor and High Commissioner for the Western Pacific; Major-General C. F. Thompson, Commanding General, Second Island Command; Captain Fred. H. Cantrell, ADC to General Thompson; Mrs. Alport Barker; Mr. Alport Barker.