G . S. Friend As on hundred years pass all should see the killing fields of Flanders and Picardy. A young man kneels to honour the lost , he bows his head and places a cross. So take one cross and stand it square for all those young men lying there, and when your own small quarrels end give praise and thanks for G. S. Friend. I came across George Sydney Friend on an organised trip to Flanders , another of our party had a relative buried at the Duhallow. A. D. S. Cemetery. and while he was paying his respects . The rest of the party gave him some space and looked at the rest of the site. In a peaceful corner I came across the headstone of G S Friend a NewZealander and I wondered what had bought him all this way to his death. Few had travelled further. When I returned home his name stayed with me and so I did some research , the Aukland cenotaph website ,was very helpful, and I had soon built up a picture of this young man . An archivist and historian from the same area of NewZealand , Bruce Cavanagh, also did some research for me ,to complete the story . The poem above just happened, it came about in an instant. It is for all those who think that they have no connection to the war , all I would say is you must go and visit the Cemeteries of Flanders and France , and someone buried there will find you,

David Beale