PACIFIC CRISIS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 121, 25 May 1942, Page 6

PACIFIC CRISIS

HAZARDOUS PHASE

CONFIDENCE IN PASSING

(New Zealand Official News Service)

SUVA,, May 24.

Broadcasting to the people of Fiji and Western Pacific on Empire Day, Sir Harry Luke, Governor and High Commissioner, declared that victory had become "a personal necessity to each one of us, seeing that without it, none of the races dwelling in these group of islands can look into the future for anything but despair. "We, the members of the United Nations, are fighting to preserve that free life to which man is born, and in this spirit we have called and are still calling upon' every man and woman to help," he added. Speaking of the present Pacific situation, Sir Harry said: "It is true that during the last few months the brightness I and prospect of this part of the world has been dimmed since that baleful plant, miscalled the Rising Sun, began with its death-dealing rays to | burn up much of the fair body of Eastern Asia, and since its hordes have, like some cancer, eaten into our own Far Eastern territories, and those of our staunch and steadfast Allies, the heroic Dutch and no less the heroic Chinese. But that phase of the war will pass as have other hazardous phases." To ('o-ordiiintn War Effort .Sir Hurry said that to enable civilians in Fiji to give the help they were anxious to provide he had formed, under his chairmanship, a board representative of the main communities to co-ordinate the war effort of the civil population. He thanked all who had helped by planting more food, and stressed the need for making the'colony self-support-ing. He also announced an increase in the staff of the information office, and said that, unlike Germany and Japan, who were attempting to hide their monstrous crimes from their own people, the British had entered the struggle with a clear conscience, and the more people could be told about the war the more they would want to play their part against the aggressors. The most remote palm-fringed atoll of the Pacific now had some conception of the horrors and sufferings of total war, Sir Harry said, but the sudden and treacherous challenge had brought unity and determination of the many races which inhabit the scattered area. Nowhere had this been more noticeable than in the Kingdom of Tonga, where, under the guidance of the beloved Queen Salote, every section of the community was combined to prepare to resist the aggressor to the utmost should the need arise.

Loyalty of Islanders Sir Harry also referred to the Ellice and Gilbert Islands, and said that although a few islands had been occupied by the enemy this in no way impaired the loyalty and morale of the islanders. He also paid a tribute to the undiminished friendliness of the Free French in the Pacific.

Sir Harry recalled the visit of the American Naval Squadron in April, 1941, and referred to the remark of the American admiral that Americans were not far away. The Americans who were friends then are now our allies, he said, and as such were a good deal nearer. "The Battle of the Coral Sea was comforting evidence of that," he said, "We acknowledge with gratitude, and shall always recall with Eride, the. part played in that battle y the sailors and airmen of Australia, who are a shield between the aggressor and the shores of many Pacific islands, as well as their own continent. We know, too, that should they be given the chance, "which I am sure they crave, of getting to grips with this new enemy, the tough and resourceful sons of New Zealand will cover themselves with equal glory. What with our relations and our friends, and the growing efficiency of our cwn small but resolute fighting force, not forgetting the Home Guard, we have reason to believe we shall be pretty well looked after."