SPIRIT OF ENGLAND

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 123, 27 May 1942, Page 5

SPIRIT OF ENGLAND

READY FOR ANYTHING

PEOPLE MORE CONFIDENT

The spirit of England! The films, the newspaper reports and letters from friends leave no one in doubt as to what that spirit is. In spite of the setback of the campaign in France and Belgium culmihating in the historic retreat from Dunkirk, in spite of continuous raids leaving their scarfe on London, Coventry, Liverpool, Manchester and other cities and towns, the spirit of the English people rode buoyantly above such disasters.

Typical of this spirit is a letter received from a woman in Birmingham hy an Auckland resident. "You should see our Home Guard," she writes. "They are grand fellows and training hard for the rough time expected. Goodness help the German paratroops—they won't stand an earthly." Also, of the Royal Air Force she writes that it is ready for anything and the people feel much more confident than they did when there was a shortage of planes. A word for the munitions workers. "They are grand," says the writer. "They work every hour they can, often two days and two nights together if there is a special job to be done. Don't listen to the grumblers who say time is wasted. If they have to slack off a little waiting for spare parts, they make up for it when they get going. We are near three factories, and I often see some of them and know how hard they are trying to do their best."

These people of England who have suffered so much have sympathy for us now that the dangers of war threaten this part of the world. "We now think of you with the same concern you had for us," says the writer of the letter. "Tell your people to keep up their hearts and prepare in every way to beat the enemy." The air force, she adds, is

the big thing, according to air force boys of her acquaintance. Their advice is to agitate for air defence in every way.

I "If you get air raids," she continues, "believe me, it isn't half so awful as you imagine it. Keep a good grip on yourself. Keep a room for a shelter room—l preferred to. stay in the house—put on the wire-" less, have a cup of tea, and sometimes peep outside to see the 'sparks.' Have a friend or two and keep them cheerful, and it's wonderful the way one pulls through and carries on.

"Pack a small bag with a few biscuits and chocolates and a few necessary clothes in case of delayed action bombs. We had ten minutes' notice to leave the house one night owing to one of these bombs being in the next road, and, as it happened in the night, I put on odd stockings and only one shoe and couldn't think what to do next. After that experience I was always prepared for emergencies."

In conclusion, the writer says, "We have had a wonderful lull from raids, and all feel fit for anything now. It certainly won't catch us napping."

There again is the spirit of England—the spirit which once said, "We can take it," and now declares, "We can give it."