DIED AT POSTS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 169, 20 July 1942, Page 3

DIED AT POSTS

TRAGIC BUT GLORIOUS New Zealanders' Heroism Wins High Praise (N.Z.E.F. Official War Correspondent.) CAIRO. July 17. Dispatches reaching Cairo from world correspondents at the battle front give the highest praise to the New Zealanders for their part in General Auchinleck's swift thrust in the central sector on the El Alamein front. In his story to the Daily Express, London, Mr. Alan Mooiehead said: "The New Zealanders, by common consent, are among the finest fighting men in the Middle East. Their anti-tank gunners did not budge. When one gun-layer died a man who shoved the shell into place took his job. After two years of knowing some of these New Zealand gunners, I find it an intense grief to say they are dead." "Among the Indomitables" Mr. A. G. Clifford, Daily Mail, wrote: "The New Zealanders fought with stupendous gallantry." Mr. R. Legge, Daily Telegraph, London, in his message, fjaid: "The New Zealanders took part in one of the most heroic episodes in the history of British arms. It is a tragic episode, but glorious, and writes the names of New Zealanders as indelibly among the indomitables of this war as those who withstood the first seige of Tobruk and of Sebastopol. I refer to a group of New Zealand gunners who died at their posts in an effort to stem the initial stages of Rommel's counter-attack." Mr. J. H. Leesing, war correspondent of the South African Press Association, wrote: "The New Zealander is an unassuming soldier who has done very well in every job given him in this war. He has been in half a dozen major battles and has suffered many scars, yet when things were going badly in the present campaign he immediately responded to the call for aid. "It was a shock to Rommel suddenly to find himself up against a force the bravery and skill of whose soldiers are unsurpassed in the world. They came unheralded, immediately set to the task and lashed out in full fury at the enemy. "Once again they suffered casualties, but that has ever urged on the New Zealanders to throw in even greater effort. They never want publicity. All they are concerned about is to do the job allotted to them, no matter how difficult it may be or what sacrifices may be entailed. That is why the New Zealander has the admiration of the whole world—and, not the least, their enemies."