"FOR KING AND EMPIRE"

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 1, Issue 102, 18 December 1939, Page 8

"FOR KING AND EMPIRE"

now serving in the various camps in Ncav Zealand. Letter Seals. "For King and Empire" is not a hackneyed phrase; it is a vital dynamic challenge. You believe in this cause. We know that our appeal to you for help Avill not be in A r ain. and that you are anxious to do your part. Let me explain how you can do your part. In the course of the next day or so yon Avill reccive a letter from His Excellency the GoA'er-nor-Gencral, Viscount Galway, as Chairman of the National Fund Board. To all householders the letter will contain 150 seals A'alued at 2/6. To business houses the letter Avill contain 120 seals portraying the/units of our armed forces. The request is made by His Excellency Inat you purchase these seals for 10s, and should you desire a further supply of seals use the order form hieh is attached to the letter. It is a simple Avay of co-ordinating v:;ur desire to play your part. "We ask for a generous and ready response. In both instances the amount mav be increased accoouling to your desire and your ability to giA'e. The main thing is that you do give, and give quickly. Post your donations as directed in the letter by December 22, at the A r eiy latest. This National Patriotic Seal Appeal. has been made possible by the eo-operatiA'e effort of business people who have giA r en freely to make the letter and seals aA'ailable. Vol tin tan' helpers have given splendid service in folding the letters, preparing the seal appeal for mailing. In . ddition to this the broadcasting service and the neAvspaper servie?s are giving gratuitous time ara! space to assist us. In eA'erv sense of the AVwrd it is a community effort, and under the leadership of His Majesty's reoresentative, Viscount Gahvay, we feel that your Avhole-hearted response will insure the success of this great effort on the part of the National Patriotic Board, and will express th •• gratitude of the peoples of this Dominion to their armed !o. c.-s.

NEW ZEALAND'S AIRMEN SERVICE OF THE ALLIED FORCES Broadcast speech by Mr R. H. Nimmo, deputy-chairman of the National Patriotic Council. • As Deputy Chairman of the National Patriotic Council I desire to register the appreciation of that body for the co-operation of the Min ister of Broadcasting, and the heads of the Broadcasting Services, for the valuable assistance they are rendering the National Patriotic Council in making possible these broadcasts to the nation.

We hear it said, all too frequently that New Zeaianders apparently do not realise that wo are at war*, and that Ave, as pavt of the Empire, are engaged in a ferim struggle for the maintenance of our freedom—for the emancipation 01 oppressed peoples and for international justice. Just a few weeks ago a photograph appeared in our daily newspapers of Flying Officer Mack of Wellington now interned in Belgium. Interned in a neutral country lie will naturally be able to secure whatever cloth ing' he desires and whatever comforts are necessary, but nave yon s.'iven a thought to those of our men who have come down in Germany. They will only have the c'.otlies in which they fly. We have all been thrilled with pride to read of the intrepid attacks of our airmen. We New Zeaianders are naturally proud to know that prior to the war-time expansion one in eve' >' twelve pilots in the Royal Air Force was a New Zealander, and when we think for a moment of the epic flights of Flying Officer Kain—of the raids on Heligoland—Keil—over Berlin itself—we are naturally proud to think of the great part played by our New Zealand airmen in such brave and daring adventures. Unfortunately, some are now wounded, and some, also, are prisoners of war. The officers and men of the Royai Navy are facing danger 24 hours every day in order to keep our trade routes open,and associated with them are many of New Zealand's sons. As we all know our own Defence Forces are Intensively training for overseas service, and it is now only a question of days when they will receive their final leave prior to embarkation for overseas. Policy of Germany. The declared policy announced by Germany the other day put tersely, means that their objective is the complete destruction of the British Empire. I would ask you, listeners, t.o pause for a moment and to think of Poland, Austria, Czechoslovakia. You know .something of the horrors that have been experienced by the people in these countries, and which are still happening. This is what the British Empire is determined to bring to an end by defeating the forces of Nazism and by ridding the world of the ideology of Hitlerism. It is with such a challenge ringing in our ears that our soldiers will soon be leaving our shores to play their part manfully in the fight for liberty against the evil forces which threaten to overthrow everything that is worth living for. The sacrifice of our young manhood places a grave responsibility on all of us who remain in this Dominion and as true Britishers, we do recognise that the very least that we can do is to emulate, as far as possible, the glorious example of self-sacrifice our men in the King's uniform are making; they are willingly sacrificing everything —-yes, even if necessary, their own life, in our. defence. Having this in mind it is with absolute confidence that the National Patriotic Board appeal to you to give tangible expression to j'onr natural appreciation Magnitude of Obligations. I would ask you to ponder for a moment on the magnitude of the obligations placed upon us by the service ofiour armed^ forces. In the comparative tranquility and peace o!' New Zealand we arc fortunate in being far from the dreaded privations of war. We do not scan the skies looking for raiders. No sirens dis'urb cur peace. The nearest we get to war conditions is to see our soldiers in our midst in uniform: to listen to the Broadcasts from Daventry: to read our newspapers; to look with sympathy and horror on the photographs that arc published from the theatre of war. The National Patrioticl Fund Board has three jobs; two are protective in nature—it is charged with a duty of protecting your generosity, and it is entrusted with the ta«k of protecting j-our gifts; the third duty 's that of sending those gifts which ire essential and helpful to the men