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ROUND ABOUT

It was away back in history that the wise and learned first pronounced the precept 'out of evil cometh good', and as the hundreds and thousands of years have rolled by this simple truth has become more apparent as a generalisation. War is evil, and from conflicts of the past little of the good has; resulted. Yet to-day, as almost every nation of the world meshes .in the gigantic drum of an all-out global war, there i.s already a mammoth good emerging in addition to* the lire-strengthened Idealism of every Allied fighting man.

Before this war started, and perhaps before to-:day when Allied soldiers, sailors and airmen are welded into a closer alliance than ever, the average citizens appreciation of other nations and their peoples Avas limited by what he had read, what he had heard, and the false eye of the camera. There was no general acknowledgment of essential similarities, and where it did exist it was negatived to some extent by lack of contact. Smith, of Auckland, New Zealand, just, had not met Smith, of Boston, U.S.A., nor Waldowski, of Warsaw, Poland, nor the average representative of any other nation. There were exceptions, of course, but it remained true for the majority. As limitations in, this always have been general', the qualification applies both ways. This war has of necessity brought the. peoples of the nations together and in this particular educational factor we see some of the good which is coming from the evil \of this war. The Smiths and Waldowskis and the Martins look for differences when they meet —and find none.

When New Zealantlers in the Middle East first saw large numbers of American troops (that was. in 1942) they did not agree with many of the institutions which they regarded as something in the nature of a debit to the United States Army. There was an amused tolerance, for instance, of the many pretty ribbons which American soldiers were wearing. But such inconsequential details no longer cloud the common fundamental character of all fighting men. Intolerence of superficialities has given way to an unexpressed, but still definite mutual admiration.

New Zealanders now with the Fifth Army will remember the U.S.A. heavy artillery which harassed the enemy during his occupation of Cassino, and will recall jrnrticularly the nonchalance exhibited by the heavy guns' crew. v One crew performed their separate tasks in loading, then invariably had to awaken the member responsible for pulling the firing lanyard; he performed his duty with an attitude of boredom, then returned, yawning, to his, bed-roll. Keenly appraised by veterans, these Americans were listed, without audible record, as worthy brothers in arms.

On the other side of the. hedge [' had the American view. A U.S.A. soldier was' eager to tell me that he had spent a few days with one of our brigades in front of Cassino. How or why he did not tell me, but lie said: "These Noo Zealanders— they're swell guys."

American airmen with whom I flew in the shattering asault on Cassino also belong to the fraternity of "swell guys." That they were dressed almost theatrically in such a wide, assortment of cajj-s, scarves, blouses, tunics, etc., when in the briefing room, in contrast to the R.A.F.'s uniformity in dress, did not matter. They ragged each other in a school-room manner before the flight, but in their ships they were quiet, determined men doing an essential and hazardous job superbly. There was a time when I wcxuld have wondered at the adornment when I saw a B-25 s pilot with a Colt .45 bolstered to his thigh, but he told me, in semi-apologetic explanation, that a few days previously half of his left, rudder had been SO' badly damaged as seriously to impair flight and one. of the crew in possession of a pistol had contrived to shoot away the dangerously twisted piecc; the aircraft thus, was enabled to return to base. But my point here is that, doing everything possible for me while I was their guest, these American fliers demonstrated the great fellowship of war—and the nations.

This, then, is part of tlie good emerging from the catastrophically evil circumstances of this, world conflict : a greater understanding between the common people of the world and a truer appreciation of what i.s fundamentally a common character and life. Millions of Brit-* ish, American, Chinese, Polish, Czech, French, Yugoslav soldiers, sailors aiul airmen will return to their countries, when peace comes at last, will remember the others as "Swell guys." and will thus make further wars impossible.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/BPB19440530.2.35

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 7, Issue 77, 30 May 1944, Page 7

Word count
Tapeke kupu
763

ROUND ABOUT Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 7, Issue 77, 30 May 1944, Page 7

ROUND ABOUT Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 7, Issue 77, 30 May 1944, Page 7

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