FIGHTING QUALITIES OF N.Z. TROOPS

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 287, 2 September 1942, Page 4

FIGHTING QUALITIES OF N.Z. TROOPS

Tribute By Mr. Churchill TEXT OF RECENT ADDRESS IN THE DESERT

The full text of a speech which Mr. Churchill made to representatives of the New Zealand Division in the Middle East on August 20 was released by the Acting-Prime Minister, Mr. Sullivan, last night. He said that Mr. Churchill’s tribute to the New Zealand troops would be warmly welcomed by the people of the Dominion. Mr. Churchill’s speech was as follows :—

"I am very glad to have this opportunity of visiting the Desert Army and I certainly would not dream of going away without seeing the New Zealanders commanded by my old friend of many years’ standing, General Freyberg. “In England not long before I left I heard someone say the New Zealanders were like a ball of fire. It was said by someone quite impartial who had a great opportunity of assessing your worth. You have played a magnificent part, a notable and even decisive part, in stemming a great retreat, which might have been most detrimental to the whole cause of the British Empire and United Nations. “I know that on the other side of the world, in your own homes in New Zealand, all eyes are fixed on you. But. even more eyes in England watch you fighting here with equal solicitude. I wish you good luck in the great days that lie ahead—perhaps not so far ahead —of you. “We share the pride that your Dominion feels in the great services you are rendering and in the contributions you have made in this war, as in the last, to the pages of British Imperial history. You will be cherished by future generations who, through your exertions and sacrifices, will go forward to a better and a fairer and a brighter world.”