KIWI MAKES ITS BOW

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 52, Issue 3247, 2 April 1943, Page 5

KIWI MAKES ITS BOW

PACIFIC FORCES PAPER SPORTS & GENERAL NEWS FIRST ISSUE REACHES PAEROA

“Kiwi,”. the newspaper set up for the men of. the Pacific Forces under the auspices of the National Patriotic Fund Board and the Army Education and Welfare Service, has made its bow to troops abroad and relatives at home. Dated March 19, the first issue (a copy of which has been received by the Paeroa District Patriotic Committee from its former secretary, Private R. S. Nicol), is a well-printed four-page publication of four columns to the page which believes in display headings and better and brighter stories, despite the fact that the whole paper is set by hand. A point of interest is that “Kiwi is edited by P- L. Fowler, who was a reporter on the staff of the Te Aroha News in 1925-26. He later joined the National Broadcasting Service and was with it for six years, being stationed in Wellington at the -ime of his mobilisation. At this time he was in charge of broadcasts to and the New Zealand Division in the Middle East. ’ ‘‘Kiwi” was founded, the inaugural leading article states, to supply the troops with news, especially New Zealand news largely because of the difficulty of organising radio services. The National Patriotic Fund Board provided the money for an excellent printing plant which is very compact and economical, though fully equipped to produce the paper and also to cope with military technical printing. The Army Education and

Welfare Service has got together a staff of printers and journalists, who without exception have served in the ranks and in the field.

It is clear, the leader adds, that the best use can be made of “Kiwi” only if fairly full unit notes are included. Since much of this material cannot be sent to New Zealand owing to security reasons, it has been reluctan ly decided that most issues will not be allowed through the post. Special home numbers, however, will occasionally be prepared for sending home to New Zealand. # Any person wishing to read “Kiwi’ may do so by enquiring for the paper from the librarian of the Paeroa Public Library.