CRITICAL DAYS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26639, 9 December 1947, Page 4

CRITICAL DAYS

OUTLOOK FOR BRITAIN SERIOUS FOOD SHORTAGE MAXIMUM EFFORT BY DOMINION P.A. NEW PLYMOUTH, Dec. 8. He had been assured that the British people would really suffer hunger before long, said the Governor-General, Sir Bernard Freyberg, to-day, making a strong appeal for all help possible to Great Britain in the next few months. He was replying to a civic welcome at New Plymouth at the opening of his three-day visit to Taranaki.

“ Many of you are doing a great deal for Britain by sending gift parcels and in other ways,” he said, “ and many of you have either received letters or read them in the newspapers telling how grateful are the people at Home. It has fallen to my lot, however, to meet several much-travelled visitors, notably the High Commissioner for the United Kingdom in New Zealand, Sir Patrick Duff, and Sir Oliver Leese, who succeeded Field-marshal Montgomery as commander of the Eighth Army. “ They have told me that while it is true that the people of Britain have not actually experi-

enced hunger yet—though there has. been little pleasure in their meals—they actually will experience hunger in the future.” The clothing position was equally grim, said >Sir Bernard- The few coupons the people received were not sufficient to replace their clothing, and he had been assured that even men would find it impossible to supply themselves with- the necessary clothr ing. “ I ask you to concentrate in the next few months on giving all the help possible, for this is when it will be most sorely needed,” he said.