NEW ZEALANDERS PRAISED

Southland Times, Issue 24833, 27 August 1942, Page 5

NEW ZEALANDERS PRAISED

MR CHURCHILL’S VISIT r i ■ (8.0.W.) RUGBY, August 25. ; “You have played a magnificent i part,” Mr Churchill said to the New I Zealanders when he visited them in Egypt, “an inimitable, and even decisive part, in stemming a retreat which might have been very serious to the British Empire. There are many eyes on the opposite side of the world fixed upon you, but there are more eyes still fixed upon you in Britain.” Speaking to Press representatives in Cairo, Mr Churchill said he wanted to make it absolutely clear that the British i were determined to fight for Egypt and ' the Nile Valley as if they were the soil of England itself. Everything that could be brought by ships or air to drive ■ back the enemy would be brought. j President Roosevelt’s personal repre- ■ sentative in the recent Moscow talks, 1 Mr W. Averill Harriman, told the Lon1, don newspapers today that he was ■ j shortly returning to Washington to report to the President. He said that I though he could say nothing about the I substance of the Moscow talks he had 1 found the same determination and confidence in the Russians as he had found ’■ on his last visit with Lord Beaverbrook. ' | “In order that there can be no mis- '' understanding I would like to add that ; the broad smile which photographs of ’ the Prime Minister show in this mornI ing’s Press gives a good and sound in- . dication of how the discussions went,” he said. I Some sidelights were thrown today ; on Mr Churchill’s 14,000-mile flight in l the Liberator bomber by Captain W. J. van der Kloot, first pilot, Captain Jack Ruggles, the second pilot, and Squadron Leader Kimber, A.F.C., the navigator. i INTEREST IN PILOTING Captain van der Kloot, whose home is in California and whose wife is a Scotswoman, told how Mr Churchill spent two-thirds of his time in the cock-pit and with one of the pilots often took over the controls. The longest hop made was from Teheran to Moscow, 2400 miles, which was flown in 102 hours. No hostile aircraft were seen throughout the trip and, except that the plane was carrying a precious passenger, the flight was uneventful. The most exciting moment was when the plane landed in England at 8.40 (o’clock last night. One night Mr Churchill arrived on I the flight deck at 2.30 a.m. He was dressed in a Russian nightcap which looked like a Chinese mandarin’s headdress, a dressing gown and carpet slippers. The rest of his attire was very English, even to "P.M.” marked on his slippers. The pilots paid a tribute to Mr Churchill’s knowledge of the technical side of aviation and of the terminology of flying. He knew all the Royal Air Force slang, they said. On his way back to England from Moscow, Mr Churchill again visited the

Desert to inspect the troops of the Bth Army, says Reuter’s Cairo correspondent in a cable message. Accompanied by General Sir Harold Alexander, the new Commander-in-Chief, LieutenantGeneral B. L. Montgomery, Commander of the Bth Army, and General Sir Alan Brooke, the Prime Minister drove slowly past ,a long line of massive General Grant tanks and then greeted the New Zealanders. He congratulated Lieutenant-General Si: Bernard Freyberg on tire New Zealanders’ vital and gallant part in the Battle for Egypt. Mr Churchill also visited the British armoured units and infantry. Inspecting the infantrymen, he told a group of sergeants: "You have got to get your own back on these people. Great events are afoot. Everybody in England is watching, and now all eyes are on you. Good luck.” Infants’ Cream Clydella Rompers, smocked, 12/11; two piece 13/6; Cream wincey Rompers smocked, 7/9; two piece 8/11 at Miss Noble’s, The Baby Shop.—Advt.