AUSTRALIANS PRAISED.

Taihape Daily Times, 14 August 1918, Page 6

AUSTRALIANS PRAISED.

GENERAL PAU’3 TRIBUTE. ENDEARED TO THE FRENCH. LONDON, July 28. The sight of the Australian voluntary army, said General Pan at Mr. Fisher’s dinner to the French delegation at filled my old soldier’s heart with admiration. Though they are new soldiers under old chiefs, the Australian army is equal to the. best in Europe in military skill and knowledge of military rules, as well as bravery and dash. We FrencnTveterans pay tribute to their physique, noble bearing, and valour, but also to their cheerfulness, for cheerfulness is the basis of an army’s strength. General Pau paid a tribute to the civilian leadership of the A.1.F., which added to the supreme confidence which 'existed between the Australian officers and their men. It was owing to the lack of a similar confidence that the Germans were doomed. x In the course of an interview, General Pau said:—Australia and France have sealed with blood on many bat-tle-fields an alliance which will last for ever, bringing greater prosperity

to both countries, and contributing to the future happiness of all mankind. For a soldier like myself there is no greater satisfaction than contact with troops so splendid, so admirably trained, and so filled with a sense of patriotic duty as we were privileged to see at rest, recreation, and work. Their confidence is justified by their success in daily conflicts on the banks of the Ancre and the Somme, ana they have been made illustrious by their tenacity and bravery.

Like 'all brave soldiers, the Australians have allied with their warlike virtues those belonging to free citizens. They have full consideration for the greatly tried population of our country. Frenchmen will never forget the helpfulness with which they alleviated the misery of the people expelled from their homes, and how they saved and restored goods, chattels, and crops which would have otherwise been destroyed or fallen into the enemy’s bands. It is impossible to over-thank General Monash in that direction.

The Australian flag has floated beside ours for three years, and it will be honoured and loved for ever by France,