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Taranaki Daily News, 7 January 1919, Page 4

OUR BOYS' PROWESS. Tliere is a feeling among the more thoughtful of our returned soldiers that tho people of New Zealand do not as a whole quite appreciate the splendid services their kith and kin have rendered on the field of battle. Superficially their fear would appear to be justified, tmt really it is not so. New Zciil.'.ndcrs who have had the misfortune not to be able to give personal war service do not as a rule parade their feelings, but at the bottom of their hearts there is an intense admiration for those who have done so remarkably well at the front, and made such a name for themselves and for New Zealand. They are not surprised at the success achieved; that was taken for granted. They would have been deeply disappointed had it been otherwise. In every field of endeavor —on the athletic field, in the class room, in the laboratory, in the mechanic's room —New Zealanders have ever been able to hold their own, and when the supreme test of war came it was felt that our men would do as well as tho next best.. So it proved. From tho landing at Gallipoli to the taking of Les Quesnoy the New Zealanders have made good in the fullest degree. It is impossible to Tead the Home papers of October and November without being struck with the tributes |

paid by the press correspondents to the prowess of the New Zealand Division, which was in the thick of the fighting from the time that Foch turned on the enemy until the signing of the armistice. The London Times correspondent describes the attack on November 4, covering a front of twenty-five miles at Le Quesnoy, as "the most signal and most

important of the war," and awards the palm to the New Zealanders, who carried everything before them, capturing the '■ient and strongly-fortified citadel, •>veic°ming stubborn and highly-organ-resistance, and dashing through and i:a. airing the German batteries, which were promptly turned upon the retreating enemy hosts. The correspondent, dealing with the complete movement in which hundreds of thousands of troops were engaged, cannot, of course, be expected to do more than touch on the outstanding features, but he is whole-hearted in his praise of the intrepidity, skill and resource of our lads. It is well for us to know how splendidly our men fought in the final phase of the war; to remember their heroic deeds, not only on this occasion, but throughout the war; to honor them as they deserve to' be honored, and to see that our children, too, are properly instructed in what their doughty deeds and immeasurable sacrifices have meant in writing the greatest chapter in the history of the world. New Zealand has been wonderfully well served by her sons on the field of battle, as in every other respect, and this fact can never—and should never—be forgotten.