SECOND ECHELON

Wairarapa Times-Age, 21 June 1940, Page 4

SECOND ECHELON

SAFE ARRIVAL IN GREAT BRITAIN ANNOUNCEMENT BY PRIME MINISTER. GRATITUDE TO THE NAVY AND AIR ARM. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON. This Day. The safe arrival in Great Britain of the second echelon of the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force was announced late hist night by the Prime .Minister, Mr Fraser. “After so many anxious days we learn with relief and with glad hearts that our second echelon has arrived safely in port,” said Mr Fraser. , “And it will be with pride and thanksgiving in these tragic days,” he continued, "that our people learn that git is at a port in the Homeland. Great Britain, that the contingents of theNew Zealand Expeditionary Force, which left here in May, and of the Second Australian Imperial Force, have disembarked. The troops are reported to be all well and in high spirits, and we know they will be pleased to be on the soil of the Motherland in her great need. VOYAGE ROUND CAPE.

“During the voyage the convoy called at Cape Town and at Freetown in Sierra Leone. Once more the British Navy in its efficient and protective command of the seas in guarding our men inspires us and gives us assurance that there can be only one outcome of the titanic struggle that convulses the world. To the men of the Fleet we would add the heartfelt thanks of the people of our nation to the myriads of thanks they have already received. “To the Air Arm, too, we pay our grateful tribute for its splendid cooperation in protecting the ships of the convoy and the lives that are so precious to us. The ocean pathways are strong links that bind together the nations of the British Commonwealth and these links are unbroken.

“I feel I must express my joy, as will every person in the Dominion, at receiving the news of the safe arrival of the splendid men who will represent us in this epic struggle, and I offer on behalf of the nation the heartiest congratulations to their relatives and friends upon the safe completion of the voyage, and upon the beginning of their fight for the Motherland for the commonwealth and for freedom.”