“WIZARD OF OZ”

Wairarapa Times-Age, 13 January 1941, Page 5

“WIZARD OF OZ”

SIGNIFICANCE OF BATTLE SONG — AUSTRALIANS SENSE VICTORY. , -LAUGHTER Or DEMOCRACY." ißy Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright! NEW YORK. January 10J The "New York Times" in an editorial says: -It is not merely to give picturesque details to say that the Australian troops in Africa went into battle singing the chorus from 'The Wizard of Oz.’ It is hard to get a song from a soldier retreating or from one not knowing quite what he is fighting for. The Australians made a noise because they sensed victory: not just an immediate victory in a desert skirmish, but beyond today’s horizon a great final victory. They were formidable troops in the last war; perhaps they are more formidable now. “In a wide, new country, free from the narrower customs of old England, they are yet loyal at heart to English tradition. They have grown tall and rangy in spirit as in body. Such is the gift of the colonials to the Motherland. “In Britain we have seen the same spirit miraculously born. A dangerous battle creates a new frontier, in which there are new pioneers. Distinctions of rank and wealth lose their sanction. He who believes so firmly in his cause can charge with gaiety into the valley of death and carry the seeds of the future. “There is no spark of this splendid mirth in any dictatorial army. This is the warcry of free mon. this is the , laughter of democracy nt Mussolini.! The singing troops that took Bardin] carried an immediate threat that the; hermit of Berchtesgaden’ would have, done well to listen to. Their song, too,] was meant for his ears."