DEEPLY IMPRESSED

Wairarapa Times-Age, 15 August 1941, Page 4

DEEPLY IMPRESSED

MR FRASER ON TOUR

OF BRITAIN

ADMIRATION FOR SPIRIT OF PEOPLE. WARM TRIBUTE TO AIRMEN. (By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright) (Received This Day, 10 a.m.) LONDON, August 14. The New Zealand Prime Minister, Mr P. Fraser, in a special interview on his tour, said: “1 am certain that the people of Britain are stronger is their determination than ever before that the struggle must be continued until Hitlerism is overthrown. They are rapidly surmounting difficulties and are prepared to face and defeat any fresh Nazi attacks, whether by bombing or by invasion. “My chief impression is that all classes of war factory work are very well organised and efficiently carried out,” Mr Fraser added. “The workers are intelligent and enthusiastic and there is complete co-operation between workers, foremen and executives. I was particularly interested to notice a number of young boys and girls, working in munition factories, who a few months ago had no knowledge of machine-tools. It made one realise that the country was reaping a splendid dividend from its expenditure on compulsory education. I was very much moved by the intelligent grasp these workers had of their jobs. I addressed many crowded meetings on New Zealand’s war effort and everywhere found the utmost enthusiasm and the keenest interest. On many occasions I was told of the admiration for New Zealand’s airmen and her Expeditionary Force. I visited practically every centre where New Zealand airmen are stationed. These men are in wonderful fettle and will leave an indelible impression in this generation, because a finer, nobler or more courageous band of men never lived. Talking with the men, I heard of some minor grievances and was able to promise that these would be rectified. “I was present at one station when some of our boys returned from raids over Germany. Alas! Some did not return and it was a terrible thought that men who the day before were in the prime of life were now no longer amongst us, but they died doing their duty and those who returned unflinchingly faced tasks still ahead, with spirits undaunted, heads unbowed and determination unshaken. They had lost some of their 1 comrades, but they are resolutely going on with the job of extirpating Hitlerism.” Mr Fraser saw another aspect of the British war effort, namely the workon farms, and was most impressed by the Women’s Land Army. Farmers to whom he talked displayed great interest in New Zealand's change-over from butter to cheese manufacture. Mr Fraser concluded: “All I have seen has been an inspiration to me and I will be able to tell an. inspiring story to the people of New Zealand, not only of a magnificent war effort, but of the fortitude and cheerful bearing of the people of the blitzed areas.”