FIRST PHASE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 31 December 1942, Page 2

FIRST PHASE

IN DECISIVE OVERTHROW OF AXIS . REACHED BY UNITED NATIONS. MR FRASER’S NEW YEAR MESSAGE. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. New Year’s Day, 1943, will mark, we trust, not only the beginning of a year of victory, but herald a new dawn for the freedom-loving peoples of Hie world (the‘Prime Minister, Mr Fraser, observes in a, New Year message). The ebb of the tide in the fortunes of the United Nations has ceased, and the flood will surely and. inevitably bring those successes for which we have all worked and prayed during the difficult and bitter years since September, 1939.

The year just past, which began in circumstances so ominous for our own security in the South Pacific, has ended in a manner entitling us to feci more secure. Dangers and disappointments no doubt still lie ahead, but we will face them with the confidence born of the certain knowledge that our strength today is greater and our war organisation is better than ever it has been in the past. We are also fortified by the fact that the united efforts and the growing resources of our Allies have enabled us to take the initiative and to turn from the defensive to the offensive. The endurance and fortitude which have characterised the indomitable spirit of the peoples of the United Nations must and will receive their due reward. LABORIOUS ORGANISATION. After three years of dogged resistance and laborious organisation the United Nations have reached the stage which, will enable them to meet the Axis on equal terms, and no one need have any doubt' as to the result. We may claim to have entered the first phase of the decisive overthrow of the forces of Nazism, Fascism and Japan. The year ends with the continuance of. the success of the Eighth Army in Tripolitania, in which our own Division made so glorious a contribution, with the British and American forces gathering for the assault on Tunis, with the magnificent Russian counteroffensives in the East, with the growing weight of the British and American air arm, with.the successes of the United States forces in the South Pacific, and with the turn of the tide in New Guinea —all of which combine to point the way to future progress. The outlook today, especially for us here in the Pacific, is more hopeful than it was a year ago, and provided we of the United Nations maintain our efforts at their maximum point of energy and efficiency the position will inevitably continue to improve.

MEMORABLE YEAR. For New Zealand the year 1942 has been memorable in many ways. Our military forces have again proved their sterling worth by the achievement of brilliant successes in North Africa. ..Further New Zealand forces have taken up defensive positions of vital importance in the Pacific, while still others on land, on sea and in the air, in many and various theatres of war, have fought the enemy with distinction and success. Here in New Zealand our own shores have been rendered more secure than ever before against enemy attack, and we have now the welcome assistance of our American allies. The war achievements of the Dominion have been obtained at the cost of heavy sacrifices, in which every section of the community has shared. The needs of the Armed Forces in manpower have necessarily been met by drawing heavily upon industry. Not only married men with families but women also have been brought into the Armed Forces. Restrictions upon civilians have been cheerfully accepted and willingly endured by a people who are only too anxious to share to the utmost in the perils and privations which are the lot of our gallant forces serving overseas. Liberty Loans and National Savings campaigns have met with a most gratifying response. A step of decisive importance has just been taken with the inauguration of a comprehensive economic stabilisation plan, upon the success of which largely depends the economic and social welfare of the country for the remainder of the war and indeed the post-war period. CALL FOR SACRIFICES.

It is my duty as Prime Minister to call again for sacrifices and still further efforts from all sections of the community. If 1943 is to be a year of achievements, if we are to take advantage of the turn of the tide, then it is for our own people who have given so much already not only to maintain their efforts but to increase them. The new year may mark the turning point in the war. But we are not justified in giving way to complacency in any shape or form. Here in the Pacific we are not' yet free from danger, and the defeat of Japan will inevitably prove a difficult and costly task. For us in New Zealand the year ahead must be one in which we will need to strain every nerve and extend every resource in the furtherance of the country’s war effort. Our men overseas have proved by their deeds the meaning of their patriotism and their devotion to the ideals for which New Zealand stands. It is foi' every citizen to take inspiration from the example of those who have risked their lives in order that their country might continue to exist in prosperity and peace, and more so from those who have given their lives so that their fellow-citizens and future generations might enjoy the heritage of freedom which is our most priceless possession.

We enter the New Year with firm resolution to continue to give of our best to the very end, and with every confidence in ultimate victory. In thanking the people of New Zealand for their magnificent response, I wish them all good fortune and every happiness in the crucial year that lies ahead.