Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit MONDAY, JUNE 28, 1943. THE VISIT BY THE KING.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 63, Issue 220, 28 June 1943, Page 2

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit MONDAY, JUNE 28, 1943. THE VISIT BY THE KING.

Modern methods of travel have made possible visits under war conditions to many quarters of the globe. Not only has the British Prime Minister made some unique journeys in this respect, but his Majesty the King has also taken the opportunity to make a trip, which has proved particularly welcome and popular, to various Mediterranean territories, from which he has now returned, ft was an altogether appropriate and typical gesture on the part of the King to visit the Allied armfes in North Africa to congratulated them on their recent decisive victory over the enemy in this theatre of war. lhe King, during the present war, had occasion to visit the British Army m* b ranee at a time when the auspices for the Allies, as subsequent events showed, proved much less favourable. With his people and his lighting forces, his Majesty, since that last visit to Prance, has experienced all the vicissitudes and disappointments of war’s adversities, ordeals borne by all concerned in that spirit of fortitude, service and mutual loyalty which is so marked a characteristic of the nation as a whole ii. periods of grave crisis. Now that the tide of war, as Mr Churchill recently declared, has turned against the enemy, the King was able to meet the Allied armies which had so notably contributed to this portentious change in the situation under much happier auspices and to mark his appreciation and gratitude for the great services rendered by the United States Commander-in-Chief in North Africa, General Eisenhower, in association with the British and French comanders, in bringing the Tunisian campaign to a successful and decisive conclusion. His Majesty has received the loyal and enthusiastic welcome which everyone would expect. A notable feature of the tour was the advantage which he has taken of opportunities to inspect and speak to, not only his own subjects, but members of the forces of the United Nations which have been campaigning in North Africa, and the manner in which he has been received by these men was as spontaneous and enthusiastic as from soldiers of the British armies. The visit has served to demonstrate the great unity binding the Allied armies. It was alsp most fitting that his Majesty visited the gallant island of Malta, thus paying a fine tribute to the inhabitants of this once-beleagured island.