HIGHEST PRAISE FOR BRITISH PEOPLE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 98, 28 April 1941, Page 7

HIGHEST PRAISE FOR BRITISH PEOPLE.

"CONQUER OR DIE."

Only 30,000 Troops Won

Libyan Victories.

British Officiiil \V!rrlf».«. Rec. 1 p.m. RUGBY, April 27. In his broadcast the Prime .Minister, Mr. Win-ton Churchill, said: "I "•as asked last week whether 1 was aware of sonic uneasiness which, it was said, cxislcd in |he country on account of the. gravity, as it was described, of the war situation. • s o T thought it would be a pood thing t<) go and see for myself what this uneasiness amounted to. "I went to some of our great cities and seaports, which have been most heavily bombed, and to some of the places where the poorest people have Sot it worst. I have come back, not only reassured but refreshed. To 'fave the offices of Whitehall, with 'heir ceaseless hum of activity and stress, and go to the fronts, by which mean the streets and wharves of .(.melon. Liverpool. Manchester, Car'liff, Swansea or Bristol, is like going <JUt of a hothouse on to the bridge of a fighting ship. It is a tonic, which I should recommend to any who are suffering from fretfulness to take in strong doses when they need it. "It is quite true that I have seen many painful scenes of havoc and of fine buildings and acres of cottages and homes blasted into rubble heaps of ruins, but it is .just in those very places, where the malice of the savage enemy has done his worst, and where the ordeal of men. women and children has been most severe, that I found their morale most high and splendid. Indeed. I feel encompassed by the exultation of spirit in the people, which seems to lift

mankind and its troubles above the level of material facts: indeed, to that joyous serenity which we think belongs to a better world than this.

"Of their kindness to me I cannot speak because I have never sought it or dreamt of it and can never deserve it. T only assure you that I and my colleagues, or comrades rather, for that is what they are, will toil with every scrap and fibre of strength, according to the limits that are granted to us, not to fail these people or to be wholly unworthy of their faithful and generous regard. The British nation is stirred and moved as it has never been at any time in its long, eventful and famous history, and it is no hackneyed figure of speech to say that they mean to conquer or die." Mr. Churchill said the triumph of battered cities over fire and the worst bombs could do was a vindication of free institutions and the civilised way of living. Those sublime and terrible emotions of the battlefield were experienced by men, women and children. "This indeed is a grand and heroic period of our history." he said, "and the light of glory shines upon all. You may imagine how deeply I feel my own responsibility towards all these people, my own responsibility to bear my part in bringing them safely out of this long, stern and scowling valley through which we are marching, and not to demand of them that their sacrifices shall be in vain."

Stating that it had been imperative that British policy should be upon the highest level and that honour should be the only guide, Mr. Churchill continued: "Very few people realise how small were the forces with which General Sir Archibald Wavell—that fine commander whom we cheered in the good days and will back through the bad days—took bulk masses in Libya prisoners. In none of his successive victories could General Wavell maintain in the desert or bring into action at one time more than two divisions or about 30,000 men. '