CHURCHILL'S GUEST

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 169, 19 July 1941, Page 5

CHURCHILL'S GUEST

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ACXlkij'nis IX iii.JiAIN

LONDON, June 30 impressions which thel sof New Zealand, the! to'tfc» n Pjr Fraser. will take.back' thn«o e Du minion with him will be se of the indomitable spirit of the

British people and of the fine quali-| I ties of leadership of Mr. Winston: Churchill.

Following his arrival and welcomei in England Mr. Fraser was thej guest of Mr. Churchill, and he was] present in the Jatter's country home: when he broadcast to the world setting out Britain's policy following! the invasion of Russia by Germany, and branded Hitler as a "bloodthirsty guttersnipe." i

Other of Mr. Churchill's guests included Lord Beaverbrook, Sir Stafford and Lady Cripps, Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Edtn, and Lord Cranborne, the Dominions Secretary. Shortly after lunch Mr. Churchill began to work on his broadcast. While his guests sat under the trees in his garden, Mr. Churchill discussed his talk for which the world was waiting with the greatest mterest. Mr. Churchill worked for seven hours on his talk—which lasted 17 minutes. „ , .. Dinner was.delayed until after tne broadcast, which began at 9 p.m. (Mr. Churchill sat alone while he was talking to the world; and in the next room, Mrs. Churchill, her daughters, Mr Fraser and her other guests, listened to the wireless set, just as so many other millions were listening.

Cablegram to Dominion Within a minute of the end of the broadcast Mr. Fraser was in touch with the High Commissioner s office in London. He arranged for a cablegram to be sent immediately to the New Zealand Government personally endorsing Mr. Churchill s remarks and suggesting that the New Zealand Government associate itself with them. Dinner followed; and then the two Prime Ministers talked out the remainder of the historic Sunday while, with two hours of daylight saving, the twilight lasted until learlv midnight. . . . ! MrT Fraser returned to London uie following morning, and was soon im- ! • a flood of work. i It w t b: i~ht summer afternoon .. , n • ; arrived in England ; u a fiying-boat, and among those" pi c, ent to welcome New Zealand's Prime Minister were Lord, C inborn Mr. W. J. Jordan, the| High Commissioner, Admiral Sir ! Arthur Bromley, of the Dominions) Office." and Mr. W. L. Fraser, the! Prime Minister's brother. The first[ ■n grip his hand was Mr Jordan. Lord Cranborne officially welcomedi

the Prime Minister on behalf of Mr. Churchill and the British Government. He spoke into a microphone for his message to be recorded and broadcast to New Zealand. Mr. Jor|dan added his welcome, and the imicrophone was handed to Mr. Fraser. While the Prime Minister spoke into it, and sufficiently loud for the bystanders to hear, a news 'reel camera tickered as its film reIvolved.

Very Well and Fit

Mr. Fraser looked very well and fit, though travel-weary, and there was no doubt that he welcomed the sight from the flying-boat of "England's green and pleasant land" after the heat of Egypt and his fortnight's journey from the Near East to England.

Mr. Fraser stayed the night at the| home of Lord Cranborne, and thenj continued on to London for his first meeting with Mr. Churchill. Mr. Jordan had stayed the previous night there as the guest of the Dominions Secretary, and was given a bed in> which, Lord Cranborne assured him, Queen Elizabeth was really known] to have slept! j Fittingly, an Empire crew flew thef Catalina from Lisbon to England.! The captain was a Canadian, the first officer an Australian, the radiol operator an Englishman, and thel engineer a New Zealander, FlightEngineer G. G. Lambert (Auckland).j "We had a fine trip across," said! Lambert, who is an old boy of the Dargaville district school. Lambert] I was a member of Union Airways in New Zealand, and he has now been ' with British Airways for a year.