RETURN OF N.Z. DIVISION

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 23858, 29 January 1943, Page 4

RETURN OF N.Z. DIVISION

“Most Mischievous Statement ” FULL STORY SOUGHT BY MR DOIDGE “A most mischievous statement has been made by a Minister of the Crown, the Hon. D. G. Sullivan, in the course of this by-election,” said Mr F. W. Doidge, M.P. (National, Tauranga), in speaking at the Civic Theatre last evening. “The Minister has disclosed that it is the desire and intention of the Government to return our division from the Middle East as soon as it is possible to do so.” Professing to deprecate any attempt to win political support by advocating the returmof the men, said Mr Doidge, the Minister had straightway proceeded to dangle before the electors the hope of the division’s early return. That had not been Mr Sullivan’s only indiscretion. He had further declared that the proposal contained in Mr Fraser’s cable message to Mr Churchill had been approved by members of Parliament without a dissentient voice. That was flatly untrue, and Mr Sullivan’s mind, said Mr Doidge, must have been a complete black-out as to what had actually happened. The moment Mr Fraser had completed reading the interchange of cables, Mr Holland had hotly protested that Mr Fraser should have never dreamed of submitting such a proposal to Mr Churchill before Parliament had been-consulted. In saying that Parliament in secret session had been fully informed of the interchange, Mr Sullivan had told less than half the story. The electors had a right to know what Mr Fraser asked and what Mr Churchill replied. All wanted the boys back home, said Mr Doidge, but would the men themselves welcome the opportunity of returning at this moment, when after fighting for three years against odds they now had Rommel on the run, he asked, and would they be content to leave 9000 New Zealand prisoners of war behind the barbed wire of enemy prison camps? Mr Churchill had repeatedly spoken of the need of the United Nations for fighting ships. Even if equipment was left, the return of the New Zealand Division would involve the use of a considerable number of ships, with escorts. It was unthinkable that such a large body, of men would be permitted to face the journey through submarine-infested waters without adequate protection. Was this, he asked, the time to make such a demand on the Royal Navy? “Service in Pacific?” Since the public had been told so much, they had a right to know the full substance of Mr Fraser’s proposal, said Mr Doidge. “Did he ask for the return of the division so that it might remain in New Zealand, or did he promise that it would go into service in the Pacific?” New Zealand men in the Middle East, he said, had been trained in desert warfare, and knew nothing of jungle fighting. They were inured to the Middle East climate, and would have no resistance to the fevers of the Solomons. Such a transfer would mean jumping from the frying pan into the fire. The men needed a respite, but not a respite of that kind. There were strong advocates of aid for Russia, and the withdrawal of the division would strike a heavy blow at that plan. The danger in the Pacific receded, and the real issue was in Europe and the

Middle East. The pledge to help Britain to the limit was as vital to-ow as in 1939. . Mr Doidge said that it was also that the Government gave the a better understanding of the na of New Zealand’s war effort. realised that the number me .® , 0 1 overseas to fight fell short by thousands of the number sent a last war, when the population « bare 1.000,000. we re It was true that heavy calls w made for home defence. Now W* risk of a Japanese invasion . ceded a revision of home defence P s was desirable. But overseas obliPJ r had not lessened, and until Mr * Jtook the people into his fully there, would be apprehe about his intentions. L^ a AxttLl “The statement made by tne/'n Mr Suilivan in this by-electwn been welcomed with whoqns of oe by the pacifists in our midst, u caused anxiety and concern to 'he of the people of New Zealand.