SOLDIER'S RETURN

Evening Post, Volume CXL, Issue 63, 12 September 1945, Page 9

SOLDIER'S RETURN

FEELiNGS OF A V.C

PA CHRISTCHURCH, Sept. 11. I A. civic reception was given m; honour of Captain C H TJpham, V C yesterday. Replying to addresses, Captian Uptiam. speaking under emotional stress* said the honour that had been bestowed on him was really due to the Now Zealand Division as a whole. He claimed that little happened by chance in the Army, and that the only way to get things "done was by taking risks. Thos<* who took risks did not come back. The best soldiers were in his experience, almost all killed "I would like you all to make it worth while toi the men. who have come back, he continued. "With the end of the war things don't appear to be much beUer. Tho only tribute we can pay to the thousands who will not come bacr; will ibe (o take advantage of their sacnIfices. The New Zealand Division upi held its great name throughout this war and has made New Zealand s namp known all over the world. Cominr back from lands where people are without clothes and starving, to see thousands of bales of wool stored away for sale over the years, makes me wonder. I don't profess to understand economics, but if we are going to make this a worth-while world we must get rid of misery. The woi'l«^ riches were pretty badly distributed before the war, snd though they have changed hands in fairly large chunks during the war, we have let a lot ot people on our side make sacrifices and come out of the war a lot worse on.