JOY AFTER WAR

Evening Post, Volume CXL, Issue 152, 26 December 1945, Page 5

JOY AFTER WAR

King's Christmas Broadcast REUNITED FAMILIES

Ree. 11 a.m

LONDON, December 25

"To win victory, much" that was of great price has been given up, but we still preserve those things that make life precious, and we shall find them deepened and strengthened by the fires of battle,'' said his Majesty the King in a Christmas broadcast to the Empire.

"With my whole heart I pray God, by Whose grace victory has been won, that this Christmas may bring to my peoples all the over every joy they have dreamed of.

"For six years I have spoken at Christmas to the Empire at war. During all those years of sorrow and danger, of weariness and strife, you and I have been upheld by a vision of the world at peace. Now that vision has become a reality.

"By gigantic efforts and sacrifices the great work has been done. A great evil has been cast from the earth. No peoples have done more to cast it out than you to whom I speak. To win victory, much that was of great price has Ibeen given up and much has been ravaged and destroyed by the hand of war, but the things that have been saved are beyond price, in these homelands Df the British peoples which we have saved from destruction. We still possess the things that make life precious, and we shall find them strengthened and deepened by the fires of battle. Our faith in these things has held us in a brotherhood through all our trials and carried us to victory. Perhaps a better understanding of that brotherhood is the most precious of air the gains that remain with us axter these hard years. Together, all our peoples around the globe have met every danger and triumphed over it, and we are together still. Most of all, we are together as one world-wide family, a family in the joy of Christ"l* think of men and women of every race within the Empire returning, after their long service, to their own families to their own homes, and to tne ways of peace. I think of children freed from unnatural fears and a blacked-out world, celebrating this Christmas in the light and happiness of the family circle, once more reunited. There will be the vacant places of those •who will never return—brave souls who gave their all to win peace for us. We remember them with, pride and with unfailing love, praying that a greater peace than ours may now be theirs. "There are those of you, still numbered in millions, who are spending Christmas far from your homes, encaged in east and west m the long and difficult task of restoring to shattered countries the means and manners of civilised life, but many anxieties have been lifted from you and your folks at home, and the coming of peace brings you nearer your heart's desire. "There is not yet for us the abundance of peace. We-all have to make a little go a long way, but Christmas comes with its message of hope and fellowship to all men of good will and warms our hearts to kindliness and comradeship. We cannot, on this day, forget how much is still to be done before the blessings of peace are brought to all the world. "In the liberated countries millions will spend this Christmas under terribly hard conditions, with only tne ibare necessities of life. The nations of the world are not yet a united family, so let our sympathy for others move us to humble gratitude that God has given our Commonwealth and Empire a wonderful spirit of unity and affection. SPECIAL WORD TO THE YOUNG. "To the younger of you I would say a special word. You haye gro%vn up in a world at war in which your Qne spirit of service has been devoted to a single purpose—the overthrow and destruction of our enemies. You have known the world only as a world of strife and fear. Bring now all that fine spirit to make it one of joyous adventure, a home in which men and women can live in mutual trust and walk together as friends. Do not judge life by what you have seen of it in the grimness and waste of war, nor yet by the conclusion of the first years of peace. Have faith in life at its best, and bring to it your courage and hopes and your sense of humour. Merriment is the birthright of the young, but we can all keep it in our hearts as life goes on if we hold fast by the spirit that refuses to admit defeat, by faith that never falters, and by hope that cannot be quenched. Let us have no fear of the future, but think of it as an opportunity and an adventure.

"The same dauntless resolve which you have shown so abundantly in the years of danger, that the powers of darkness shall not prevail, must now foe turned to a happier purpose, to make the light shine more > brightly everywhere. The light of joy can most surely be kindled around the fireside, where most of you are listening to me. Home life as we all remember it at Christmas is life at its best. There, in the trust and loye of parents, children, brothers, and sisters, we learn how men and nations, too, may live together in unity and peace. "So, to every one of you who are gathered now in your homes or holding thoughts of home in your hearts, I say—a Merry Christmas, and God bless you all." This, the King's first peacetime broadcast, was made from his country home at Sandringham. The Royal Family listened in another part of the house while the King was speaking.

Reports so far 'to hand say that reception was yery good in India, South Africa, West Africa, the West Indies, and Canada. American reports comment on the depth, firmness, and strength of his Majesty's voice.