KING'S MESSAGE

Evening Star, Issue 25565, 18 August 1945, Page 6

KING'S MESSAGE

EMPIRE SERVICEMEN THANKED

(P. A.) WELLINGTON, August 18. The following is the text of a message which the King lias sent to his Navies, Armies, and Air Forces throughout the Empire, and which has been received by His Excellency, the Governor-Gene-ral, for promulgation within New Zealand :

" The surrender of Japan has brought to a victorious end a war which has engaged our full fighting strength all over the world. I send my heartfelt congratulations to the men and women of my Navies, Armies, and Air Forces throughout the British Commonwealth and Empire. Through the long years of the grim struggle with our onemies dn the west and in tho east, your unflinching l resolution and indomitable'courage in the fnco of manifold adversities have earned you the eternal gratitude of your countrymen. Many of your comrades have fallen in the nght. With you I grieve for their loss, for the sufferings of the wounded, and for the sorrows of the bereaved. With you I look forward to the safe homecoming of those who have had to endure captivity. By God's mercy, tho forces of evil have been overthrown.

" But many tasks remain to be accomplished if the full blessings of peace are to be restored to a suffering world. It is the duty of er.cli one of us to ensure that your comrades have not died in vain, and that your own hard-won achievements are not lost to the cause of freedom in which you undertook them. '

"On behalf of all my peoples, I thank you. God bless you all. " (Signed) George R. 1."