CIVIC RECEPTION

Greymouth Evening Star, 4 December 1940, Page 5

CIVIC RECEPTION

SIR H. BATTERBEE’S ADDRESS. \ WAR SITUATION REVIEWED. “If we all pull together, if we throw into the struggle everything we have got, and if we are prepared to make every possible sacrifice, I am quite convinced that we shall win, but it is on that condition, and on that condition only.” In these words, Sir Harry Batterbee, High Commissioner for the United Kingdom in New Zealand, concluded an interesting address at the Municipal Chambers, Greymouth, last evening, on the war situation as it affected the British Empire. The occasion was a civic reception, tendered to Sir Harry and Lady Batterbee, on their first official visit* to Greymouth, and there was a representative attendance. On behalf of the women of Westland, the Mayoress of Greymputh (Mrs F. A. Kitchingham) presented Lady Batterbee with a bouquet, which carried with it their good wishes. Lady Batterbee warmly acknowledged the gesture. The Mayor (Mr F. A. Kitchingham) said that he had sincere pleasure, on behalf of the citizens, in welcoming Sir Harry and Lady Batterbee to the “metropolis” of the West Coast. It was a big word to use for a small

: place with a tiny population, but it did happen to be the metropolis, in which the business and financial interests, and almost the whole of the sea-borne export trade of the West Coast, were centred. This was an occasion, said Mr Kitchingham, which in no circumstances could be repeated —it was the first welcome given at Greymouth to the gentleman who had first occupied the position of High Commissioner for the United Kingdom in New Zealand. The creation of the post denoted a change in the status of the Dominion. Theoretically, New Zealand and the other countries of the Empire were now free and independent nations, united by their common allegiance to one monarch. That freedom and independence was conditioned by the strength of the members of the British Commonwealth of Nations to preserve it. If New Zealand, with a population of 1,500,000, were standing alone, she could not protect her freedom and independence for very long. They had to look the facts in the face —their freedom and independence were irrevocably and irretrievably linked with the independence of the United Kingdom and the other members of the British Commonwealth. So it was that Sir Harry Batterbee had come to occupy the position of High Commissioner in New Zealand, a year or so ago. Obviously, the man selected for the position must be a man who had shown himself worthy of it. Sir Harry had had a lengthy experience in the service of the Crown. For many years, he was in the Colonial Office, and during the last war he was private secretary to Mr Walter (later Lord) Long, who was then Secretary of State for the Colonies. Later, Sir Harry was political adviser to Admiral Field, and, in 1927, he visited New Zealand when the present King and Queen (then the Duke and Duchess of York) toured the Dominion. Mr Kitchingham went on to give a review of the resources of the Grey district, for the information of Sir Harry Batterbee, and concluded by extending to the visitors a cordial welcome to Greymouth. Brief as was their stay, he hoped that they were enjoying themselves, and that, on some future occasion, they would be able to pay another visit, and at the same time see the beauties of South Westland, which, it could safely be said, would surpass anything they had already seen in New Zealand. , On behalf of Lady Batterbee and himself, Sir Harry Batterbee returned thanks for the welcome, and said that, wherever they went in New Zealand, they were made to feel that they were among friends. He had twice previously visited New Zealand, once on H.M.S. Flood in 1924, and once with the present King and Queen, in 1927, when they were the Duke and Duchess of York. On that occasion he did not come to Greymouth. He knew that the King and Queen had not forgotten their visit to New Zealand, because, when he went to Sandringham to pay his farewell visit to Their Majesties, before' coming to New Zealand as High Commissioner, they both talked about then visit, and gave him a message of gratitude and thanks to all the friends they made, and to say that they preserved the happiest memories of their visit to the Dominion. Little did he think, said Sir Harry, that when he came to New Zealand in 1927, his next visit would be as High Commissioner. The fact that he was representing Great Britain greater perhaps than ever she was before in this most-British of countries, had filled him with humility, and he felt unable to express the thoughts in his heart, but which he knew were in all hearts there that evening. There was just one thing they were all thinking of—the war, and what it meant to the people in the Old Land, what they were suffering, and above all, what the people of London had been suffering. He thought, perhaps, that it would interest those present if he gave them just a little talk about the broad outlines of the war, and the general position as it appeared to him, seeing, as he did, various despatches from the United Kingdom . Government.

BATTLE FOR BRITAIN. “I think we can spy this, that in the battle for Britain, Hitler has lost the first round, and Great Britain has won. the first round,” said Sir Harry Batterbee. “I think there is no doubt about that, but I also think that there are going to be anxious and difficult days ahead. We have won the first round, but the second round is to come. Hitler thought he could conquer England with a knock-out blow, just as he did many other European countries, and, last of all, France. He was wrong. He tried first of all to smother Great Britain with daylight air-raids, to cow the people and break their morale, to destroy communications and aerodromes, to wear out the fighters, and all the rest of it. Well, he failed. But now he is trying night-bombing. He has taken a leaf out of our book. As you all know, he is trying terrific raids on one town after another, and above all, on London. It is idle to deny that he has had a certain amount of success. Where he has failed is in cowing the people of England, and! in thinking that he could break their spirit and i determination. He has had some success in delaying aircraft and

munitions production, and upsetting communications. Sooner or later, no doubt, we shall find the answer to night-bombing, but until we dp, the people of Great Britain are going fp have a bad time. We have gpt to face the fact that industries, tions production, and aircraft pypcfiiCtion are going to have a difficult time, and we have to put into it all we know. Workmen havp" got to work even longer 'hpurs, if the production of munitions qnd aircraft is to be kept up, as it must be, gnd is gjoing to be kept up, Tfipp Hitler has been conducting a terrific attack on our shipping, and in recent weeks with a certain amount of success, also, as we know, in these waters. There is a reason for that success. We have .had rather bad luck with our destroyers. We have lost a certain number, and others have been damaged. Until we have got a sufficient number of destroyers and small craft, we cannot give convoys that protection which is necessary to their safety.” There was one thing he would like to say, continued Sir Harry Batterbee. In the battle for Britain, there was the Home Guard. At first, some people were inclined to smile at it at Home, but it had proved an excellent tower of strength. If the Germans ever landed in England, there would not be many left alive. He wished the Home Guard movement in New Zealand every success, and he was sure that it would prove equally a tower of strength, because there were in it a considerable number of men who had practical experience in the last war. 5 ' ■ MIDDLE EAST SITUATION.

“So long as Hitler had any hope of delivering a knock-out blow against England, he did not worry. It was only when he began to despair of knocking England out that he turned towards the Western Mediterranean. He first looked towards Spain and Gibraltar. For the first time in his life, Hitlei' had to go to meet someone else—Franco. Until then, he had always summoned others to go and meet him. He met Franco, and to his surprise, and probably to our own, he was unable to persuade Franco to let him march through Spain to attack Gibraltar. That, I think, is where Hitler met his first diplomatic defeat, just as he met his first military defeat in the battle for Britain. Defeated in the Western Mediterranean, he turned to the Eastern Mediterranean, and had his famous meeting with Mussolini at the Brenner. It was not known at the time what they decided, but the plan is now pretty clear. They decided that Mussolini was to attack Greece, while Hitler was to come down from the north through Ruipania and Bulgaria. They were to meet in front of Turkey, and promise her Syria if she joined them, or threaten to smash her if she refused. By that means, the Germans hoped to attack Egypt from the north, 'while the Italians attacked Egypt from the west. There were two or three reasons for that plan. The Italians were meeting great difficulties in Libya, in connection with water and supplies. It was hoped that the Italians, by attacking Greece, would relieve the pressure, and, by drawing off British troops to Greece, enable progress to be made in Egypt. Britain has been sending help of all kinds to Greece, including aircraft. Some New Zealand airmen, who have proved themselves a terror to our enemies, have been sent to Greece. The Greeks have been fighting extremely well, in a manner worthy of their ancestors, helped, of course, by aid from Britain. The fact that the Greeks came in at all showed that they had not much of an opinion of Italian morale. The Greeks, Turks, and Spaniards knew more about the Italians than the British did, and the action of the Greeks was evidence that they thought the Italian morale was not too good. So far, that part of the Axis plan has not gone very well. The other part is not going well, either. Germany has practically seized Rumania, and meant after that to go for Bulgaria; but, when she began to show .signs of going for Bulgaria, Turkey stepped in, and warned Germany that she would take a very serious view of any attack on Bulgaria. The next thing Hitler, had to do was to see how he could bring pressure on Turkey. He sent for Molotov, and no doubt promised Russia all sorts of things if she put pressure on Turkey to prevent her joining the Allies. So far as can be seen, that plan has not gone too well for Hitler. Therefore'; I think that the situation in the Middle East is better than we could have expected a few months or weeks ago, but it still remains serious, because at any time we may hear of the arrival of German bombers. It seems impossible that Hitler will not go to the rescue of Mussolini.”

“AGE OF MIRACLES.” Sir Harry Baterbee went on to refer to what had happened during the past few months. He mentioned the position on the eve of the evacuation of Dunkirk, and recalled the fact that Mr Churchill had to tell the people of England they would have to prepare themselves for hard and heavy lighting. There was a moment when it looked as though practically all the British Expeditionary Force would be destroyed or would have to capitulate, but that did not happen. “I like to think that the age of miracles has not passed,” he said, “because it was a miracle which enabled the army at Dunkirk to evacuate.” It was only because the Channel remained calm for several days that enabled small craft to bring away the troops. It was the ordinary men of England, with their small vessels, who rescued that force. There was another miracle later. It was now quite clear that Hitler had determined to put his invasion plan into force at the full moon in the middle of September. He had collected great numbers of barges and small boats at various Channel ports, and hundreds of thousands of trained troops, ready for the invasion of Britain on September 15. .On that, day, the R.A.F. smote him, and brought down 185 planes, and probably a good many more never reached Germany. The next day—that of the full moon—a great storm sprang up in the Channel, scattered the German barges and boats, and upset Hitler’s plans. It scattered his armada- then, as, 300 years ago, another storm scattered the Spanish Armada. ~ “I am perfectly convinced that Great Britain and the Empire will pull through all right, but, in the meantime, the safety of the Empire and of the whole world depends upon those people in England, in London and the Midlands, sticking it out, and being ready to bear air-raids night after night. It is very difficult for us in this country to realise what . it means. Millions of men, women, and children in England to-day have not

had an ordinary night’s rest in their beds for months. Night after night they are in cellars or . shelters, huddled together, doing their best to get some sleep, and now, to get some warmth. The discomfort of it all is as bad as the danger. But they are bearing it bravely, with never a word of complaint. We have a boy in the Marine Force, and, in a recent letter, he said that he went for two months without a single night in bed. There is just the same sort of feeling in other letters from the young people at Home—never a complaint. They are living at a height, and are finding that' life is grander and finer than ever it was in peace-time. It is better than all the parties and entertainments. The reason is that they are undismayed, unafraid, and confident. They are giving all they have, all they are, and not in a selfish cause, but in a cause which means freedom and independence not only to Great Britain or the British Commonwealth of Nations, but to the whole world. I know that you here in this country want to give those hard-pressed people all possible help. When you help them you are really helping yourselves, because if the British Navy were to go—pray God it never’ will —it would be the end of New Zealand and the British Empire. No power on earth could save British countries overseas.” Sir Harry Batterbee appealed to the people of New Zealand to help, not only by sending military assistance, but by sending all the produce possible, and to restrict imports to essential gods, thus conserving exchange, and enabling greater purchases of wax’ material from the United States. It was the greatest struggle of all times, and they had their backs to the wall. In conclusion, Sir Harry Batterbee again thanked the Mayor and those present for the welcome extended to Lady Batterbee and himself. They were sorry their stay in Greymouth was so short, and they would like to see some of the resources of the district. He had seen something of the gold-dredging industry (at Ikamatua and Ngahere), and was fascinated by all lie saw. He would like to wish the industries, and “this lovely part of New Zealand,” every possible success; and hoped that Lady Batterbee and himself would be able to re-visit the West Coast, and find themselves again among friends. After the reception, Sir Harry and Lady Batterbee met personally those present. _______

PATRIOTIC FUND. Previously acknowledged 5302 11 3 Combined Reformed Churches, 2nd. donation 10 0 0 £5312 11 3