SINGING TROOPS
SPIRITED AUSTRALIANS FAITH IN VICTORY AMERICAN TRIBUTE (Reed. Jan. 13, 9 a.m.) NEW YORK, Jan. 11. The New York Times, in an editorial, says: “It is not merely a picturesque detail that the Australian troops in Africa went into battle singing the chorus from the ‘Wizard of Oz.’ It is hard to get a song from a soldier retreating, or from one not knowing quite what he is fighting for.
“The Australians made a noise because they sensed victory, not just an immediate victory in a desert skirmish, but, beyond to-day’s horizon, the great final victory.
“They were formidable troops in the last war. Perhaps they are more formidable now. In a wide new country, free from the narrower customs of old England they are yet loyal in heart to English tradition. They have grown tall and rangy in spirit as in body.
“Such is the gift of the colonial to the Motherland in Britain. We have seen the same spirit miraculously born. Dangerous battle creates a new frontier in which there are new pioneers. Distinctions of rank and wealth lose their sanction.
“He who believes so firmly in his cause can charge with gaiety into the valley of death and carry the seeds of the future. There is no spark of this splendid mirth in any dictatorial army. This is the war cry of free men. This is the laughter of democracy at Mussolini.
“The singing troops who took Bardia carried an immediate threat that the hermit of Berchtesgaden would have done well to listen to. Their song was meant for his ears.”
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Bibliographic details
Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20452, 13 January 1941, Page 5
Word Count
266SINGING TROOPS Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20452, 13 January 1941, Page 5
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