“N.Z. MUST BE STRONG OR GO UNDER,” SAYS KIPPENBERGER

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 22890, 9 March 1949, Page 3

“N.Z. MUST BE STRONG OR GO UNDER,” SAYS KIPPENBERGER

WELLINGTON, March 9. “Having regard to our small population and the tremendous pressures of increasing population all over the world, we cannot expect long to be left in exclusive occupation of these favoured loaids without help and self-help,” states Major-General Sir Howard Kippenberger, Dominion president of the New Zealand R.S.A., in an article “Where is New Zealand To Be Defended.”

¥ Sir Howard quotes the historian, Mr. A. Toynbee, who speaks of the “outlying and precarious footholds of the western world in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.” Threat Behind Communism.

“Mr. Savage saw this, and said as much in 1938. This threat lies behind the grim immediate menace of communism; the two may merge.

"It may be a good thing to continue doing nothing, as at present, and trust in the mercy of God to a people too selfish and lazy to help themselves. We can say, truly, that New Zealand cannot alone defend herself, nor can Australia. “This was proved a few years ago, so perhaps we had better leave it to others, or deny that there is any danger and get on with our amusements and the rapid erosion of our land. Or we can pull ourselves together and act as a crown-up nation. ' “We can do everything within our power to strengthen and maintain the British Commonwealth, something that our present Prime Minister has never forgotten. Where do we stand if Britain falls? ‘We can look to the United States for protection and strengthen every link with that great and generous country. Let it not be forgotten, however. that there is still such a sentiment as isolationism, and that all F,urope was overrun nearly two years before the United States was jolted into war by Pearl Harbour. Kelp Might Come Too Late “In this contracting world we might Ibe one of the peoples overrun before | the American people, themselves engaged in a life and death struggle, can spare help for those who would not nelp themselves And what importance are we to the United States? “Our fate in a third world war will be decided overseas. That is surely clear. In the First World War it was decided in France and there, with the Australians and Canadians, we played a real and significant part. Thanks to the Royal Navy, the French, the Hussions and the British Regular Army, we had time. “In the , W o almost entirely separate struggles which are described as the Second World War, we again were given time in the West—thanks to the Roval Navy and the Royal Air Force. Victory against Germany was gained in the air over all Europe, in the Atlantic in Russia, in Normandy and in Italy Our sailors and airmen played their parts nobly in every theatre and our veteran and exceptionally powerful div’Von took not less than its full share in Italy.

Defeat B fore Victory,

“But before the years of victory there had been the years of defeat and endurance and the long swaving struggle to hold the vital Middle East. It can be flat.lv said that without the troops of Australia, South Africa and New Zealand this could not have been done. In 1942 it would probably have been lost without the 2nd New Zealand Division “In the Baltic of Britain and in the Middle East it was decided that the war with Germany need not be lost There, for the second time, we played a vital part and there New Zealand was defended. It is very nossible that the approaches to Australia and New Zealand may have again to be held in that ancient battleground . “In the war with Japan we were saved by the three months’ resistance of the ill-equipped imperial forces at Singapore, by General MacArthur’s Americans and Filipinos, by the American Navy and the Marines in the Solomons. Time was gained for us to look to our defences which, thanks to the American Navy and the Marines of Guadalcanal, were never tested, and time was gained for the great American counter-offensive to gather weight. Saved By Sacrifices. “One lesson of these events seems to be that we were saved by the sacri flees made to gain time, by the lives of men ill-eciuipped for war cheerfully laid down It is not likely (o be gained bv any such sacrifice again. So what can we do and must do if we deserve to survive seems clear.

"We must build up our population and our armed services. Then in this terrible century we can take our share as a partner in the British Commonwealth, wherein lies our future, and we will he an ally of value to the United States and not an unwelcome liability.

“We must have forces, not necessarily large, a strong division or thereabouts, of such quality and readiness that they can be applied early at the critical point. The Middle East was saved by four or five divisions, the Japanese were checked at Guadalcanal by one. There our fate was decided, not by New Zealand soldiers, but by Americans. Why should they be expected to do it again?

“If anyone imagines that such a force can be produced, by New Zealand's population, by anything but a system of compulsory service, it will be surprising, and he will be mistaken.”