GENERAL FREYBERG

Grey River Argus, 23 June 1943, Page 3

GENERAL FREYBERG

WELCOME AT CAPITAL Tribute to N.Z. Division P.A. WELLINGTON, June 22., General Freyberg looking very lit, was greeted with a burst of cheering as he stepped off the train in Wellington this moining, with the Prime Minister, the Minister of Finance, arid the Chief of the General Staff, General Puttick. Some time before the Auckland express arrived,- a large crowd had gathered, in itself a measure of th* esteem in which he is held. Besides members of the Ministry and the War Cabinet, there were present the Chief of the Naval Staff. Sir Atwell Lake, the Chief of the Air Staff, Commodore Goddard, senior military staff officers, British and Dominion representatives, and representatives of the various Government services.

Rain was falling heavily, but there were renewed bursts of cheering while he inspected the guard of honour’ from a heavy regiment stationed in the Wellington area. He was afterwards introduced by Mr Fraser to the official party, and after exchanging a few - words with old friends, stepped into the Vice-Regal car in company with Major Holland Martin, aide-de-camp to His Excellency, and Captain White, his own aide, and left, amid cheers, for Government House. A very brief sitting of the House was held this morning, when members met at 10.30 a.m. The Minister of Supply U.Hon. D. G. iSullivan), said that arrangements had been made for members to attend the civic reception to be tendered to General Freyberg at 12.15, and as a result, it was proposed to adjourn the House j after the conclusion of the formal business until 2.30.

Mr Holland stated the Opposition fully concurred, and he thought it only fitting that members should be given the opportunity of doing honour to the leader of the New Zealand Division.

The House adjourned at 10.37 until 2.30 p.m. The weather cleared towards noon, when, after a private ceremony at the Town Hall, General Freyberg drove to the Majestic Theatre for the civic reception. A great crowd had assembled outside the Town Hall, and along the route. At the civic reception speeches were given by Mr Fraser, Mr Holland and Mr Perry. Mr Fraser said that the war up to the present had cost New Zealand £230,000,000 but he said the people were backing up the soldiers’ efforts to the full, and everybody was determined to maintain that effort, and in particular to contribute all of the £35,000,000 required for the Third Liberty Loan.

Mr T. C. Hislop, the Mayor, in a tribute to General Freyberg and the New Zealand Division, said: “To all those of the Division to-day we send our message of thanks and pride in their achievements. Truly can it be said that no man in days to come, whatever he may do or be, can have no prouder memory than to be able to say I served in Freyberg’s New Zealand Division.”

'The Prime Minister, Mr Fraser, disclosed that|, ’when he was first commissioned by the New Zealand Government to search the British Army for some competent and efficient leader to whom could be entrusted the destinies and lives of New Zealand’s sons, he obtained the very best and highest opinions from military experts in Britain. Mr Churchill, who was then First Lord of the Admiralty, and who was now the greatest Prime Minister in the Empire’s history, had told him that he had intended, during the first week he was in London, coming to him to ask him to plead with him if necessary—to appoint General Freybe’.g to the command. They knew from Mr Churchill’s address to the New Zealand Division at Tripoli, that he regarded their performances as unsurpassed, and that no comcander in the British Army was held in higher esteem by Mr Churchill. Mr S. G. Holland said that no greater tribute could be paid to any man than to place in his care and under his command the very flower of New Zealand’s young manhood. They did that with faith, with pride and' with supreme confidence. Hon. W. Perry, on behalf of the returned soldiers, said that the Second N.Z.E.F., as those at home had confidently expected, had fully lived up to, and even transcended, the deeds of the Anzacs.

General Freyberg, in reply, said that when the Division was going across to meet, the flower of the German Army in Greece, they had at the back of their minds the thought that the men of the first N.Z.E.F. had beaten the Germans on every battlefield. That thought was a constant source of comfort to them. Mr Perry had said that they may have transcended the deeds of the first N.Z.E.F. He (General Freyberg) denied that.

General Freyberg, who received a tremendous welcome, reviewed the exploits of the New Zealand Division, and repeated his tribute to Australian and British troops alongside, or with whom’ the New Zealand Division had fought. “We have come to the end of a very remarkable campaign. The importance of this campaign is evident to the enemy, although it may not be quite so evident to you. The British Army has at last come into its own. We have been able to dispel finally the myth of German superiority. We have proved that British stock and the British fighting man is morg than a match for the Germans, that our equipment is better, and we have even shown that we possess one or two Generals of some merit.

After referring to the German Army “chucking their hand in,” in Tunisia, he said: “This makes us think of 1918, and I think it is a good leader of what may happen in the near future.”

Referring to the exploits of the New Zealand Division he said: "I believe that when the history of this period is written, if your decision was not.to fight again, it would be referred to *in a hundred years’ time, in much the same way as they referred to Crawford’s Light Division in the Peninsula War.” When the historian came to do his part after the Axis, including J'apan, was defeated, the achievements of the Second N.Z.E.F, would bear any examination. The fighting in the last three and a-half years could bo divided into two sections. The first period, with inferior numbers and equipment against tremendous odds, and the second a short period of only ten months, when the British army came into its own. The equipment turned up and they showed conclusively they could not only take it, but they could give it. During this period, the wonderful/ quatitJe,s of New Zealanders shone at their brightest.

The Division went into the battle of El Alamein, weak in numbers, in technical personnel, and with sick going away every day, yet the Division was able to keep on right through ten months of fast-moving battle. It was realised early that Jong distance could not be covered by troops marching on foot, therefore an extremely mobile, hard-hit-ting force was evolved, for making

surprise appearances on the battlefield behind the enemy lines. The New Zealanders were given that role, often coming from 500 miles behind their own lines, filling up with petrol and/ water, going round the enemy’s flank, .and giving the Afrika Corps a jolly good thrashing. At those times, one learned to appreciate to the full the New Zealand private soldier. “I often wondered what they thought of me when I- led them, into difficult aiild dangerous operations, but whenever I discussed such an operation with one of my senior commanders we were always comforted by the reflection that the operation was not so hazardous as Sidi Rezegh during the approach to relieve Tobruk.

“The battle of El Alamein was on October 23,” said General Freyberg. “Until Christmas Day the men were living on brackish water. Their two quarts a day would not lather soap and ruined tea, but you never heard a grumble. "I have in my mind a very clear vision of the division,” continued the General. “This particular operation was to effect a surprise. We crawled forward, 6,000 vehicles strong, over 500 miles, and waited to pounce on the enemy when he least expected us. The men were hoping everything, enduring everything, always cheerful, never grumblifig, always turning up at the right time, never getting lost, and always using the greatest common sense. I do not think any commander ever had a better lot of men.” Genera 1 Freyberg said that the men never grumbled, but were always ready to “give it .a go.” They had great success, and not of the hit and miss variety. The battle which turned the Mareth Line was planned two months before the line was broken. After Generals Messe and Lichtenstein were captured they were asked why they failed, and replied: “We misjudged the position, and did not realise your forces could move so fast.” Praise of the New Zealanders must not obscure the fine performances of the British, Australian, South African, Indian and Highland forces. Referring to the Royal Navy’s work, in Greece and Crete, General Freyberg said 'this surpassed anything in naval annals. A.WARNING NOTE. A note of warning as to the future was struck by General Freyberg. “There is a spirit of optimism abroad,” he said. "Let us hope it is justified. I think it is; but I do not want people to run away with the idea that the end of the war is in sight. It is not. Ahead lies a very difficult time. Before the German military machine is smashed very hard and tough fighting lies ahead, and that will be only a prelude to the work to be done in the Pacific. We have to look forward to times of great difficulty and stress; but speaking as a military man, now we have the equipment in the air ana on the ground, we can look forward with confidence to meeting Axis and Japanese troops on even terms. That is all we ask.” A special tribute to the officers who had served him was paid. He said he did not think that any commander had been better served, and added that he was glad to be able to express his admiration and gratitude to two of his former commanders, Lieutenant-General H. E. Puttick and Major-General H. E. Barrowdough. . , . , . New Zealand owed special debts ito Brigadier Kenneth MacCormick and Brigadier H. S. Kenrick, lor tneir service to the sick and wounded, and the late Brigadier Jhh n Gray, Cnlonel J. N. Peart and Colonel J. 'M. Allen. The General also thanked officers of the Staff Corps.

SYDNEY PRESS TRIBUTE. SYDNEY, June 22. A high tribute to General Freyberg and to his brilliant leaders p of the New Zealand Division in- the Middle East is paid by the Sydney “Morning Herald” editorially to-day- “ The A.I.F. acquired first-hand knowledge of General Freybergs soldierly qualities and the gaDantry of his troops,” says the paper,. a™ they will agree that in hoa ° ll ‘ him New Zealand is also honouring her Expeditionary F°rce which has served with great distinct or all the major operations in the Mediterranean theatre. The Ne Zealand Division has been described by General Montgomery as equal to any division in the world, and t Eighth Army’s Copunander made ’t evident constantly during the long desert battle out of Egypt, that the New Zealanders’ Commanding Officer was one of his most trusted anc brilliant lieutenants.”