SPIRIT OF BRITAIN

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXV, Issue 136, 10 May 1945, Page 5

SPIRIT OF BRITAIN

"ALL WORLD WONDERED"

UNDAUNTED WHEN ALONE (N.Z. "Press Association. —Copyright.) (lice. 10.15 a.m.) LONDON. May 9. When Mr Churchill made his second appearance on the Ministry of Health balcony he gave the V sign and, after conducting the singing of "Land of Hope and' Glory", he said:— "We were the first in this ancient island to draw the sword against tyranny. After a while wc were left all alone against the • most tremendous military power ever seen. For a whole year we stood alone. Did anybody want to give in?" The crowd roared back a terrific "No!" Mr/Churchill continued: "Were we downhearted P" And back came the answer, "No!" The Prime Minister" went on: "The lights went out and the bombs came down, but every man, woman and child in this country had no thought of quitting the struggle. London can take it! Wc came back after long months from the jaws of death and from the mouth of hell, while all the world wondered. "When shall the reputation and faith of this generation of Englishmen and women fail ? I say that in the long years to come not only the people of this island but also of the world, wherever the bird of freedom chirps in human hearts, will look back on what we have done and say: 'Don't despair. Don't yield to violence and tyranny. March ' straight forward and die, if need be —unconquered.' "

Referring to the Japanese war, Mr Churchill said: "There is another foe who occupies large portions of the British Empire— a foe stained with cruelty and greed—the Japanese." When the crowd booed. Mr Churchill commented: "They would give us more than that."

"Our great "Russian allies are also celebrating victory," he added, "and after that we must begin the task of rebuilding our hearths and homes, doing our utmost to.make Britain a land in which all will have a chance.

JAPAN'S TREACHERY. "Wc must turn ourselves to fulfil oui duty to our gallant allies of the United States whom Japan so foully and treacherously attacked. Wc will go hand in hand, with them. We will not bo the ones who fail even if it is a hard struggle. God bless you al'l!"

The police estimated- the crowd in Whitehall when Mr Churchill made his impromptu speech at about 50,000. On tuis basis the crowds in the West End' in the evening must have ecu many hundreds of thousands. The police in the afternoon stopped traffic on all roads converging on Trafalgar Square whicir was then and all evening a solid mass of people. Pigeons, which were unable to find a landing grounds, wheeled overhead, bewildered by the noise of rattles and fireworks.. Young people crushed together and danced inch by inch around the fountains* People crawled over the lions at the foot of Nelson's Column while other shinned up flagstaff's. Overhead bombers swooped and dipped and made the onlookers hold their breath for fear of collision with Nelson's Column. The manager of a Knightsbridge firm said: "Half of our cars have been pushed 'over or turned upside down and the remaining drivers refuse to go out." Another firm reported many cases of damage owing to the hilarity.

London at night pave itself nn to mi rest rained jollity and merrymaking. •Crowds conversed by Ims. tubes and on foot on the heart of the city until this was literally Mocked and areas far from Piccadilly had to take and satisfy the overflow. For instance. Fleet'Street late at night was crowded. Merrymakers who had no chance of getting to Buckingham Palace or any other local point of the celebrations were packed tight around the Victoria Memorial, and down the Mall the happy crowds made a living picture in which the predominant colours were Service uniforms-.

The "crowd everywhere became merrier as midnight approached. Effigies of Hitler and other Nazis were burnt on bonfires. Processions were held with improvised bands and banners. One was headed by a man dressed -as a clown and carrying an enormous scarlet umbrella on which was the word "Victory". There were tired children everywhere, and many slept in each other's arms. CLEANING LONDON'S FACE. Today hundreds of tired revellers who had danced and sung "through the streets all night long are going home by the first trains. Several hundreds slept undo/ the trees in Hyde Park, and the great clean-up of the city began this morning. Fleet Street still had a white carpet of ticker paper streamers festooned from the_ newspaper offices. Sweepers in Parliament Square collected the rubbish and started a bonfire elsewhere. The streets were rapidly cleaned up and took on a normal appearance, although the buildings are still profusely decorated with Hags. A Court Circular contains the fololwing paragraph: "The King and Queen were afforded the greatest pleasure by the loyal greetings of the vast concourse of people assembled outside Buckingham Palace today to celebrate the successful termination of hostilities in Europe." Queen Mary is travelling to London from Badminton (Gloucestershire), where she lias lived throughout the war, to attend a thanksgiving service in St. Paul's on Sunday with the King and Queen. The principal service yesterday was at St. Paul's at midday when the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress attended. People wdio had worked in the capital for 60 months to help to bring victory knelt with them, side by side, offering up prayers of thankfulnesscivil > defence workers who fought to save London during the nlitji, workers who staffed the canteens, bus conductresses and drivers who. carried on night after night during the raids, air men who fought the enemy planes in the skies over London, and servicemen and .women from all the Allies. The Archbishop of Canterbury in a VE-Dav service at St. Paul's Church, Bedford, said : "In this great hour we shall not forget that the war against Japan is still to be carried to a conclusion, that,our men arc still fighting, suffering and dying. Nor shall we forget all those who have given their lives, their health, their limbs to win the victory already achieved.

"The stark evidence of the concentration camps shocked us into a fresh knowledge of the dark' and dreadful horror that confronted us. We have seen unclean things in the human heart.

"Unity, discipline, hard endeavour and high dedication must be won from all of us if we are to reap the fruits of victory. For us and the liberators of Europe who are still enduring great hardships there has dawned a new day."