The Times THURSDAY, AUGUST 7, 1941. Paying a Debt

Manawatu Times, Volume 66, Issue 186, 7 August 1941, Page 6

The Times THURSDAY, AUGUST 7, 1941. Paying a Debt

J.e.ss spectacular but hardly less important than the worn of the Royal Navy is that performed by the men of the merchant service. No great stretch of the imagination is needed to visualise the perils, the responsibilities, the skill of seamanship and the acts of heroism which must be performed every day by the men of the merchant navy in the mighty Battle of the Atlantic where all the devilish cunning and ingenuity of U-boat and bomb-dropihng aircraft are concentrated on the task of cutting the lifeline of Britain’s island fortress. The drama of a convoy’s passage across the Atlantic has never yet been adequately told, but it is a daily epic packed with thrill and daring and sacrifice. And the real heroes of the convoy are the men who man the freighters.

What happens in the Atlantic is repeated on all the seven seas of the world in greater or lesser degree, and New Zealand has cause to know and acknowledge her debt to the seamen. No country in the world is more dependent on seaborne commerce than is this Dominion. The products on which our country’s prosperity depends travel to their markets over the longest and most vulnerable of all the ocean highways, and if any hostile Power were to cut these lifelines our standards of living would crush and we would face ruin, and .probably a measure of starvation.

Almost all the produce we ship crosses the Atlantic, but even before it reaches that troubled sea the men who guide the freighters are called upon to undergo the strain of perpetual vigilance and many unknown dangers. Their performances rank high among the most heroic achievements of this war, and they deserve New Zealand’s gratitude.

An opportunity to express that gratitude in tangible form has been given the people of Palmerston North and district this v\eek in the form of an appeal for funds to provide comforts for the men of the merchant navy. This fund is administered by the Seamen’s Mission, a world-wide organisation of which his Majesty the King is patron and which has earned the confidence of people in all walks of life and the gratitude of the men go down to the sea in ships. That the residents of Palmerston North appreciate the debt they owe to the seamen as shown by the ready respoiase already made, a total of just on £ooo having already been subscribed in donations with more still to come. ’

1 o-day a street collection is to be made when it is hoped that iaot only the townspeople but visitors from the country will give liberally. M e do iaot need to impress on our farmer readers the noble part played by the seamen in conveying their produce from these shores to their markets on the other side of the world. The record of service is a magnificent one, and "e are sure the response to-day will be in keeping with the greatness of the service rendered.

“Marvellous” Men “There was marvellous material in that camp, ’ ’ said the Rev. H. W. Newell, who has been acting as padre in the territorial camp at Fox ton for the past month, in an address to the Wellington Rotary Club yesterday. “In these young men from all parts of the country 1 found high courage, a goodsense of humour and a deep naturalness of spirit. They lost no time in endeavouring to understand one another; in learning to do the hard task and liking to do it, and m submitting to the discipline that was so necessary even when it was unnatural. I am sure ttyat this training will bear fruit in the days to eonlC."' ,

‘‘Lofty” Blomlield to Return Advice has been received in Auckland indicating that Sergeant-Major “Lofty” Blomlield, who holds the New Zealand heavyweight professional wrestling title, and who has been serving in with the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force, is being invalided home. The wrestler suffered front severe varicose veins, and these delayed his departure for overseas for some time. While acting as physical instructor at a training school in Auckland he underwent medical treatment for his legs and was eventually passed lit for overseas. Desert conditions, however, resulted in further complications