Second And Third Echelons

Northern Advocate, 29 April 1940, Page 4

Second And Third Echelons

DURING the week-end the people of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch were given an opportunity to demonstrate their goodwill to the members of the Second Echelon who have been training in readiness for departure overseas, where their comrades of the First Echelon are earning the highest praise of the Allied commanders. New Zealand troops have not yet been engaged in actual fighting, and it is hard to guess just when and where the ,call will be made upon them, but it is sate to say that when the time does come, they will prove worthy of the great traditions of their illustrious predecessors of a quarter of a century ago. •, ~ '., , „ . The members of the Second Echelon, and those who are to comprise the Third Echelon, are worthy of the applause of the people of New Zealand, for they are setting out on a task the seriousness of which has already been proved on the sea, m the air and on the land. They know that a life and death struggle is being waged, and that the utmost determination and prepara-. tion are required if the forces of aggression are to be effectively, destroyed. . * , . , ~ It is this realisation of the nature of the. task that awaits them which, we are convinced, will rouse the martial instincts of New Zealanders who may have imagined that there was really no need for their participation in the struggle. • That the spirit of young New Zealand is alive and lusty was shown at a football match at Christchurch on Saturday, when non-coms of the Third Echelon marched on to the ground, upon which an inter-troop match was to be played. Gaps were left in the ranks and an invitation extended to young men to hop over the fence and fill the gaps. No less, than twenty-two accepted the invitation. That is surely indicative of the response Which will be made by young New Zealanders to the right kind of appeal. 1