NEW ZEALAND DIVISION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LV, Issue 16895, 6 July 1918, Page 7

NEW ZEALAND DIVISION.

MINISTERIAL VISITORS.

MESSAGE FROM DOMINION. '• DETERMINED TO "CARRY ON." i N.Z. War Correspondent's Cable. July 1. '• j Mr. W. F. Massey and Sir Joseph Ward ! - ! arrived at the headquarters of the New ij Zealand Division on the western front ; . i on Saturday evening. They lost no time e ' in getting in touch with the men of the - division for after their long journey by 0 train and ear they attended a perform--1 anco given in the late afternoon by the J Divisional Theatricals. The scene was a I memorable one. The stage was set in a ■ natural amphitheatre in beautiful woods, and in the interval of the performance, when the music of the members of the company had ceased and th re was to bo heard only the songs of birds and the booming of guns, tho great crowd of soldiers listened to the message that these I ambassadors had brought to their soldiers . ! from the furthermost part of the Empire. For the moment this wood in France heI came a little bit of New Zealand, and the spirit of democracy invaded a portion of republican France that not so far back , I in history had been part of a ducal | demesne. This friendly spirit of demo- ' j craey was evidenced in tho good-natured ' j interjections with which the speeches were 1 j punctuated, and in the calls of " Bill" and ' " Joe" that arose from the soldiers of the ! J audience. An English visitor was struck ! | with the heartiness and informality of the 1 proceedings, and the interest taken in the visit, while the excellence of the performance surprised the visitors. To bo Properly Eoinforced. In a speech during the interval Mr. Massey said he would be very pleased to listen to any grievances the men bad. He was intensely proud of the splendid record ! the division had put up, and he could tell i them that the people of New Zealand | ! would not go hack upon their soldiers, j ; but would stand by them and see that i , they were properly reinforced. After the | war was over, he felt that New Zealand i , would he proud, not only of what had I been done by her soldiers, but also of what had been done for her soldiers. Sir Joseph Ward expressed great pleasure at seeing so many New Zealanders under such strange circumstances. Even j > in New Zealand he had not seen so large, j a gathering of New Zealanders for a long j I time. The scene made one realise to what a great extent New Zealand had i helped, and he felt sure, they would continue in this determined spirit until the , gnat victory had been won. There had been some criticism about Ministers tak- j ing a trip round the world, but he as- ! j stired them that, the trip was undertaken ' j purely in the interests of tho Empire. If they had not undertaken the journey NewZealand would have been entirely unrepresented at most important conferences j in the crisis of the Empire's history. ■ At the conclusion of the addresses both speakers were heartily applauded. ; The Ministerial Party were early astir. on Sunday to attend the. church parade of one of the infantry battalions. Tho ■ scene was an impressive one. The troops, paraded in the open, with' a great expaise of sunlit rolling downs and woods around.

Optimist Feeling in England. Addressing the tv-ops Mr. Masscy said that Sir Joseph Ward and himself had come on a very important mission. They were representing New Zealand in conferences in which previously the Dominions had no say. It brought home to one what New Zealand was really doing, when he wa3 able to see such a large number of men on parade at the front. He was especially pleased to see present member.', of an Auckland regiment, many of whom had come from his own district, and with whom ho was personally acquainted. He could assure them that New Zealand wanted her men back, but she was determined to keep the division properly maintained and reinforced until a satisfactory victory was attained. New Zealand's effort in the war was, proportionately, second only to that of England herself, He was glad to be able to tell them that the feeling in England was even more optimistic than it was a few weeks ago, and that if wc held our own during the next few months we could look forward to a satisfactory ending to the war. He wished to tell them that New Zealand would stand by her returned soldiers. .Meantime, her message was "Carry on." As to the future, he said emphatically that Germany should never again be allowed to get the footing she hid before in the British Empire. The German must go, and keep out. Sir Joseph Ward said they were fully determined that they would never yield to the enemy, and so far as our troops were concerned they might rest assured that nothing would be left undone by America and our other allies to enable them to win out. On their return to New Zealand the Ministers would be able to convey to the people some, idea of the fine appearance of the men in the field, and what splendid work they had dene in stopping the gap in the line during the recent German advance. All in New Zealand would like to see them back in their own country, but not until an end had been made of Prussian militarism. Visits were made to the machine-gun battalion, the Maori battalion, and the Engineers, Brief speeches were made in each case, and the Maoris returned the compliment with their war dance. )

No Weakening in Crisis. Monday was a very busy day, the Minister!' travelling in motors nv«r miles of dusty roads and through small French village in order tc see as many units of the division as possible. At the end of a long and tiring day they had personal , interviews with many officers and men, who came to headquarters for this purpose. j The dav began with an inspection of J part of the Bide Brigade, which was on : parade on the edge of a picturesque wood ' flanked by field? i f wheat and rye. The 1 Prime Mimstcr recalled the historic i parallel of troops hivo-acking in the rye fields of Waterloo, and expressed the hope that nn this occasion also victory would | rest with our troops and their allies. He I said the appearance of the troops spoke j well for llie quality of the army rations : and the ability of the men to enjoy them. ! He congratulated the brigade on its reI cord, than which none was better. We I were at a crisis in the war, the length of which would depend largely upon whether we were able to hold the Germans in the coming offensive. He felt sure that if the enemy failed to break , through he would come to the conclusion | Hint it was no 1150 ing on. This was ! not the time for ,inv weakening on our j side. Sir Joseph Ward said that among I the divisions in the British Army there were some that were known as superdivisions and li<? was told by a high authority that among these was included the New Zealand Division. .All spoke well of the New Zealand soldiers, and what thev had done in the war would undoubtedly stand out prominently in the history of their country. In the coming clash the world would be looking on with bated breath, and he was pleased to sav that those responsible regarded the situation with a considerable degree of confidence.

Subsequently the Ministers had the opnortunitv of seeing the troops carry out a tactical exercise in open country. They also witnessed the work of contact aeroplanes. The afternoon was spent in visiting a field ambulance, the divisional train and the entrenching group.