New Zealand at War

New Zealand Herald, Volume 80, Issue 24775, 24 December 1943, Page 3

New Zealand at War

yU'E'KE from Wellington, from Auckland, from Hawke's Bay, From deep valleys where the Wanganui sings, From the kauri woods where axes thud all day, From the land of smoky vents and scalding springs. We're the furthest-off Dominion! We're the island pioneers— But, in Empire's hour of jeopardy, the King's own cannoneers! We're from Christchurch and the Canterbury Plains, From the wooded vales where blazing rata blows, From the lakelands, green and rich with sweeping rains. From the Southern Alps that smile amid the snows. We're the farmers of wide pastures, where ail English seed is sown — . And our hands are quick to action when the call to arms is blown! We're the dwellers in an oft-forgotten place, Where the country is tho master of the town, Where we've buried all the bitterness of race In a brotherhood which knows no white or brown. So the time of testing finds us with no schism in the heart — But a single people marching to per•form the warrior's part! Tribute by an anonymous writer in Punch, London.