NEW ZEALAND DAY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24837, 10 February 1942, Page 4

NEW ZEALAND DAY

CELEBRATION IN LONDON LONDON, Feb. 8. Members of the New Zealand Society and friends gathered in the.4oo- - Vintners’ Hall in the City of London to,celebrate New Zealand Day. They were the guests of the Worshipful Company of Girdlers and the Worshipful Company of Vintners, who entertained them at tea after a service at St. James’s.' The Vintners Company displayed pieces of valuable gold and silver plate and showed the guests the famous oak-panelled room, which survived the Great Fire of 1666. The Girdlers’ master paid a tribute to New Zeoland’s war effort. He said; “We are profoundly grateful for the way in which New Zealand rallied to England in her hour of direst need. We have followed with pride and interest all you# have done, and have been thrilled by the exploits of your gallant soldiers fighting alongside ours in Libya, and also by the deeds of your airmen and sailors.” ,

The New Zealand High Commissioner. Mr W. J* Jordan, who was recently elected a Worshipful Girdler, thanked the companies for their hospitality. He pointed but that New Zealand was as much a part of the Empire as England. He added that the Dominion was facing up to the Japanese threat calmly. “ Britain,” he said, “is within gunfire range of the Germans, who are 21 miles away. She is carrying oh her everyday life normally. New Zealanders are not going to hide in a hollow log because the Japanese are 3000 miles away.”