WAR SITUATION

Timaru Herald, Volume CLIII, Issue 22489, 26 January 1943, Page 2

WAR SITUATION

Time To Take Stock Review By Sir Cyril Newall “The Maoris have a world wide reputation for their courtesy and for their fighting qualities.” said the Governor-General. Sir Cyril Newall in acknowledging the civic welcome tendered to their Excellencies at Temuka yesterday. “During the last few months a great change has taken place and we have entered uoon a new and very different phase of the war,” Sir Cyril continued. “On all fronts we are now on the offensive, and. after three years of hanging on and stopping gaps, the recent succession of victories is a new experience—an experience which we must meet with balanced minds. It is. therefore, fitting at this time to take stock of the situation and of our own contributions to the war effort, not merely of what we are doing, but of what we are thinking and saying too. Home Front Responsibility “This is a total war and we all have our various parts to play, young and old alike. We who are left in New Zealand are responsible for the home front, and this is a great responsibility. The flower of New Zealand’s youth are risking everything for us overseas, far from their homes. Many of them are your own husbands, fathers, sons and brothers. What would be the effect on them if they had any cause to feel that we, whom they have left behind, were not doing everything in our power to help them. It is therefore essential that the morale and spirit of the home front be maintained at a high level, and, like everything else worth having, they cannot be maintained without conscientious effort on our part. When news is good and the threat of attack on the Dominion recedes, determination is very apt to weaken and. if we are not very careful, to lead us into complacency. “If this happens to us, we will not be prepared to face disappointments as we should, and we can be certain that many disapoointments lie ahead of us. We are all soldiers to-day and we must equip ourselves with the qualities that make the good fighting man. Among these qualities stands high loyalty to those who lead us. When things go well it is easj’ to be loyal. The best comes when things go less well than we had expected, and it is then above all times that our leaders need our full support. We are often tempted then to vent our feelings in criticism which is not based on any real knowledge of the facts. We must therefore keep a close guard on our tongues and not give way to destructive criticism. Discipline Essential “No army can win a war without discipline,” Sir Cyril concluded. “We on the home front must have discipline too. But the discipline we need cannot be imposed upon us by others, it must be self-imposed, and selfdOripline, too. is apt to crumble when things go well, unless we conscientiously maintain it. Let us all therefore determine that good news and bad news alike will serve only to strengthen the spirit of the home front. For only thus can we keep faith with those who are daily risking everything they have for us.”