New Zealand Listener – August 10, 2019

AUGUST 10 2019 LISTENER

creature. It was all a Daventry
instruction, and it was a voice
14,000 miles across the sea,
intended for little London-
ers. It was a voice grave and
kind, but – for I myself heard
it – it was a voice that broke,
suddenly, on the last word. For
me, all that had been said was
nothing besides that welling
of emotion that could not,
suddenly and at the end, be
controlled. And it had sent
a tiny girl in far-away New
Zealand stumbling up the road
to school with the same sob
caught in her throat.
 Anne Slade

WAR COMES TO THE MAN IN THE
STREET, SEPTEMBER 15, 1939
The alien, the refugee, what
did he think about it all? He
told us in his queer English
that Germany was still his
country. That he remembered
Germany’s hills and forests,
her Rhenish wines and Bavar-
ian beers, as well as any exiled
New Zealander would remem-
ber New Zealand’s lakes and
tumbling rivers – the wheat
growing golden in Canterbury
fields, or the grass growing
green for lazy cows. But he said
slowly and deliberately, like a
man making up his mind to
commit suicide, that he thor-
oughly approved of the war,
and that his toast to England’s
victory was no empty gesture
of expedience.

A JOURNALIST’S VIEW
This war is going to mean
terrible misery of mind for
everyone. But we cannot turn
back. We have no quarrel with
the German people them-
selves; our quarrel with them is
they have allowed themselves
to be driven into this conflict
by their leaders.

THE FIREMAN WAS HEATED
He summed up the situation
for us in four words, two
of which are unprintable.
“It’s a – –,” he said.

TACITURN BARBER

“It’s a bad business, isn’t it?

Everybody is taking it calmly,

don’t they ... aren’t they

... isn’t it ...?” he said. We

understood.

PRINTER AND STOREMAN

“I think there’s a lot of justi-

fication for Germany in her

action against Poland,” he

said. “After all, the country is

divided in two by the Polish

Corridor, and if the people

of Danzig want to be under

German rule, why shouldn’t

they be?” “Them’s my senti-

ments,” he concluded. “Oh,

by the way, don’t print my

name.”

TEN WORDS FROM A TYPISTE

“You don’t think I am thrilled

about it, do you?”

SHORTWAVES

The cable firms have

instructed news papermen here

to stop using the American

“tonite” for “to-night” in

cables to London. The reason:

Tonite is a high explosive –

and censors squeaked.

DEATH OF A HERO, JUNE 21, 1940

New Zealand’s first air ace of

this war, Flying Officer Edgar

Kain, DFC, mentioned in

despatches, has been killed

in an accident while on active

service in France. Since he

Flying Officer Edgar

Kain, DFC (1918-40);

Māori in training,

c1943.

As the costs pile

up, we must

cut down our

indulgences

and pile up our

gifts. A shilling a

week from every

wage-earner

would provide a

Spitfire in a day.

The June 14, 1940, cover relating to

the propaganda battle on the air.

o’clock, some of the officers

were roused by unusual noises

from the men’s quarters,”

he told me. “They got up to

investigate and found the men

drilling each other, smarten-

ing up those who hadn’t long

been in camp so that they

wouldn’t let the Battalion

down during the inspec-

tion. Company by company

the splendid lines go by. It

is impossible to believe that

some of those men have been

training for only about nine

days. But that is true. Now

the Battalion has reformed

and a surprise is in store.

Suddenly, every man starts

singing – a battalion march-

ing song specially written

for the Maoris and suitable

for those melodious voices.

The swinging rhythm, the

vigorous words, the emotional

fought his first air battle on his

21st birthday, November 8, his

career has been meteoric. Mes-

sages expressing deep regret

and sympathy have been

sent from all quarters to Mr

and Mrs RG Kain, the young

aviator’s parents. Mrs Kain left

some weeks ago for England to

visit her son, who was to have

been married this month.

THE LAUNDRY GIRLS,

DECEMBER 20, 1940

Emergency does not cater for

electric washers. Everything is

washed by hand, rinsed and

blued. Here are good house-

wives in the making. The land

girls mean business, too.

CONTRASTS OF WAR,

APRIL 5, 1940

A Member of Parliament

sitting beside me whispers a

story. It illustrates vividly the

keenness of the Maoris. “The

other morning, at about 2

RUS

SEL

L (^) C
LAR
K; (^) A
LAM
Y; (^) G
ETT
Y (^) IM
AG
ES