1,000 Volunteers Wanted
p. 11 · Read in the full issue
Call To Indians
Of Fiji
The following Australian Associated Press message from Suva was pub lished in Australia early in May:— “The Government of Fiji requires at least f ,000 Indians in addition to the many thousands of Fijian volunteers who are already serving as soldiers or civilian labourers.
“If the thousand Indians are not re cruited by June 1 compulsory national service of Indians will be enforced.
“Indian residents of Fiji have presented the Governor with a cheque for £5,500 for a fighter plane. The Indians also propose to present an ambulance costing up to £1,000."
Editorial Note
There are, in Fiji, about 105,000 Fijians and about 100,000 Indians. The Fijians, who are natural warriors, have volunteered in thousands, and already they have sup plied a number of fighting and labour units. While many Indians have joined up, the numbers who have shown eager ness to serve are not to be compared with those of the Fijians.
The new announcement, characteristic of the strong, firm hand of Sir Philip Mitchell, puts the issue up squarely to the Fiji Indians. Help in the defence of Fiji against the natural enemy of all free peoples in the Pacific—or else!
The shrewd gentlemen who lead the Indian community in Fiji mav be de pended upon to provide that battalion pretty quickly. Indians would be fools, indeed, to place in jeopardy the rights and privileges they enjoy in that rich Crown Colony.
Langley Borlase Brown, four-year-old son of Corporal and Mrs. A. R. Brown. died in Newcastle, NSW, on April 6, after a short illness. His parents were well known in Papua, where Corporal Brown was on the Samarai and Port Moresby staffs of Burns Philp & Co. for eight years. He is now serving with the RAAF.