New Honour

For

Sir Lala Sukuna

ONE of the outstanding men of Fiji— and in some degree one of the most remarkable men in the world—Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna, KBE Med. Mil., left Suva in mid-September, to join the Brit ish delegation to the General Assembly of the United Nations, which opened on September 19, in New York. Sir Lala will be an advisor to the Delegation on Colonial Affairs.

Lala Sukuna is a pure-blooded Fijian, 62 years old. He was educated in New Zealand, graduated at Oxford University, and was called to the Bar of the Middle Temple. He volunteered to fight for Britain in World War I—when he was a student in England—but he found his colour an embarrassment in those stiff necked days, so he crossed to France and joined the French Foreign Legion. It is sufficient comment on his service to say that the French awarded him the Medaille Militaire, France’s highest a ward for gallantry in the field. In World War II Sir Lala recruited most of the Fijian members of the famous Fiji Military Forces. He was the first member of his race to become a District Commissioner in Fiji. He has held many important posts, in the Fiji Administration and elsewhere and is at present Secretary for Fijian Affairs. His work for the Fijian race—especially in the protection of their land rights—will never be for gotten.