Rt. Hon. Michael Joseph Savage broadcasts to N.Z. outbreak of war. 1939-09-05.

Rights Information
Year
1939
Reference
31615
Media type
Audio
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Rights Information
Year
1939
Reference
31615
Media type
Audio
Categories
Nonfiction radio programs
Radio programs
Radio speeches
Sound recordings
Duration
00:07:24
Credits
RNZ Collection
Savage, Michael Joseph (b.1872, d.1940), Speaker/Kaikōrero
New Zealand. National Broadcasting Service (estab. 1936, closed 1946), Broadcaster

A radio address by the Prime Minister Michael Joseph Savage at the outbreak of World War II. Broadcast by the National Broadcasting Service on YA stations, 5 September 1939, 7:00-7:10 p.m.

He is introduced by a male announcer (probably Director of Broadcasting Professor James Shelley), who makes reference to the fact that the Prime Minister has recently been ill.
Mr Savage begins by thanking all who sent kind messages to him during his recent ill health.

He then warns listeners the war may be a long one, demanding a heavy sacrifice, but he believes it is worth the sacrifice.
He describes the 'old culture' of the German people for which he has great admiration, but says the men who have seized power now in Germany are doing incalculable harm to their country and have cowed the spirit of many of their people.
He goes on to outline reasons why the Nazi government must be fought before its philosophy can be spread throughout Europe and the rest of the world.
He ends his address callling on New Zealand to range itself beside Britain: "Where she goes, we go. Where she stands, we stand. We are only a small and young nation, but we are one and all a band of brothers and we march forward with a union of hearts and wills to a common destiny."