MacArthur going to Curtin funeral
Australian Premier dies in sleep
John Curtin, led in war on Japs
CANBERRA, Australia (UP) – Gen. Douglas MacArthur was hurrying here today for the special state funeral to be held tomorrow for Australian Premier John Curtin.
Mr. Curtin died from heart disease at 4 a.m. today at Canberra Lodge, his official residence. He died in his sleep.
Gen. MacArthur immediately sent the Duke of Gloucester word he would speed here by plane from the South Pacific battle areas. The Duke, in a message to Mr. Curtin’s widow, called his death “a shattering blow to Australia.”
In Manila, Gen. MacArthur issued the following statement:
He was one of the greatest of wartime statesmen, and the preservation of Australia from invasion will be his immemorial monument. I mourn him deeply.
After the service here, Mr. Curtin’s body will be flown 2,000 miles across Australia to be buried at the little Karrakatta Cemetery, at Claremont, in West Australia, from where he first went to Parliament in 1928. He was 60 years old when he died.
Acting Prime Minister Francis M. Forde will continue to run the government until the Labor Party elects a new leader.
All flags flew at half-staff today throughout the Commonwealth for the policeman’s son who led Australia through her darkest days. He became premier three months before the Pacific war began.