REVIEW OF WAR

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 60, Issue 33, 18 November 1939, Page 5

REVIEW OF WAR

OPERATIONS IN NAVAL SPHERE, SUCCESS OF CONVOY SYSTEM. STAND AGAINST AGGRESSION. LONDON, November 16. Referring to the breakdown' iir the Finnish-Soviet negotiations - which ho described as a less satisfactory incident, Sir John Simon, in his review of the progress of the war, said it had, however, been emphasised in official circles in Finland that it did not represent a. final rupture between the two countries, and that the negotiations might he resumed at a later stage. Sir John Simon continued-: “Fresh evidence of the close* and friendly collaboration between ourselves and our Allies is afforded by the official visit which the Polish Prime Minister (General Sikorski) and the Foreign Minister (M. Zaleski) are now paying to this, country. We have been very happy to welcome General .Sikorski and renew our contacts with M. Zaleski, -and- discuss with them the measures being undertaken to enable detachments of all the Polish armed forces to join in the Allied war effort against Germany. ’ Polish Naval Assistance.

“A detachment of the Polish Navy is • already giving valuable service in co-operation with the Royal Navy, and wo hope that it will be possible to talco early steps, in consultation wiffi the French Government, to.organise a selfcontained Polish military force for service in France Such forces will, in addition to their intrinsic , military value, be symbolic of the right to independent national existence .which it is the purpose of the struggle to vindicate on behalf of the gallant Polish people.”

Sir John Simon referred .with pleasure to the discussions he had had with the French Finance Minister (M. Reynaud) and he recalled the official statement on them issued yesterday. Dealing with the discussions with the representatives of the Dominions and Indian Governments he said that the progress already made was most encouraging and had shown the great value of direct and personal contact. It had been possible to gain a fuller knowledge of how the assistance which “ the Elmpire overseas offered in such generous measure, might best he Utilised for the furtherance of the common cause. The Chancellor referred to the visit of the overseas representatives to the front in Franco and to Paris, where they had discussions with M. Daladier and Marshal Gamelin. Faster Convoys. ,- ; v. Turning, to the. theatres of war Sir John Simon said that thero had been no major operations during the last fortnight. “At sea our watch and ward continues. The Minister for Shipping (Sir John Gilmour) informed the House two days ago that discussions had already taken place between him,and.the First Lord of the Admiralty (Mr Winston Churchill) with a view to speeding up the convoy system. Faster convoys will ho instituted and as more escorting vessels become available the number of convoys will bo increased. “Since the beginning of the war -British destroyer# have steamed hundreds of thousands of miles with the loss of only one. The merchant ships of Germany 'have remained for the .mqst_.par-t.-Jn their own or. neutral ports, and of those which left harbour the . great proportion were, either captured or scuttled. Four enemy ships were taken last week and two large vessels were scuttled on November 12 and. November 13. '' 7 ,

‘ “British .merchantmen! . have continued to ‘ move in great numbers across the seas. All possible, is being done to protect the British mercantile marine in accordance with, the provisioifs of international law. Many of these ships have been, armed, and recent experience has shown that if attacked they will acquit themselves with the skill and .courage necessary for an 1 effective-and successful defence.

“On land operations have ,been curtailed by , bad weather. Four enemy aeroplanes dropped bombs on the Shetlands on November 13. They were heavily engaged by the anti-air-craft forces. The bombs, 12 of which fell on the land and eight in the sea, caused no casualties and the damage was negligible.’’ . v The Leader of the Opposition (Mr C. R. Attlee) said that all. members regreted that the peace efforts of the two monarchs of tho Low Countries had been so summarily rejected by Germany 7 , and they joined in the hope that those peaceful peoples would not be drawn into the war. Liberals Approve Reply. The Leader of the Liberal Party (Sir Archibald Sinclair) said that Britain had delivered to the Dutch and Belgian initiative a. reply which seemed to him and his Liberal friends to bo admirable. “No one dares to suggest that the aggressor should be left with the spoils of aggressor or that we should make peace before the countries which have been the victims of Nazi aggression are liberated,” ho declared.

“Some people have suggested that if ’only we would negotiate now with Herr Hitler we could achieve that purpose without going on with, the war. Britain and France have answered that they do not want to continue tlje war a day longer than is necessary to achieve their object, They have welcomed Queen Wilhelmina’s initiative. Herr Hitler refused even to answer the Queen’s original letter. “It now is abundantly clear to tho whole world that Herr Hitler is continuing this war for no other reason than to fasten the Nazi yolk firmly on the Czechs and Poles, and the sole responsibility for refusing negotiations rests on him.”