Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1940. BRITAIN’S CONFIDENCE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 61, Issue 38, 25 November 1940, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1940. BRITAIN’S CONFIDENCE.

Two men who speak with authority have warned the people of Britain that the danger of invasion continues. Only by unceasing vigilance can the danger be guarded against. Those who have been inclined to doubt whether Hitler wpuld ever tempt fortune by launching an invasion on the cold grey waters of North Sea and Channel should reflect on his present position. He cannot halt now. He must advance or lose all the gains he has made. Impressive as his conquests are, he remains a .prisoner in Europe while Britain is still not reduced. It would not avail him in the end if, like Napoleon before him, he turned away from the Channel and with his mighty land forces sought to compel fortune in the east. However long the odds, Hitler probably realises he must stake everything on an invasion of Britain. If he sits still, he will assuredly lose in the end. He is compelled to make the colossal gamble. It must be made soon, moreover, because every day British defences grow stronger. Britain has much in her favour. Apart from the deadly hazard of entrusting his forces to seas which his enemy completely commands, Hitler’s vaunted Luftwaffe has signally failed to curb the Royal Air Force. In spite of all he has done, it has not been downed. If surface craft of the Royal Navy could not operate in the Skagerrak against bombers based on either shore, what chance of life is there for long troop convoys of merchant ships and frail barges? If the fighting squadrons of the Luftwaffe continue to suffer heavy losses at the hands of the Royal Air Force, what chance is there of unarmoured troop and supply transports living in the air, let alone landing among an alert nation in arms and establishing aerodromes and other footholds? But while all these factors hearten the people of Britain, they do not blind them to the necessity for ensuring that no slackening of effort or of vigilance gives Hitler the chance of which he will take desperate advantage. The troops guarding their shores and the workers producing munitions and implements of war are doing their part faithfully. While not blind to the possibility of danger Britain awaits the future with quiet but 1 firm confidence.