ATTACK BY HITLER ON ENGLAND NEXT.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 144, 19 June 1940, Page 7

ATTACK BY HITLER ON ENGLAND NEXT.

CHVRCHILL'S VIEW.

Troops Withdrawn To Meet Danger. AIR STRENGTH AT MAXIMUM. United Preue Association.—Copyright. (Received 1 p.m.) LONDON, June 18. The Prime Minister, Mr. Churchill, speaking in the House of Commons, said: "Seven-eighths of the British troops who had gone to France since the outbreak, namely, 350,000 of the 400,000, had safely returned to England. At present there yere over 1,250,000 men under arms in Britain.

Behind these troops, he said, stood Half a million local defence volunteers and the Dominion armies. Apart from the divisions trained and organising in Britain, only twelve divisions had been trained on a scale justifying their being sent abroad. This was the number the French had been led to expect for service in France after nine months of war. Return of the B.E.F. Members of the B.E.F. had been returning in large numbers from France in the last few days. Also they had brought back a great maes of -stores, rifles and munitions, which had been accumulated in the last nine months. "The enemy's bombing forces will very ioon begin their attacks." continued Mr. Churchill, "but our fighter air strength "is at present stronger in relation to Germany's than ever before.

• "The French Government will be throwing away great opportunities and casting away their future if they do not continue the war in accordance with their treaty obligations, from which we felt unable to relieve them.

"The battle for France is over. I expect the battle for England is abou; to begin. Upon it depends the eurvh A of Christian civilisation. Hitler knt /s he must break ue in this island or !• Ae the war. "Colossal Military Blund- " "The colossal military disaster when the French High Command failed to withdraw from north Belgium and when the French front was broken at Sedan and the Meuse, entailed the loss of 15 or 16 French divisions and put out of action for a critical period the whole of the B.E.F. Our Army and 120,000 French troops were rescued from Dunkirk, but only with the loss of all equipment. Tliie lose took eome weeke to

repair and in the first two of those weeks the battle in France had been lost. "When we consider the heroic French resistance against heavy odds, the cnorrnoiw enemy" losses and the evident plie m,V exhaustion it may well be thought that those 25 divisions of the best trained and best equipped troops might have turned the scale. Divisions in France. "General Weygand was compelled to fight without them. Only three British divisions were able to stand in line with the French. They have suffered severely, but have fought well. We sent every man we could to France ae fast ae we could equip and transport them.

"I am not reciting these facts for any purpose of recrimination. I recite them to explain why only three British divisions are fighting in this battle. We must think of the future and not of the past. This applies to affairs at home. Mariy people wish to hold an inquest into the conduct of governments and parliaments during the yeans leading lip to the catastrophe and seek to indict those responsible for guiding affairs. This also would be a foolish, pernicious process."