CHURCHILL CONFIDENT
SITUATION IN THE FAR EAST QUESTIONS ANSWERED IN COMMONS DEFENCE OF AERODROMES TO BE DEBATED London, Jan. 20 Mr Churchill was received in the House of Commons with loud cheers by members of all parties when he took his seat to answer questions concerning the situation in the Far East. Mr Churchill said that he shared the anxiety concerning the situation in the Far East but he also felt growing confidence in the eventual : outcome of the struggle. He was } prepared to wind up the debate by making it a question of confidence. Details were given of the scorched j earth policy adopted in Penang and j it was stated that it was carried out i to the utmost of our ability in the short time available. It was also necessary at the same time to conceal from the enemy our intention to abandon the island. All ships had been removed except a few small ones for which in crews could be found. The wireless j station had been completely destroy j ed. Mr Churchill said an opportunity would also be given for the Govern- j ment to debate the defence of aero- j dromes. Mr Churchill was asked if he ; would broadcast in the evening a j repetition of 'important speeches j made by him in the House in the i morning. The Prime Minister re- 1 furred to the great strain which, such a task would impose upon him and ; said that it might be possible to arrange to have the speeches recorded.
Capt. Balfour, Under Secretary of State for Air, in reply to a que - tion concerning the increase in bombing of Germany by the R.A.F., said tb.e policy was to hit Germany as hard and as often a' ’ossible. Lord Trenchard said that no new lessons had been learned either in Greece, Crete or Malaya concerning the defence of air fields.
In Malaya none of our air fields had been captured because of air attack. We had been unable to hold them for the same reason that Russ,a could not h.old her air fields earlier in the war and that Germany could not hold them now.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/BOPT19420121.2.18
Bibliographic details
Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXX, Issue 13548, 21 January 1942, Page 3
Word Count
362CHURCHILL CONFIDENT Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXX, Issue 13548, 21 January 1942, Page 3
Using This Item
NZME is the copyright owner for the Bay of Plenty Times. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons New Zealand BY-NC-SA licence . This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of NZME. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Log in