THIS AMAZING WAR

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 4, Issue 305, 14 May 1941, Page 4

THIS AMAZING WAR

A MILLION pens will be screeding the astounding story of Rudolph Hess, his succession from the Nazi Party, his flight to Scotland, and his subsequent identification 'beyond all doubt' as the British announcer has it. What lies behind this new development, what new perfidy the Nazis are planning, what new signs it portends —these thoughts have the entire world by the ears. Even Whakatane has its own quota of 'armchair experts' who ha,ve, and are. entitled to their own conclusions. Whatever prompted Hitler's deputy to fly the county risking death in half a dozen ways, will probably be known within the next few days. The radio commentators promise us that it is but the first of a series of international surprises. We can rest fully assured however that the latest addition to Britain's colony of 'Refugees' from the continent will be held under the closest supervision. It is a somewhat sinister feature of the whole escapad/3 that the Nazi radio openly admits the departure of one of the leading men in the Fuehrer's cabinet. This appears strange under the circumstances, for when has the voice of Berlin ever before quibbled to invent a few stories to cover up weaknesses within the Reich This unacaustomcd honesty on the part of the masters of propaganda strangely disturbed and mistrustful. Truly this is war waged on unorthodox lines. Never before has military strategy been so enriched by revolutionary new tactics which have swept aside the calculated conclusions of years of experience. There have been phases indeed which savour of the comic opera, yet the brutal butchery of non-combatants, the ruthless march of destruction on the weaker countries which blocked the path of the Nazi aims, make the grimmer side of the conflict only too plain. Is the d.esertion of Hess genuine or is it but a further part in employing a,nd finding ways to an end in conformity with the new German mentality. Impatiently we await the surprises promised the nation by the 8.8.C.