BRITAIN’S NAVY

Press, Volume LXXXV, Issue 25970, 25 November 1949, Page 7

BRITAIN’S NAVY

EARL BEATTY APPEALS FOR RECRUITS

“ OUR COMMITMENTS STILL WORLD WIDE ” (Rec. 10 p.m.) LONDON, Nov. 24. During the last three years. Britain had witnessed the consequences of her naval weakness all tiver the world, said Earl Beatty, in Glasgow, when appealing for improved recruiting for the Royal Navy. He said that events in the Antarctic, the South Atlantic, Central America, and the Far East were glaring examples, which should have shaken the complacency of the Government and the people. “Our commitments are still worldwide,” he said. “With the threat of Communism, our front lies from the Arctic to the China Seas, and the only possible fighting force we possess is the Royal Navy.” The Western Union and the North Atlantic Pact were the first steps towards preventing another war. But

why was it not possible for British peoples throughout the world to obtain greater cohesion and strength in peacetime by the promotion of British union? Much could be done in that direction, said Earl Beatty. In spite of the advance of modern weapons, the apparent shrinkage of the size of the world through faster communications, and in spite of air power, Britain was still an island nation depending upon the freedom of the seas for her existence. Inevitably, after the war. there was apathy among the public in defence matters. It Was only natural, but it could also be fatal. That apathy was largely due to ignorance because of the Government’s reluctance to tell even the rudiments of what was happening. This excessive secrecy was doing the fighting services much harm ana was preventing the public from realising the true state of affairs, he said. Mr Churchill Has Cold.— Mr Winston Churchill, who will be 75 years old next Wednesday, has a bad cold, and will be confined to his home for a few days.—London, November 23.