The Victories In Europe

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 264, 4 August 1944, Page 5

The Victories In Europe

The Prime Minister proceeded : “I come to a larger matter. A volume would be required to describe the Story of the crossing of the Channel and the landing of the army of liberation on the soil of France. In April, 1943, General Morgan, of the British Army, became head of the British-American planning staff which surveyed the whole project by decision of the Combined Chiefs of Staff Committal). Their plan selected the beaches for the attack and presented the outlines of the scheme, with a mass of detail to support it. It received in principle complete agreement in the Quebec conference. At Teheran Marshal 'Stalin was promised that they would put this plan, or something like it, into operation at the end of May or the beginning of June, and he promised that the whole of the Russian armies would be thrown, as indeed they had been, into the general battle. Mr. Churchill paid a tribute to the work of General Eisenhower, stating that no man had ever laboured more- skilfully or more intensively for the unification find good'will of the great forces under his command. He had a genius for bringing the Allies together, and was proud to consider himself an ally as well as a United States commander. Equals in Adventure.

American supplies and equipment had been moving steadily into Britain, and we ourselves had selected from the British armies an expeditionary force practically as large as that of the Americans in the opening stages. Great reinforcements which came in from America had altered that. Iu the great adventure we were practically equal. In the great episode of (he lauding the work of Combined Operations Headquarters, founded in 1940 under Sir Roger Keyes and developed in 1942 under Lord Mount batten, bad proved -iis worth. 'I do not believe that this vast enterprise could have been undertaken earlier,” said the Prime Minister.

Referring to the possibilities of amphibious landing craft and their part in the invasion, he added: "New light is playing on the possibility of invading across tile Channel, a light, which I hope will not be altogether lost on our own people in tlie days when we shall have handed over our burdens to others." In Normandy within less than a month harbours had been created compared with which Dover seemed small. In spite of weather, mines, and about JOO •submarined lurking in Atlantic coast ports, a swarm of E-boats, . and other marauders., a stream of traffic had been maintained across the Channel. Our army was equipped as no army had ever been equipped before. ' AVhen our ships crossed the Channel unseen and unmolested, half the guns that, were to have blown them out o. tlie water were dismounted or out ot order. These deeds of the air force were not done without losses, which in killed, in proportion to the number of Hying personnel far exceeded those of any other branch of the service. From April 1 June 39 over 7000 men of the R.A.J’. Home Command were killed or missing. The United States losses were also most severe. 'The devotion of the pilots am] air crews of both countries was sublime. Remarkable Loss Ratio. AYe had inflicted losses on the enemy which were‘about, double those for ourselves. This was remarkable considering that we were the challengers, and entirely different from the position, in the last war. \Vo had been hampered continually by bad weather, and now, at last, were gaining that space to deploy which was necessary for armies of the size we were using. We were largely superior to the enemy in men, armour, nud in the air. Referring to the .American advance, Mr. Churchill said: "It has become almost a gallop down the peninsula. Ihe British and the Canadians, too, have taken their full share in the conflict. Lest our enemies suggest that the burden of the struggle has been unfairly shared, let me say that the losses in the British and Canadian forces together arc a limit equal to (hose of the larger .United Spates army in proportion to their relalive strength. It has been share, ami share alike all along the front. So far as it has gone, this is certainly a glorious storv.” Mr Churchill then made a long reference to 'be Allied tanks, mentioning the acceptance of an offer of 3000, or 1900 American Sherman taliks, enabling a reduction in tin’ scale of lank production in Britain ami the release ot labour for other urgently required war needs. The Sherman tank had maintained its reputation. It was essentially a cruising tank, like the Cromwell. Both were reported to be excellent and trustworthy for the purpose for which they

were designed. We had succeeded tn mounting a 17-poundcr gun on (.be Sherman, a remarkable feat. These weapons were moving to Normandy in a steady stream. Th.e Cromwell possessed superior speed and would be specially effective when we came into more open country. The Panther and Tiger tanks were unreliable mechanically, aud the Panther was very vulnerable from the flanks. Provided our tactics were good, we could beat them.

The Prime Minister said that when he was in Normandy recently he counted nine broken-down Panther tanks in about 1000 square yards. All had been shot up by a 17-pounder gun of one British tank. The same armour could not be put on a 30-ton tank as on a 60-tonner. Speed and manoeuvrability must account for something. No one had the right to say that these lighter tanks were not in every way fitted for their task and a wise and far-seeing use of our war power. “The notorious Churchill tank is the most thick-skinned weapon in Europe, aud already has many commendations,” he continued. “This tank was originally conceived in 1940 for use in roads and lanes in Britain. No particular type can be perfect. The Tiger and the Panther are essentially weapons of defence, whereas the Cromwell and the Sherman belong to the offensive. The Churchill can be defensive or offensive as circumstances require.” In the fighting in Normandy no new tank weapon or type of munition had been brought into use by the enemy, whereas we had put into operation for the first time the Sherman tank mounting a 17-pounder, the latest Churchill tank, and a number of interesting variants of very great ingenuity of which he could not tell the House more because we did not know where the enemy was to be brought to the testing and tasting of them. “Leaving this subject, I am going to do something that has never been do’ne before,” he proceeded. “I hope the House will not bo shocked by this breach of precedent. I am going to make public a word of praise for the War Office.

“In all tlie 40 years I have served in tlie House I have heard that department -steadily abused by us all, through and after our various wars. If my memory serves me aright. I have frequently taken part in well-merited criticism which lias been their lot. But General Montgomery lias said to me, ‘I do not think the British War Office lias ever sent an army overseas so well equipped as tlie one now fighting in Normandy.’ I think it is a well justified statement.” The War Office and the innumerable branches of the military and' civilian staff nil deserved credit, none more so than the Chief of the General Staff, that great officer, Field-Marshal Brooke, and also the Secretary of War. The work was at a higher level than ever before, and compared not unfavourably with the similar organizations of other countries, whether friend or foe. "War is a hard school, but the British, once they are compelled to go there, are attentive pupils,’ Mr. Churchill said. Cleansing Italian Soil. Referring to the Italian front, Mr. Churchill said : "We have moved up the Italian peninsula with very unsatisfactory supply lines, but. with command of the sea and new forces in position, we may hope that operations of the utmost vigour will be continued by General Alexander and his army. There has never been .anything like it. We have British and United States troops. New Zealanders, French, and American-Japanese troops who have fought with great vigour. Greeks are coming, and some are already there. A Brazilian force is already taking its place upon the field. Then there are South Africans aud Poles, who have greatly distinguished themselves, aud. of course, bearing a most important part are our gallant Indians. There is also a powerful Canadian force. “It is a really most extraordinary army of all nations, advancing to cleanse Italian soil. There is also a respectable Italian ‘force, respectable in strength and fighting well, and wo are going to increase their numbers. Things are going- very well in Italy. “In talking about all these various campaigns going on at once all over the world I have left an obvious essential fact, namely, it is tlie Russian armies, which have done tlie main work of tearing the guts out of the German Army. “In the air and on the sens we can maintain ourselves, but there is no force in the world which could have been called into being, except after several more years, that would' have been able to maul and break the German Army, unless it had been subjected to the terrible slaughter and manhandling that has fallen on it through the strength of the Kussian Soviet armies. I salute Marshal Stalin, and firmly believe that our twenty-yefirs’ treaty with Russia will prove one of the most lasting factors in preserving progress. good order and peace in the world. “if may well be that the Russian success has been somewhat aided by the strategy of ‘Corporal Hitler.’ Even military idiots find it difficult not to find faults in some of his actions.” Mr. Churchill remarked that Hitler found himself with about 10 divisions in north Finland and 20 or 30 cut off iu the Baltic States, all of which could have been brought with their equipment and weapons to stand between Germany and the Russian advance, but all of which it was far too late to use for that purpose now.