NOTES ON THE WAR NEWS

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 3, 3 July 1940, Page 8

NOTES ON THE WAR NEWS

POSITION OF EIRE

MENACE OF INVASION

ITS PLACE IN GERMAN

PLANS

In the defensive ring around

Britain there is one weak spot which invites a German blow. It

is the Irish Free State, a member of the British Common-

wealth of Nations, and dependent upon Britain for her economic life, but neutral in the present struggle and still inadequately defended.

A Stepping Stone.

The fact that the Nazis are likely to make Ireland a stepping stone in their coming attempt to invade Britain is stressed by all the circumstances. The Government of Eire, like the Governments of Holland and Belgium a few months ago, is neutral. Like them it is administering a small country with an inadequate air fleet and an armed force not equipped with modern weapons on any scale. Like them it lies on the flank of the country to be attacked. Like them it might be expected to prove a territory in which a foothold could be gained and defended.

And in addition, just as Belgium is the shortest road to the heart. of France, so Ireland is the shortest road to the west coast of England, which is the present target of the Germans and the region at which an effort to blockade the United Kingdom must be directed.

French Ports Sought.

In attacking France one of the objects was to seize the northern ports from which the west coast of Britain could be more easily reached, and air attacks made upon them with dive bombers. Nine months ago those west coast ports were shielded by the width of the North Sea and the whole belt of England. Today, from the west coast of France, the Germans can thrust by air straight up the Irish Channel without crossing Britain at all. On the way they can attempt to establish an advanced base in Ireland. In the last few days the realisation of this danger has been growing, and it has been pointed out by public men and by the newspapers. Moreover it is no new theory, but has been preached in Germany for years past. The leading exponent of Nazi military aims and technique, Professor Ewald Banse, who was appointed to Brunswick Technical College when Hitler cameto power, has stressed the importance of an invasion of Ireland in the operation of conquering the Midlands.

The Shortest Crossing.

In his book "Germany, Prepare for War!" published in an English translation six years ago, he includes a map which, shows that the shortest crossing for an invading force to the great industrial area of north-eastern England is fr-m Dublin to Liverpool, and that the shortest crossing to the chief Scottish industrial area is from Belfast to the country west of Glasgow. He insists on the role of the supplementary invasion from Ireland as "rendering certain" the conquest of the Midland region, the industries of which are more important than London itself. "If this, the most densely-populated and highly industrialised part of England, can be gripped as in a forceps from the west and the south-east, he says (visualising another thrust which would be made from East Angha and which would turn into a double-headed attack oh the Midlands and on London) "England would be pretty well finished." ' . ■

The Stab in the Back.

The role that German militarythought has reserved for Ireland is thus clear. It wpuld be used to establish the base from which the final stab in the back wpuld be delivered if and when an invasion of Britain was begun. The main armies would be thrown at the south coast near Kent and at the great peninsula between the Thames and The Wash; the attack on Ireland might be launched after the other forces had established a foothold, and probably after a diversion had been created by attacks delivered around Portsmouth, or further up the east coast. In the present circumstances ireland also actually invites invasion by the feebleness of her defences and by the fact that, as in other neutral lands, the invader would thus have the advantage of a start. Using e'r-borne troops he might seize aerodromes, or employ flying-boat troop carriers to land on one of the. Irish Ifkef.PwJ 1 his men ashore on some of the Hundreds of •thousands of rubber, boats reported to have been prepared for the invasion of Holland, and establish a base which would be surrounded with anti-aircraft defences.

Taking- a Risk

In these operations, it is true, he would be at some distance from his base, but the Germans have shown themselves willing to take risks, and tbe taking of calculated risks is-part of the grim necessity of war. Moreover with the war material which he has gained in his recent conquests he can probably afford to be prodigal in the effort to force a quick victory. Even if he threw away the whole of his remaining fleet-in seeking to rush a force across the Channel by sea it would not matter much to Hitler. Of the inability of Ireland to defend herself there is unfortunately little doubt. The permanent forces covered in the 1938-39 Budget consisted of only 600 officers and 5500 men. There was a reserve of 6000 men and the main army was a volunteer force 15.000 strong and built up around the permanent organisation. In December last the Irish Government announced a defence loan of £7,000,000 at 4 per' cent, to finance a new defence programme, but the task of obtaining the necessary war material and training new men has not proved easy. Even last month the Defence Minister, Mr. O. Traynor, de-' clared that the effort to obtain volunteers for the defence forces had'proved so unfruitful that "if there is not a better response we may have to consider national registration, and even go beyond that."

"Only Days Left."

This followed the statement of the same Minister that "only days are left for preparation. The situation is undoubtedly grave and every man who enrols now is much more valuable than those who enrol after disaster has struck." Ireland's "navy" consists of some coastal motor-boats, recently delivered, and a few armed trawlers, and her air force is negligible. Events might suggest that Mr. de Valera and his colleagues are fully aware of the peril which faces them, but the state-