LONDON AND THE WAR

Evening Star, Issue 23833, 13 March 1941, Page 2

LONDON AND THE WAR

SOUTH IRELAND BOMBING PROBABLY MISCALCULATION [From Our Correspondent] January 9. As distinct from suppositions and theories elsewhere, there is no tendency in really knowledgeable circles to attribute the German bombing of Southern Ireland to deliberate policy and intention. With their blockade on, one of the. last things the Germans must wish to do is to bring Mr de Valera in against them with the benefit to us of the Irish naval bases in fighting the blockade. But it is easy for a fastflying bomber or fighter going westwards to miss the Irish Sea. Five minutes above clouds or in a black moonless night is sufficient to cross the comparatively narrow waters without being aware that a crossing has been made. Then, the Germans not being at all particular where they drop their bombs, the rest follows, and next morning we road in the German communique that the Luftwaffe has again bombed Merseyside or South Wales with glorious results, fires that could be seen from Berlin and explosions that were heard in Timbuktu. THE WINSTON TOUCH, London’s fire-fighters, amateur and professional, rejoice in our war Prime Minister. With Mrs Churchill at his side Winston toured the blazing areas of the City whilst the brigades were still contending with the flames. They greeted him with shouts of “ Good old Winston,” and' the Prime Minister, flushing a little with genuine pleasure at this homely salutation, replied -with a grimly cheerful “ Stick to it, lads; we’ll beat him yet!” That simple exhortation, as Mr Churchill littered it, was just the sort of inspiration to appeal to those to whom it was addressed, as was the Prime Minister’s silent but eloquent salute to individual smokegrimed firemen as he passed them battling with the flames. Once a senior officer warned him that he was venturing along a street of dangerous ruins. Mr Churchill shrugged his shoulders, thanked him, and went on, Mrs Churchill still at his side. It was the same Winston, only a little older outside, one saw.at Sydney street when the alien desperadoes were shooting up the place. VON LUCKNER’S TOUR. Count von Lucknor, the German raider in the Pacific, visited Australasia on the eve of the war on a comprehensive lecture tour which took him everywhere. It is part evidence of the skill" of the man that ho gave out that be was under a cloud with the Nazis. On this account, and because of his deeds in the last war, he was received with open arms practically everywhere, and saw practically everything and also was told a great deal. But it was too much even for the good-natured and unsuspicious New Zealanders when ho asked to visit one of the fortified areas on the pretext that he had been imprisoned there. The Australians were never so sure about him as the New Zealanders, but altogether he had facilities given to him which he should never have had. His hosts are now getting a typical German form of return for their hospitality. The (Norwegians have experienced this form of hospitality still more acutely in the return as German soldiers of kiddies .‘horn they had befriended in Germany’s hard days. SLEEPING AXIS PARTNER? Very grave allegations are made against Japan. It is said that German commerce raiders in the Pacific are hewing supplied by vessels flying the Nazi ensign and sailing from Japanese ports. Further, and still more serious, that German ships are now being fitted out as armed raiders in Japanese ports. It is essential that we should ascertain whether or not these reports, which •appear to bo based on reliable authority, are to any extent accurate, 'Needless to say, any such .action by 'Japan—and such things could not possibly happen without the Tokro Government being aware of it—would constitute an act of definite hostility, and Would, in fact, range that country actively on the side of the Axis in this war. Hitherto Japan has been content to adopt the role of sleeping partner 'in the Axis firm, but such an attitude could not possibly be maintained in 'face of such acts as now alleged. No doubt the Foreign Office will take appropriate action to investigate these reports, and enable our relations with Tokio to he placed on a clear footing. AMAZING RECORD. Nobody in their senses is likely to be gulled by Hitler’s New Order. We know what that regime means not only for Germany’s subject nations but for Germans themselves. Meanwhile, it is well to realise the amazing record of our own social services. Forty years .ago we spent £22,500,000 _ on their •annual upkeep. The total in 193 G-37, and wo are still adding to it despite •the war expenditure we are now shouldering, was £450,000,000. From less than 14s per head of our population to £lO per head, not including war pensions at all, in less than half a century. For years our only social service expen'iliture was on education and poor law. Now it includes health, housing, pensions, and innumerable other amenities. Since 1918 one-third of our entire •population lias been rehoused, itself a gigantic achievement. Above all, there is now no social stigma attaching to any of our welfare institutions. One •significant result alone, which fully •justifies all the cost, is that the lifeexpectation of every child born in Britain lias been extended from 45 to 58 •years since the beginning of this century. MAN BEHIND THE SPITFIRES. Amongst the New Year knights appeared the name of William Lawrence Bragg, Cavendish professor of experimental physics at’ Cambridge University. The honour conferred upon this most distinguished scientist is a tribute to his invaluable research work in the adventurous domain of aero-dynamics. We shall probably never know to what extent we are indebted to him for the technical superiority of our R.A.F. equipment to-day. It is in the scientific laboratory or its equivalent that the mechanism of modern warfare is meticulously perfected and even invented. We owe more in the present war—witness the prompt counter to the magnetic mine, commonly supposed to be Hitler’s “ secret weapon ” —to university savants and research students than we did in the last one, and that is saying a very great deal. Some incongruously academic figures were behind much of our 1914-18 success, notably in the case of cipher reading and other esoteric arts. VICHY CHANGES. The warning may be timely that from our point of view too -much importance

should not be attached to the various changes in the Vichy Government. All that is happening is, in effect, that the Government is now being manned by honest, if misguided, men instead' of rogues; but the new men are little more pro-British than the old. The two forces whose collision has caused the upheaval are pro-Hitlerian and the recently-born doubt whether Hitler is to win. Petaiu is using the collision for

his own purpose, which is to maintain a humble, pious France under authoritarian rule. The only form of government he understands is a model of army government the Commander-in-Chief orders and his word goes. His political knowledge and experience are too restricted for him to realise that, , while Frenchmen will readily sacrifice their individuality in the ranks of the army, they are the people of Europe least

likely to do so in the case of the State. Of the new men of Vichy Admiral Darlau is the only one of really strong character, like that of Petain himself, but. of course, he is a man in his prime, and therefore without senility. Unfortunately, however, he is reputed to he almost as unfriendly to us as his subordinate in Morocco, Olivier.