WAR REVIEW

Evening Star, Issue 24004, 1 October 1941, Page 7

WAR REVIEW

Shipping Losses Down

HITLER STILL RETAINS INITIATIVE Mr Churchill Again Gives Invasion Warning (British Official Wireless.) Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright %

(Rec. 11 a.m.) RUGBY, Sept. 30. The losses by enemy action of British, Allied, and neutral shipping during tho quarters of July, August, and September, apart from anything which might happen to-day, are only a third of the losses during the previous quarter. The Prime Minister (Mr Churchill) revealed this in the course of a statement in the House of Commons on the progress of the war. . Mr Churchill added: “ During the same period our slaughter of enemy shipping (German and Italian) has been increasing by leaps and bounds. It is in fact about one and a-half times what it was in the previous three months.’’ It was, however, the Government’s intention to continue the “salutary practice ” of not publishing statements of shipping losses at regular monthly intervals. Stating that anything novel or pregnant said by Ministers would be effectively studied by the enemy, Mr Churchill reminded tho House that for seven months Hitler had said nothing publicly about his war plans. What Hitler had blurted out in the early part of the year had been useful, and_ Mr Churchill cited Hitler as saying in his last speech: “ In the spring our submarine warfare will begin in earnest, and our opponents will find the Germans have not_ been sleeping. The Luftwaffe and Nazi German defence forces in this way and that will bring about an ultimate decision in March or April. Naval warfare will start such as the enemy never expected.” Britain was led to expect a. crescendo of attacks, and the Germans in fact had used larger forces of U-boats and longrange aircraft against shipping, but-counter-measures, undertaken in good time and on a larger scale, had proved successful. A few important munition ships had been lost, but the food reserves stood higher than ever before,

“It will certainly be in his power whilst standing on the defensive in the east, to undertake all three of these hazardous enterprises on a great scale all together at one time. His only shortage is in the air. That is a very serious shortage, but for the rest he still retains the initiative —we have not had the force to take it from him. He has divisions, he. has weapons, and on the mainland of Europe ho has ample means of transportation.”

BETTER CHRISTMAS DINNERS. An improvement in the basic ration for the whole country is now about to bo made, and the quantities and varieties of meals for the heavy workers will be improved during the winter. There will bo better Christmas dinners this year than last, Mr Churchill added, and at the same time there will be more justification behind those dinners. Although we were within measurable distance of an immense flow of new American building which, together with British construction, would be provided in 1942, Mr Churchill deprecated premature rejoicing, and said he himself indulged in no sanguine predictions. A large number of U-boats, supported by even larger numbers of the Focker Wulf must be expected. U-boats would only be beaten by the corresponding intensification of counter-measures. The facts he- had stated were “ not entirely unsatisfactory,” and, he continued, whether the Russian battle lines or the majestic momentum of the United States were looked, to, comfort and good cheer could be divined in the struggle, “ which, nevertheless, even if we were alone we should carry on inflexibly and unwoaringly and with steadily increasing reserves. OUTOF THE PIT. The Empire, Mr Churchill said, had climbed from the pit of peril on to a fairly broad plateau. “ We feel around us the upsurge of the enslaved countries of Europe. We see how they defy Hitler’s firing parties. “ Far away in the east we see the faithful, patient, and inexhaustible spirit of the Chinese race, who, too, are battling for home and freedom. We are marching in company with the vast majority of mankind, all trending and forging forward towards the final goal, which, though distant, can already be plainly seen. When we reflect upon tho magnitude of modern events compared with the men who have to try to.control or cope with them and the frightful consequences of those events to hundreds of millions, the importance of not making avoidable mistakes grows impressively upon the mind.” For these reasons he would not attempt to discuss at the present time the question of future strategy, which, he said, amidst laughter, was discussed every day in the newspapers in a vivid manner, and he took as an example the question whether Hitler’s preoccupation in Russia should not be taken advantage of to launch an invasion of Europe. The question, he remarked, “ several times occurred to those responsible for the conduct of the war.” If he threw out dark hints none but the enemy would have the advantage. If he gave cogent reasons which could be ranged on the other side he was giving gratuitous reassurances to Hitler. HITLER’S PLANS UNKNOWN. “ Hitler has said nothing as to his plans since February. . We are in complete ignorance at this moment as to what he is going to do. We do not know how far he will attempt to penetrate the vast lands of the Soviet in face of the'valiant Russian defence or how long his people will endure their own calamitous losses, ox again whether he will decide to stand on the defensive and exploit the territories of immense value which he has conquered. Should he choose this last wo know not whether he will turn all his vast army southwaids towards the Valley of the Nile, or if he will attempt to make his way through Spain into north-west Africa, using the great Continental railways of Europe and the immense chain of airfields, or shift his weight to the west and assemble an extensive army with >ll the special craft he has constructed for an attempted invasion of the British Isles,

These dangers and possibilities and how best to meet them were studied day in and day out.' All the arguments about* them in the public Press were considered as well as every helpful suggestion from any quarter. AID FOR RUSSIA. Turning to the assistance to be given to the Soviet, Mr Churchill said the interval since the message he and President Roosevelt had sent to M. Stalin had been used in ceaseless activity, and the whole ground had been surveyed. Many important supplies had already been despatched, and the mission had gone to Moscow with the clear and full knowledge of what it was possible to give Russia month by month from now onwards. . “ With this knowledge the Soviet authorities will be able to decide how best to fill the gap between the heavy losses sustained, together with diminished production power on the one hand and the arrival of supplies on the other. Extensive and serious sacrifices will have to be made to enable the Soviet to remain indefinitely in the field as a first'class war-making Power, and enormous new installations and the conversion of existing plants will have to be made ju die United States with all the consequent disturbances.” Mr Churchill pointed out that the Soviet needed not only tanks, but aircraft, aluminium, rubber, copper, oil, and many other materials vital to modern war. The transport reception there must be organised, and it might be transportation rather than ability to give that would prove the limiting factor. THE BRITISH ARMY. Dealing with the allegations lodged in some quarters that the War Office was building up a ” distended and bloated mass of soldiers in this island,” Mr Churchill pointed out that Britain could never have an Army comparable in numbers with the Continental armies. He described the present British Army as a " very good, mediumsized Army,” built up from one of insignificant numbers. It had hard training last winter, and would have hard training again this winter, and its officers had opportunities of handling large-scale manoeuvres. It was upon this weapon, Mr Churchill said, supported bv 2,000,000 Home Guards, that Britain relied to destroy the invader should be succeed in making a landing on British shores. “ When I learn of the frightful and indescribable atrocities which the German police and troops are committing on the Russian population in the rear of the advance of the armoured vehicles, the responsibility of His Majesty’s Government to maintain here at home a high-class force to beat down and an lihilate. lodgments from sea or air, the problem comes home to me in a particularly significant, ugly, and impressive form.” ONLY .ONE COURSE. Mr Churchill warned the critics against the fate that awaited nations or individuals which take easy and popular courses, and said that if he at present were trusted by the masses of the British people it was certainly not because he had followed public opinion in the last few years. “ There is only one duty and only one safe course—that is to try to do what is right and not fear to do ov say what you helieve to be right.” IRAN. Turning to Iran, Mr Churchill said the dictator had been driven into exile and a constitutional sovereign had been installed pledged to introduce muchneeded reforms which he hoped to present to the House with the new alliance made by Britain and Russia and the whole of the Persian State and people. ROME MAY BE BOMBED. In the course of his speech, Mr Churchill stated that only military outposts in Cairo had been bombed, and added that Britain had as much right to bomb Rome as Italy had to bomb London last year. “We should not hesitate to bomb Rome to the best of our ability and as heavily as possible if the course of the war indicated that such action would be convenient and helpful.” INVASION DANGER. Winter would remove neither the pressure on Russia nor the danger of invasion of this country. Spring would see heavier fighting in the east than any yet experienced, and the menace of invasion would he present in a sharp form.

“ Only the most strenuous exertions and perfect unity of purpose, added to our traditionally unrelenting tenacity, will enable us to _ act our part worthily in the prodigious world drama in which we are now plunged. Let us make sure that those virtues are forthcoming.”