CHURCHILL’S REVIEW

Greymouth Evening Star, 18 September 1940, Page 7

CHURCHILL’S REVIEW

INVASION STILL PROBABLE ■ 1 . ■ . * .. DAMAGE TO ENEMY SHIPPING BRITAIN’S GROWING STRENGTH [BRITISH OFFICIAL WIRELESS.]

RUGBY, September 17. Mr. Churchill, in a brief statement in the Commons, said: “The deployment of German barges and ships, in preparation for an invasion of Great Britain and Ireland, continues steadily, and we must expect Hitler to make an attempt at what he judges the best opportunity. All our preparations must, therefore, be maintained in a state of vigilance. The process of waiting keyed up to concert pitch, day after day, is apt in time to lose its charm of novelty. There is no.doubt that it imposes a heavy strain on all concerned, but .we must not under-rate the damage inflicted upon the enemy by the heavy and prolonged nightly bombing upon his concentration of shipping, and upon all the focal points of his assembly of troops. Undoubtedly serious injury has been done to his ships and barges. “Meanwhile, our strength develops steadily by land and sea, and above all, in the air. Sunday’s action was the most-brilliant and fruitful of any fought upon a large scale by fighters of the R.A.F. up to the present time. The figures have already been made public. To the best of my belief, and I have made searching enquiries and several crosschecks, they are not in any way exaggerated. Neither side has yet employed more than a portion of. its forces, but there is good reason for believing at present that very grievous inroads are being made upon the enemy’s superiority of numbers, and that we may await the decision in the prolonged air battle with sober but increasing confidence. “German attacks upon the civil population have been concentrated mainly upon London, in hopes of terrorising the citizens into submission, or throwing them into confusion, and also in the silly idea that they will put pressure upon the Government to make peace.” Mr. Churchill added that, during the first half of. September, about J 2000 civilians, men, women, and children, had been killed, and about ■ 8000 wounded by air bombardment. 1 “The deliberate and repeated at- 1 tacks upon Buckingham Palace, and upon the persons of our beloved King and Queen, are also intended, apart from their general barbarity, to have an unsettling effect upon public opinion. They have, of course, . the op- f posite effect. They unite the King ‘ and Queen to their people by new 1 and sacred bonds of common dan- ‘ ger, and they steel all hearts to the 1 stern, unrelenting prosecution of the ■ war with so foul a foe.”

PRODUCTION NOT AFFECTED.

Turning to the results of the enemy’s bombing raids, and the efficacy of Britain’s A.R.P. organisation, Mr. Churchill said: “Many hospitals, churches, and public monuments have been damaged, but the injury to our war-making capacity has been surprisingly small. We are only now .beginning to get an increased flow of production from the great programmes started on the outbreak of war, and it is very agreeable to see that the increases are maintained over so wide a field, in spite of the enemy’s ’fire. To show how indiscriminate and wanton is the enemy’s attack, one has only to ..compare the figures of civilian and military casualties in the first fortnight of September. There were 10,000 civilian casualties from air attack, but only 250 of these occurred in all the fighting forces.” Some idea of the difficulties of the task of preserving the health and well-being of the enormous population of Greater London, which exceeded 8,000,000 souls, was given by the Prime Minister. That heavy and intricate task was being efficiently and successfully discharged, and “our whole system of life and labour is being rapidly adapted to conditions hitherto unknown to modern society.” The air-raid precautions organisation, in all its branches, said Mr. Churchill, had proved its efficiency, and the greatest discipline and devotion was shown by all. He said that he was unable at the moment to promulgate new rules about air-raid warnings, but “broadly speaking, our plan must be to use the siren, which it may be noticed, has been cut in half, as an ‘alert’ and not as an ‘alarm,’ and to have a system of local and highly-trained Jim

Crows on the look-out, men who will i give the alarm when immediate dan- ■ ger is expected at any point. Upon i this basis, everyone must endeavour ; to carry on his work, and to see that ■ the output and public services do not i suffer, or suffer only minimum in- ; terruption.” The' House then went into secret session, to discuss matters connected i with the various arrangements under air attack. RAID WARNING. RUGBY, September 17. An air-raid warning, which sounded soon after the Commons session began, was in operation while Mr Churchill was speaking. Apart from 15 minutes’ suspension, owing to the reported imminence of the raiders, the sitting was continued uninterruptedly throughout the warning period, which lasted for about 90 minutes. During the early session,* Mr Chamberlain took his seat on the Treasury Bench, for the first time since his illness, amidst cheers from all parts of the House. Mr Churchill had an audience with the King at Buckingham Palace, and afterwards lunched with His Majesty. THE SPEAKER’S REPORT * LONDON, September 17. The Speaker, in the Commons, issued the following report: “The House went into secret session, and discussion took place on future sittings of the House. It was decided to meet at regular intervals, but that the dates and times should not be specified.” INVASION OBSTACLE STORMS IN CHANNEL. LONDON, September 17. Britain’s greatest ally against invasion, the weather, is now playing its part. . A south-westerly gale was howling in the Straits of Dover last night. Dark rain clouds reduced visibility to a few hundred yards.

TROOPS DISAPPOINTED. RUGBY, September 17. According to Agency messages, the first Autumn gale is blowing in the Straits of Dover to-day. During the night, a south-westerly wind reached gale force. Big seas are running, pounding the beaches, and the weather conditions, generally, are' bad. This break in the weather, producing conditions unfavourable to an attempt at invasion by the Germans, is reported to have caused keen disappointment among the British troops on the coast, who are eagerly waiting for the battle to begin, COMMANDER’S CONFIDENCE. (Recd. September 18, 11.25 a.m.) LONDON, September 17. Sir Alan Brooke, interviewed, said: “No doubt our Forces are able to handle any German invaders. I would actually welcome an invasion, and an opportunity of throwing them back into the sea. They have done it to us twice, and it is about time we got some of our own back.” LONDON SHELLED? (Recd. Sept. 18, 10.55 a.m.). LONDON, September 17. It is semi-officially reported from Berlin: Germany’s long-range guns shelled London, arid will likewise do more, daily. BERLIN, September 17. Long-range guns are shelling London, foi' range-finding. The calibre of the guns is secret, but they resemble a telescope, each section being thinner than its predecessor. BRITAIN WILL WIN. NEW YORK, September 17. The United States Secretary for the Navy (Colonel Frank Knox) said to-day that he felt quite cheerful about Britain’s prospects of defeating Germany. To beat Britain Germany would have to destroy Britain’s air power, and her three to one majority in machines was rapidly dwindling. In addition Germany’s air losses were total, but British fighter pilots frequently returned to fight again.