INVASION PLANS

Greymouth Evening Star, 23 September 1940, Page 8

INVASION PLANS

HITLER’S HUGE FLEET LANDING PRACTICES’ TOLL [BY CABLE —PRESS ASSN. —COPYRIGHT.] LONDON, September 22. A message' from New York says that the Scripps-Howard newspapers pub- : lish a letter received from an unnamed Norwegian shipping mag- . nate, describing Germany’s recent ; plans to invade England. , In this he • asserted that Herr Hitler is reputed to be willing to sacrifice 80 per cent. : of his attacking force to establish a bridge-head. He said that the Germans had re- ; quisitioned 10,000 Norwegian and other bottoms, the motors of which were ■ maintained in immaculate repair. , They had installed wheels in the ’ bows of the boats to enable them to ; be driven ashore at full speed, carry- ’ ing 35 men. Each German would wear a British i uniform. The Germans planned to 1 approach the British Isles from all directions whenever the weather is fog- , gy, and at the same time to throw in . 11,000 aeroplanes. The Germans cal- ■ culated that the invasion would be : successful if 20 per cent, of the at- • tackers landed, although they anticil pated that 50 per cent, would succeed. According to another New York i message, the vice-president of the Armco International Corporation (Mr. r Robert. Solberg), who has returned - from France, declared that the Ger- ; mans had not attempted the invasion • of Britain, but they had suffered i heavy losses of life from manoeuvres ; in the Channel in preparation for the ■ invasion. Barges had been sent'two I miles out to sea, returning to practise > landings on the French coast. British > aeroplanes and submarines, aware of , these operations, waited for the • barges and thousands 'of Germans ’ had been lost. Mr. Solberg was rel cently at a French port where the bod- ■ ies of Germans were washed up daily. 1 WANING -ENTHUSIASM. i ’ (Recd. Sept. 23, 1.35 p.m.). STOCKHOLM, September 22. - British submarines are taking toll 1 of the German experimental exer--1 cises of embarkation, and have been I responsible for many German bodies ‘ being washed up on the beaches. 3 The R.A.F. bombing of heavily 1 laden craft, assembled for the invas--5 ion, has certainly claimed many lives. 1 Travellers and seamen arriving t from Germany, increasingly and per--1 sistently report the effects of the ' R.A.F. night raids, especially on the ’ temper of the Germans, who are in- ’ creasingly impatient. Enthusiasm is 3 said to be declining, even among the troops in Belgium and Holland. The 1 belief is growing that the German ’ Army has bitten off more than it can 1 chew. j BRITAIN’S STRENGTH. [ LONDON LORD MAYOR’S SPEECH • RUGBY, September 21. ; A spirited repudiation of the sug- ■ gestion.that Britain is a beleaguered fortress was made in a broadcast , address to America by the Lord > Mayoi’ of London (Sir William Coxen). The address was spoken in his absence because of a slight cold by a former Lord Mayor, Sir George Broadbridge. He said: “Just look for a moment at this England of ours. It is the ■ home of men and women resolutely l preparing themselves for the su- [ preme task in British history. Night by night there flies out from this island the spearhead of our attack on Nazi Germany. That spearhead is the Royal Air Force, whose heroic exploits are known to all the world, but even these brave men of the air could not give us command of the seas. If the British Fleet did not hold the ocean round our shores against all comers, hope and freedom in the world would die. “Who except Goebbels could suggest that Britain is besieged to-day, when our ships bring us daily and in safety the food we eat, and the steel, copper, oil and cotton we need for our effort in the war? We are daily revictualled and replenished from the granaries and arsenals of the world, and week by week our export trade is carried out over the seven seas. This is no idle boast. It is the plain, honest truth. But do not imagine we can keep our seaports open to receive the rich cargoes of the outer world without paying a price, and a very heavy price. Patrols of the Royal Navy are guarding not only the shores of Britain, but the security of the whole world. We stand to-day facing the greatest crisis in our history, looking to a victory sure and complete, with our banner bearing our ancient motto, ‘Domine Dirige Nos.’ ” Referring to the present trials London is undergoing, the Lord Mayor said: “London has known in the past moments when all she most valued was at stake, but never in hetlong annals has she been called on to face any ordeal so cruel and so searching. Her long-established traditions of safe, settled ways have been assaulted as never before. Her peaceful citizens have been subjected. to the ruthless cruelty of an embittered foe bent on her destruction. To-day London stands as the very bulwark of civilisation and freedom as we know it. It is the greatest responsibility the world has ever known. This red earth of our countryside, these paved streets of my city built’ on Roman foundations, shall and will be defended to the last. London city has sometimes in history been attacked, but never sacked.” ’ U.S.A. MISSION’S ESTIMATE NEW YORK, September 20. The United States Army mission has returned after a month in London. It reports that the intensive i German bombings have not done seri- . ous military damage and have not < affected the morale of the people. 1 Brigadier-General George Strong, i spokesman of the mission, said he did j not believe there would be a decision j this winter. /‘lf the bombings continued for a year at the same rate < as in the past 10 days the result would < then probably be. serious,” he said, i “But the Royal Air Force is at its 1 peak.” . ‘ 1 General Strong asserted from his < personal observation and checking i that British reports on the air warfare were substantially correct. When they erred, he said, it was on the conservative side. Asked whether the British claim to have, shot down 185 German aeroplanes in a single day last week was true, he replied: “The e

actual count was 192 aeroplanes. The Royal Air Force now has better material and trained personnel than ever.” RUSSIAN EXPECTATIONS LONDON, September. 20. A Russian journalist, discussing the prospects of a German invasion of Britain in a Moscow newspaper, expresses the opinion that the most likely points of attack would be the north and south Downs. He made this statement after pointing out that the British Navy . could crush any attempted invasion from the North Sea. or Atlantic. • He added, however, that the Germans might try feint attacks to attract attention away from the real objective. He said the Germans would probably attempt to transport troops across the Straits of Dover under the cover of concentrated artillery fire from the French coast, with thousands of aeroplanes attempting to screen them from attack by British aircraft. Concluding, he agrees with a Swedish writer, that the success or failure of the invasion will be decided by the battle for air superiority. JAPANESE RE-ASSURANCE RUGBY, September 22. The Japanese newspaper, “Nichi Nichi,” publishes a despatch from its Berlin correspondent, giving an account of a telephone conversation, he had with Mr. Okamoto, who has been Counsellor at the Japanese Embassy in London. The latter was speaking from Madrid. Mr. Okamoto said that Japanese residents in London were well and cheerful. Fie reported that there were ho signs of any intention on the Government’s part to. move away from London. The London people were calm, and trains and -buses were running as usual. DOVER SHELLED. J (Received September 23, 11.10 a.m.) ' LONDON, September 22. The German long-range guns twice shelled Dover, this morning.