Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE MONDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1940. SEA AND LAND.

Greymouth Evening Star, 30 December 1940, Page 6

Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE MONDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1940. SEA AND LAND.

'yiiE seas provided the more interesting, if not the most important, news during the weekend. There will be general gratification throughout New Zealand that the grounding of the Rangatira resulted in nothing more serious than inconvenience to passengers,—who will probably now estimate the recalled thrill, of the adventure as adequate compensation, —and that the damage to the ship is not believed to be much. Mishaps on the steamer express service are remarkably few considering the number of these daily voyages, and fog was ever the seaman’s bugbear. An inquiry will be held in due course, and meanwhile, all’s well that ends well, will sum up public opinion. A more serious.happening on the sea was the shelling of Nauru by a German raider, extensive damage being done to valuable plant. This attack, following the recent sinking of five ships by a raider in the same vicinity, suggests that the German ship, or ships, are acting with an impunity that should not be belittled. The extent of British losses through these raiders in Pacific and Indian Oceans, is becoming serious, and there will be general relief when the enemy marauders are captured. The difficulty of detection on the wide ocean expanse is obvious, and even when encountered by British naval

vessels, the raiders have escaped after inflicting and receiving dam- : age. There can be no doubt that : the German .ships are receiving ' help from “neutral” quarters, and : that the raiding has been cleverly planned,. and should not be regarded as merely incidental. On land, there has been an absence of the spectacular. Preparations for the capture of Bardia are progressing satisfactorily;, and the decision to value life more than time, will meet with no censure. Greek progress continues, if not at the rate claimed by unofficial reports. Aerial attacks by the R.A.F. and Germany have been resumed, the tragic story following now familiar lines. There must be many more chapters to this serial before the happy ending is reached. The development on land, however, that commands most interest at the moment, is not the actual fighting, but the nego-tiations-between the Nazis and the Vichy Cabinet. Well-founded information is difficult to obtain, and thus, the way is open for the imaginative to supply news that may be more interesting than true. It is to be hoped that Vichy will refuse to accept the Nazi de-1 mands if these include handing over the French Fleet and Air Force, as the acquisition of these forces by the Nazis would add greatly to Britain’s task, even if war did not develop between Britain and France. The weakness of France is such that Marshal Petain and his supporters must be puzzled to know how best to oppose Nazi demands. The Marshal must have given up before this his previous hope of “achieving an honourable agreement as between soldiers.” Many reports are coming from France of popular discontent . against Nazi control. That was to be expected, and similar resentment must exist in all German-occupied lands. The military value to Britain of this unrest and sabotage is not likely to be great, until British troops are at hand to co-operate with the patriotic civilians.