CHANNEL DESERTED

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20275, 17 June 1940, Page 5

CHANNEL DESERTED

DIVERSION OF SHIPPING GERMAN MENACE LONDON MAY BE CLOSED LONDON. May 30. The North Sea and the English Channel lately have been almost deserted by merchantmen. The Scandinavian. Belgian and Dutch sea trade has ended, but fishing craft off the east coast of England are indomitably persevering with their calling.

The narrow waters now are the unchallenged domain of Allied warships, which arc watchfully prepared to defeat Herr Hitler's threatened invasion of Britain. It is doubted whether lie still dreams of attempting to send water-borne equipment for a parachute army. The British people recognise the danger of parachutists, but they can be effectively dealt with wherever they land in a hostile countryside. Guns’ Threat to Dover

If the Germans occupy and retain the remaining Channel ports .it will be impossible for merchant shipping to iuse the Straits of Dover, and probably, it will be decided that Hull and the Port of London cannot be used. If the Germans consolidated positions in the Channel ports, their long-range .guns would be able to bombard Dover and Folkestone, and threaten shipping at the same time. It may be decided that it is 100 dangerous to allow merchantmen to use the intricate waters of the Thames Estuary in the face of bombers based, perhaps, only 20 minutes away, and of the fast torpedo-boats of which Rear-Admiral von Luetzow boasts. Such a diversion of shipping would put a big strain on the west coast ports—Plymouth, Cardiff. Bristol, Liverpool and Glasgow. It would also involve an abnormal strain on the railways in bringing foodstuffs to the densely-populated eastern counties.