The Grey River Argus TUESDAY, September 5,1939. THE WAR DEVELOPS.

Grey River Argus, 5 September 1939, Page 6

The Grey River Argus TUESDAY, September 5,1939. THE WAR DEVELOPS.

' While her allies have beep, clearing their decks for action, | Poland has held the fort against the great German war machine. In the worry and bnblo of nego1 fiat ion and mobilisation, the people of Britain and France are preoccupied with their own part n the commencement of a great war. As the clouds lift which nave hung over the Eastern theatre, however, it appears that the Germans are about to experience something like the shock I which they began on Friday to apply to the Polish Army. It is noteworthy that the greatest secrecy is being shown by Britain and France in the inauguration of their attack. Meantime, the .Poles now seem to be holding their own in the northern sectors, the corridor not'yet having been crossed by the enemy, while Polish forces have taken the offensive, advancing into East Prussia. It is evidently upon the southern iront, nevertheless, that the Germans have massed their main strength, though five distinct offensives <on I heir part are report ed. The Germans have advanced definitely towards several south Polish cities, but the defenders now seem to have stood upon a line where they are ready to oiler sustained resistance. The Germans, meanlime, are said on Sunday night to have launched a great general offensive in every sector in the hope of a quick conquest, so as to allow of forces being transferred westward to the Siegfried Line, where the real issue of war on land will, no doubt, be once again decided. The French have announced that their army, navy and air force were all engaged yesterday, and it may be inferred that the British Navy and Air Force also struck against Germany. A blockade seems to have been started in the North Sea and across the entrance of the Baltic Sea, while a major aerial battle is reported to have, occurred in the vicinity of Holland, where a huge flotilla of planes was noted flying eastward before this engagement started. The Germans have come out in the same colours as during the last war with their submarine campaign, sinking to the west of Scotland a British liner carryingrefugees to North America. In the last war the then Chancellor, Von Bethmann-Hallweg, was an obstacle for some time to the inauguration of the submarine campaign, his idea having been that Britain would eventually be induced to pull out, but this time the sinking of non-combatant ships is being done from the outset. The Germans may possess many notable military qualities, but they display frequently a strain of stupidity such as is exemplified in the torpedoing of the “Athenia” when she was proceeding on a voyage such that she could by no stretch of imagination be confused with a warlike object. Under such circumstances, it can only be inferred that the U-boat crew had orders to sink at sight any vessel belonging to an enemy country without any regard as to whethei it might or might not be a combatant. Thus the tactics of “frightfulness’’ remain as much as ever an integral part of German military policy, and can only react adversely against the people of Germany themselves. The blockade which in the closing stages of the last war caused so many German children to wither and die has since been condemned upon humanitarian grounds. Such incidents, however, as the sinking of tjie “Athenia,” even though the loss of life was ■ remarkably little, go to provoke re taliation in the way of a. blockade, although the starvation resulting may affect eivlians in a great

er degree than it does actual combatants on the German side. The diplomatic argument regarding the question of whether Germany gave Poland a reasons l»l) opportunitv for negotiation i: : one that may require further elucidation before the average person can reach a firm conclusion. It is in keeping with the German methods to camouflage an aggressive de sign by attributing this intention to the other party. No doubt, the Powers now opposing Germany had a strong premonition that war had become inevitable; but. it has not been demonstrated that .war was precipitated by them. The fact that Poland was the object of attack strongly suggests that Germany acted entirely on the belief that the initiative lay with, herself, .and that the use she intended to make of it was an aggressive one.