BRITAIN’S NAVY

Hokitika Guardian, 15 July 1940, Page 5

BRITAIN’S NAVY

A HEAVY DUTY

SPEECH BY MR A, V. ALEXANDER

(Per British Official Wireless.)

RUGBY, July 13. The First Lord of the Admiralty, Mr A. V. Alexander, in a broadcast

speech, said that it was his pride, no

less his duty, to state that the demands of this war on the resourcefulness of the

Royal Navy had not been surpassed at any. time- in its long history. He expressed the regret of the

British Government and “its dread sense of responsibility,” to the alternatives that led to the naval actions,at Oran and at Dakar. Mr Alexander said: “Respectfully, we pay tribute to the gallantry shown by the French commanders, officers and men who, rightly of wrongly, out of their duty, felt bound to reject the alternatives i offered them to continue their cooperation in the fight against aggression and tyranny, or to submit to the voluntary demilitarisation of their ships. If their decision was wrong their gallantry was beyond question, and, as First Lord of the Admiralty, I pay tribute to- them. Their spirit is the augury of a France which will yet arise triumphant, like the Phoenix, from the ashes to which misguided counsels have reduced their country.” He emphasised the danger to British shipping sailing in all oceans .of the wide world, in spite of the German U-boats and bombers if. French capital ships had fallen into enemy hands. Mr Alexander added: “Looking further afield, how might the security of the commerce and even the territory of the I American Continent have been weakened had the power of the British main fleet been out-weighed but for our determined action;.” Ho continued: “Nor have the last few weeks been lacking in other testimony to our. unwavering purpose. Night and day our air forces have been attacking the enemy in its own , territory. Our aircraft—and, I am i proud to say, especially the Fleet Air Arm—have carried the war home into Italian territory. Notwithstanding odds against it created by the loss of French naval co-operation, the Mediterranean Fleet has continued to seek' battle right' up to the gates of Italian naval bases, 'and when cbntact has been made, it has been the... superior forces of the enemy, and not; our own which have broken off the fight. “Nor have we been idle in preparing ourselves to meet the-, gambler’s throw of attempted invasion of our shores. For. obvious reasons,,. t l cannot- speak in any detail of measures taken against landings hi this country; 1 b’lit I'da'll ' say that preparation of defences on our beaches and elsewhere has proceeded most effectively, and lias revolutionised the position. Our naval dispositions are ! such as to ensure the warmest reception for various seaborne forces which the enemy might launch against our shores. In all these preparations the Admiralty works in the closest and happiest contact with, the Air Ministry to ensure that we may have warning of enemy expeditions, and may destroy and drown them at sea.

“Lately, the German propaganda machine, has somewhat inconsistently boasted, not merely of reducing us by a lightning stroke of invasion, but of wearing us down by a blockade carried out by bomb and torpedo. As regards the blockade, let me say at once that, in the face of the intensified attack by these weapons, which can only be temporary, and not- sustained, our mercantile losses have, to some extent, increased. We have no need to exaggerate this threat—German communiques will do that for us. Look at the facts! ,In six weeks since a new wave of U-boat campaign started, the average weekly loss of British, Allied and neutral ships has altogether been 60,000 tons above the average weekly loss for the whole war. The chances of a ship in a British convoy being sunk are still only one in 681. Our sea ports bear daily witness of the fact that our gxeat ocean argosies are still coming home with immense supplies of every conceivable war necessity from all over the world, and coastal convoys arc distributing these through the length and breadth of the land. It is a remarkable fact that, in the face of all of the difficulties 1 enumerated, we are still entering and clearing no less than two and a-quarter million tons of shipping from our ports every week. What can Germany, despoiling the lands she lias overrun, show to match this stor> ? What men of their own free will, will join her cause? What goods will roach her from overseas? Where ar'c her merchant ships upon the seas? This is not all. The story is not- alone one of defensive measures we are taking or of goods reaching us. It is a story oi offensive measures also. Every day we are hitting back harder and harder against the enemy. Recently, one of our forces in the Mediterranean, while being bombed lor three hours on end by 36 aircraft, destroyed or put out of action, 11 enemy aircraft. “Also in the Mediterranean the heroic garrison and people of Malta are withstanding the almost daily air raids, and by gunfire and the gallant skill of a handful of fighter aircraft on the island have accounted for about 20 Italian aeroplanes. No loss than 14 Italian submarines have been destroyed or captured in one month of the war,, in addition to which Italy has lost three destroyers and sustained heavy damage to a battleship and a cruiser. No wonder they have repaired to a safe distance! The last three week's, pregnant with grim issues,, t liavo borne witness to a deepening of the spiritual and moral forces of the British people. We are more than ever sustained here

at home by our consciousness of a British Commonwealth of Nations, united as never before 1 in defence of Christianity, of civilisation, and of the kindly, tolerant way of life which we have evolved through centuries, and which has developed an equal calm and fruitful benevolence among our sister nations in the British Commonwealth and in America. The arsenals, factories and dockyards of the Commonwealth daily furnish more and more munitions of war. They are responding to all calls without stint or hesitation the flow of soldiers, sailors, airmen to these islands continuing in an everincreasing stream.” The First Lord of the Admiralty, continuing, said: “In the name of the Navy, I pay my tribute of admiration and sympathy for two fine ships, belonging to the Empire naval forces, which have recently been lost in the common cause —the CanadiandesAoyer “Fraser,” which was sunk in the face of the enemy during operations off the coast of France; and the ship “Pathan.” of the Indian Navy, which was destroyed by enemy mines while on patrol. Nor do I forget for one moment the local assistance given by the fleets of Australia and New Zealand, those island homes imbibing with the sea. that air of seamanship and spirit of independence which are the tradition of all nations so happily situated by Providence. Every Dominion, every colony is sending help. A cause which calls forth such men, such effort, such devotion, and such sacrifice can never be lost; and, especially to those in the great United States of America, whose sympathy and understanding and practical help have boon welcome to us in our testing time. 1 sav: Be of good cheer, for our common ideals, I would, nevertheless say that the great American nations would consider, and recognise, that the fight we wage to-day is as much a fight for the preservation of their national inheritance, horn of sacrifices evoketl by such men as Jefferson and Lincoln, and of principles involved in the Declaration of Independence, as it is a fight for the preservation of England’s own green pleasant land, of the Charter of Bunnymede, of our free franchise, our social services, and standards,”