CASUAL COMMENT

Hokitika Guardian, 14 September 1940, Page 6

CASUAL COMMENT

AND SOME OBSERVATIONS (By Observer). ; Some indication of the feeling in Britain at the time of the Frenchsurrender is given in the following review of the situation in “The ‘Navy, ■}< London, July issue:— “ It is useless, -to seek words, in which ' to describe the capitulation of France, after live weeks of stiff fighting, with; all that it implies for France’s in*),, flexible ally of the last war and of'this; one. It is vain to seek possible reasons for .thews decisions of- despair and disloyalty or to marvel that the stickle of what had been v a really great nation should Iks contrived- by; two of that nation’s greatest soldiers,., It is a waste of time and energy to sad, sorry, astounded, perplexed,'contemptuous fIV angry. 'The thing sR-pb posed to be-; impossible had : happened, its consequences have to he faced, and we need every particle of- moral, mental and -physical ■ energy lor “the task, the trouble, and live toil.” It Is enough that Mr Churchill has expressed ah cl explained the “grief an d, amazement” of His Majesty s Goy-, eminent. -

We come now, starkly, to the >np£t deadly menace we have been,summoned.; to ’ face,. Once again, and as yet insufficiently equipped, we fight alone,,; having taken arms against a sea. of jeiiemies, for ‘,a cause which should ho that of every commdnity, great or small, of free, just men.-. We rlui-yc to make sure that when history "is, written it shall he said of the British Empire, in *Mr Church ill’s splendid phrase, “this was their finest hour.” The clangers, the difficulties, .the- handicaps are as obvious as the'justice of tlie cause, the highness of the calling, and the absolute necessity , of fighting to the last man on the last foot soil. But it ‘is not all danger and hanclican. AVe fioffit alone. There is in that exhilaration and comfort. Brothers guard the hack of brothers. We know that the man hv our side will stand no while he lives. It steels our hearts and fortifies our hands. Tt ennobles and illuminates all iv-o shal.l do as one o-reat familv in ohavnre of all the traditions: -and all the- honour nf our rare. We are. moreover, utterly .•convinced +ha+. vre. must he the vd'Utauts of God. This war is a culm.in.at-, ino- stru-ra-V TWwpotv :goerJ••• and 0.v.i1-, and we fight alone for good. We'shall prevail. . "

We have now. too, a sense of personal responsibility. Great things are committed to tlie charge of each one of us. We have such a, sense :i of. brotherhood in this land arid throughout all the Empire as we ha'Ve-' held wistfully as the- great ideal for very many years. Death means much less because death would be so much easier tjian Nazi servitude. We shall not surrender. “This England never did, nor ever shall lie at the proud, foot of*»a; conqueror Most surely the British Empire never shall he trampled and torn and tortured andenslaved and brutalised by .Hitler and his gangsters, by that German nation which, only, a ,few mo'hths ago had its apologists and .friends-'findi champions . even in the high::seats'/-of the British Government. These arfe the moral; issues and the moral-strength of what shall be our “splendid nation.” The material issues, and .the I 'materia! strength of the Empire call give ns a seasoned conviction of complete victory in tlie. end. AVe shall fight alone and there is not, perhaps," another race who could and would contemplate so great an adventure. But we shall not be overwhelmed by the shameful defection of the French Government—even if it should prove that- the /valiant efforts of gallant French leaders here and in France’s -Colonial Empire cannot, rally to The cause of the French forces outside France, even if great parts of the French Navy and Air Force cannot be prevented, from lulling into German hands for use against a faithful ally, thus abandoned in tlie crisis of the greatest fight. ’

■ If finance lias any longer any part to play we can stay the course. If sympathy can take the plac-e of alliance, then the U.S.A. will contribute, i:i some considerable, measure to our ultimate triumph. AVe have- there and, in our Dominions centres of manufacture from which arms, ammunition, ships, guns, and aeroplanes can reach us-' in ceaseless and increasing volume, lands in which soldiers and' pilots can be trained without interruption, without- bombs and shells to halt even for a few hours any part of the total effort. AVe have at liome and overseas, magnificent armed forces still inadequate in number's, training and equipment, hut even now most formidable forces—a very large part of whom have- met the Huns in battle and found themselves tlie better men! AVe have the greatest Navy in the world .which lias on every day and in every sea since September 3rd, proved the valor of 'ts men, the skill of its leadership, and the violent efficiency of its offensive strength, the Navy, holding and keeping command of tlie sea. will win the war, wil l save us from Uie- fate of Franco, will strangle to death tlie Nazi tyranny and bring this devildom to naught.

AVe have the means to win this war and to save ,tho nvor’d .for Christian civilisation. But oven Sen Power must depend on the spirit of the people in whose hands it-' rests. AVe have that spirit. AVe are facing ruthless facts. AVe are not the victims of illusion or false hopes. AVe have \ measured the suffering and the saori- • dice, the length and the severity; of the struggle, the frustration .of hopes in which wo used to live.

But’' our soul is » ofc .or bur heart dismayed, turna’tivo to victory is death |n every possible souse, not fail. troubled The aide a tli— We shall