STRONG RAMPARTS BAR WAY TO NAZIS

Manawatu Times, Volume 65, Issue 187, 9 August 1940, Page 8

STRONG RAMPARTS BAR WAY TO NAZIS

Immeasurable Growth In British Power

(British Official Wireless) RUGBY, Aug. 7. Speaking at a public luncheon to-day, Mr A. Y. Alexander, the First Lord of the Admiralty, said: "By the sheer weight of the vast war machine which they have created, the Germans have overrun large areas of Europe and overthrown for the time being the great bastion of freedom on the Continent which the French people had maintained for over a century. "This country, as the outpost of the British Commonwealth, and aided by Allied contingents which escaped the successive strokes of tho Nazi scythe, now constitutes the only organised bulwark against the creation of a European policy State, which is Germany’s immediate aim, with the threat which that would involve to other nations overseas. Only behind this bulwark can forces be mobilised and organised which will later remove the monstrous threat to liberty which confronts the world. “The Nazis,’’ said the First Lord, “have already enslaved the populations and made a desert of several once fertile and flourishing parts of Europe. As they look across the narrow waters of the Channel to the white cliffs of England, they must often wonder what measure of time and effort still separates them from the full achievement of a conquest which would make the countries of the world their tributaries and countless nations their slave markets.” Mr. Alexander went on to tell of some of his reasons for believing that the Nazi goal would never be realised. “To establish their domination,” he said, "the Germans must defeat the British Commonwealth of Nations. Our plan, and the measures which we are actually taking, provide a counter to each and every possible method of attack.

“We have to look very carefully to our moat, which was given to us by Providence,” continued Mr. Alexander. “It is now immeasurably better defended, and its ramparts are far higher and broader, than they were when the Battle of France ended.” The Navy was making its contributions, not the least in discharging the vital task of defending the convoys carrying large cargoes of valuable food and raw materials and military stores of various kinds from all over the world, including America, “to whom we are grateful for the productions they are making available.” Furtive Minelaying. The First Lord continued: “The greatly-exaggerated snemy claims con:erning his attacks on our trade are i measure of what he fondly hopes to gain by this weapon. We are matching it and beating it by unremitting effort and by the constant development ff new methods for the protection of 3Ur convoys.” Regarding mines, he said: “Night after night, minelaying aircraft, under jover of darkness, drop their deadly oads in the fairways and estuaries of aur ports. Their efforts are supplemented by submarines, which furtively sow their minefields off our coasts. As soon as such minelaying is detected or suspected, the channels affected are closed, shipping is diverted, and minesweepers take up their dangerous trsk.” Mr Alexander paid a tribute, too, to the resolution, seamanship, and endurance of the anti-invasion patrols, operating without lights and in all weather. War in Mediterranean. The First Lord had a few words to say on the Mediterranean. “The problem of the Mediterranean,” he said ' has undeniably been increased by the loss of French co-operation and French bases. Nevertheless, we are pursuing, and with success, our policy of striking persistently at Italian territory whenever we can. The R.A.F. has already nullified very considerably the preparations which the Italians have been making at their bases in East Africa and Eastern Libya. "Italy itself does not remain unscathed. Only last Thursday, aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm swept down, literally out of the blue, on the aerodrome at Cagliari, Sardinia. We know for certain that they destroyed four limes the number of aircraft which they lost in the course of this operation, without taking account of what may have been contained in the four hangars which were hit. Tribute to Air Force. “I gladly pay the Navy’s tribute to the incomparable pilots of the Air Force, ever ready to soar into the air to meet and attack the enemy. In particular, the Navy has cause to be grateful to the crews of the handful of aircraft at Malta, who with unsurpassed resourw., resolution, and bravery, have kept at bay infinitely superioi squadrons of bombers and fighters mustered in Sicily for the destruction of our naval base in the Central Mediterranean.” Mr Alexander spoke warmly also of the professional skill and devotion oi the engineer officers and personnel of the Fleet, which kept British ships, big and little, at sea day after day, accomplishing countless hours of steaming in all weather with hardly ever a breakdown, and of the unrelaxing and invaluable efforts of the training establishments to speed up the training of new personnel * 1 needed to man the stream of new warships which are all tho time coming into service.”