The Northern Advocate Daily “NORTHLAND FIRST” THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1939. Glory and Ignominy

Northern Advocate, 21 December 1939, Page 4

The Northern Advocate Daily “NORTHLAND FIRST”

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1939. Glory and Ignominy

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TO-DAY’S news makes interesting reading. It tells of deeds which reflect glory upon British sailors and airmen, and of deeds which deepen thd ignominy recent events have placed upon Germany. The scuttling of the Admiral Graf von Bpee constituted an ignominious closing chapter in the history of a much-vauntecl pocket battleship. Now an epilogue has been written. It is a most regrettable epilogue, for it records the death of the commander of the battleship, who has died by his own hand.

just what effect this will have upon the minds of Nazis who have proved themselves to be lacking those finer instincts which differentiate the being from the brute, it is difficult to say, but the suicide of a sailor who merely carried out the orders of his rulers, and carried them out well, will undoubtedly move very profoundly tbe mass of the German people and those of other nations. ; The suicide is typical of the fate which the madness of HenHitler and his associates has forced upon the German nation, who may well ask themselves why they should be expected to support a regime which has again, and unnecessarily, exposed them to the plague of war. Apart from the ignominy attaching to the destruction _ of the pocket battleship, there is now told the story of the scuttling of a 32,000-ton German passenger liner, the Columbus, which, with some 600 people on board, left Vera Cruz in an attempt to reach Germany. The liner was escorted through territorial waters by United States warships, but immediately a British warship hove in sight, the commander of the Columbus decided to sink his ship. Fortunately an American ship, answering a S.O.S. call, was able to rescue practically the whole of the passengers and crew, only two being unaccounted for. Side by side with this story of a British warship standing by while the work of rescue was allowed to proceed, are other stories of German planes machine-gunning British sailors whose trawlers had been sunk. The contrast speaks for itself. In a different category is the story of a great air battle fought over the North Sea. Details of the battle show that German and British airmen fought with all their might, both sides suffering considerably. That the British should have proved victorious under such circumstances gives added importance to their achievement. The latest German aircraft, carrying cannon as well as machine-guns, were defeated by the smaller but swifter British fighters. On the sea, Germany suffered heavily at the hands of French warships, which sank two U-boats, while the British sinking of a warship and the damaging of two other ships, which probably were unable to return to their home port are confirmed. In the face of all these disasters, the folly of the German Propaganda Department in announcing Nazi victories becomes increasingly apparent. It may be true, as Herr Hitler says, that the people will believe a lie if only it be big enough, but it is another matter when an attempt is made to ask the people to accept a series of little lies, each of which must sooner or later stand revealed. The lying propaganda sent out by the Berlin radio station will eventually prove to have been excellent ammunition for Allied use.