The Northern Advocate Daily “NORTHLAND FIRST” Registered for transmission through the post as a Newspaper FRIDAY, AUGUST 16, 1940. Another British Victory

Northern Advocate, 16 August 1940, Page 4

The Northern Advocate Daily “NORTHLAND FIRST” Registered for transmission through the post as a Newspaper FRIDAY, AUGUST 16, 1940. Another British Victory

WHETHER the Nazis have commenced their attempt to invade Britain, or whether they are just indulging in a preliminary testing of their war machine, as some German leaders say, while others declare emphatically that the attack has been under way ever since the surrender of France, there is no room for doubt as to the terrific character of the fighting that has taken place over the English Channel and the south-eastern portion of Britain. Today’s news is the most stirring we have been able to record, for we are told that fully a thousand German bombers, fighter-bombers and fighters took part in a fierce battle in the vicinity of Croydon aerodrome, which is only ten miles southeast of London. The raid may therefore be regarded as a German attempt to bomb the world’s metropolis. The result of the battle must cheer the heart of every Britisher and every soul who is longing for release from the Nazi yoke. Another big defeat was suffered by the German raiders, who lost 144 planes. The R.A.F. lost only 27 machines, and, greatest cause for thankfulness, eight of the pilots are reported to have been saved. Hitherto the Germans have launched attacks obviously with the object of destroying British shipping. Despite minor successes —it would be absurd to imagine that a hail of bombs could fail to hit some ships—the effect of the raids has been negligible, for shipping in convoy continues to go up and down the Channel, thus maintaining vital communications with the outside world. Germany’s air raids have been tremendously costly, the R.A.F. having destroyed planes in a manner which has evoked world-wide admiration and created the belief that the longer Germany continues to send planes over Britain the greater will be the disparity between the losses sustained by the attackers and the defenders. This belief is strengthened by a report of the latest raid. The result bears out the contention that Germany’s losses must be progressively heavier as raiders penetrate Britain, for the reason that the R.A.F. will be given greater opportunity to meet the enemy. So far as attacks on shipping in the Channel are concerned ,it is obvious that German planes are able to drop bombs on their intended victims within a few minutes after leaving the northern coast of France, thus making it extremely difficult for R.A.F. fighters to engage them before they begin their bombdropping operations. The extra time required to fly across British territory will naturally be to the advantage of the British airmen whose exploit over Croydon is a case in point. Though huge toll has been taken of German machines over the Channel and in Britain, the. R.A.F. obviously has much reserve power, for squadrons continue to raid Germany and the German occupied areas. As our cable messages show, military objectives have been badly damaged. The raids, which have extended to within sixty miles of Berlin, have left a trail of destroyed aeroplane factories, oil stores, railway marshalling yards, docks, barges and all manner of material required to facilitate the projected invasion of Britain. Though the raids of the R.A.F. have undoubtedly delayed the launching of the invasion, if such be really intended, the people of Britain have been warned to increase rather than relax their vigilance. The R.A.F. has not been content with carrying the war into Germany. This week has witnessed a dramatic onslaught upon Italy. Bombing planes made a journey of 800 miles across France and Switzerland and surprised Milan and Turin, in northern Italy. These cities are the headquarters ot Italy’s aviation industry. The factories were bombed to good purpose, and it is reported that substantial damage was done. The moral effect of this raid, apart altogether from the material damage inflicted, has been marked, as may be gathered from the comments of the Italian press.

ITALY’S CAMPAIGN.

Apart from the fact that British planes have raided Italy’s chief aeroplane factories, an achievement which has captured the public imagination, the people of Britain are very much concerned in Italian activities in the Mediterranean and in Africa.

It is becoming increasingly evident that Mussolini, doubtless acting under the instructions of HJitler, is exerting every effort to secure Greece’s opposition to Britain, or, at any rate, to disassociate herself from the understanding which exists between Britain and herself. To this end she is using the murder of an Albanian as a lever. This Albanian, it is alleged, was shot by a Greek. This contention is strongly disputed, but, in any case, it is obvious that the incident is merely being used to excuse Italy’s demands that the island of Corfu shall be ceded to her and that the Yugo-Slavian coast of the Adriatic shall be placed under Italian control. These demands upon Greece have a sinister complexion. If Greece refuses to accede to the demands made upon her, the next step will doubtless be an Italian attack upon her territory, an act which would immediately open the door to developments in the eastern Mediterranean calculated to alter the whole complexion of the war. The demands made upon Greece are revealed in their real light when it is learned that the murdered Albanian, so far from being a patriot, as claimed by Italy, was nothing less than a murderer and brigand whose crimes had been directed against the State as well as private individuals. However, he is a convenient weapon in the hands of Italy, who may be expected to make the utmost use of it. Developments in Albania and Greece are linked with Italy’s movements in Africa. There is no doubt a desire to set the European shores of the Mediterranean on fire before the contemplated advance against Egypt is ordered. This advance is also being conditioned by the campaign in British Somaliland, where the Italians are evidently making progress. The situation in Africa, in Albania and in Greece is to be regarded in the light of possible repercussions in Syria and consequent effect upon the oil supplies of the British Navy in the Mediterranean.