NOTES on the WAR NEWS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 11 January 1940, Page 8

NOTES on the WAR NEWS

Will Stop At Nothing

HITLER IN ROLE OF WAR LORD A study of the working of Adolf Hitler's mind in the pre-war days when he was planning Germany's campaign of aggression has been provided by Dr. Herman Rauschning, former Nazi President of Danzig. In an article written for a London journal he recalls a gathering at Hitler's home when the Fuehrer talked with some of his followers. We sat, writes Dr. Rauschning. on the rather narrow veranda Wachenfeld House in the Obersalzberg. Hitler’s magnificent Alsatian sheepdog lay at his feet. It was a magical August morning. Albert Forster was there, and Rudolf Hess and others. We spoke of the result of the war, and the tragical turn of all German victories. "We shall not capitulate—no, never,” Hitler exclaimed. “We may be destroyed, but if we are, we shall drag a world with us—a world in flames.” “Those Fools Of 1914“ A young leader of the S.A. broke the silence by saying that it was the superior armament of our enemies that had brought about the unhappy conclusion of the last war. “Who says I’m going to start a war like those fools in 1914?” cried Hitler. “Are not aLI our efforts bent to preventing this? Most people have no imagination.” His face twisted into an expression of contempt. “What is the object of war, Forster? To make the enemy capitulate. If he does, I have the prospect of wiping him out. Why should I demoralize him by military means if I can do so better and more cheaply in other ways?” “The enemy people must be demoralized and ready to capitulate, driven into moral passivity, before military action can even be thought of.” “Mental confusion, contradiction of feeling, indecisiveness, panic: these are our weapons. Do you know the doctrine of the coup d’etat? Study it. Then you will know our task. The Moment To Strike * “I shall never start a war without the certainty that a demoralized enemy will succumb to the first stroke of a single gigantic attnck.” Hitler’s eyes took on a fixed stare, and he began to shout. “When the enemy is demoralized from within, when he stands on the brink of revolution, when social unrest threatens —that is the right moment. “A single blow must destroy him. Aerial attacks, stupendous in their mass effect, surprise, terror, sabotage, assassination from within, the murder of leading men, overwhelming attacks on nil weak points in the enemy’s defence, sudden attacks, all in the same second, without regard for reserves or losses: that is the war of the future. A gigantic all-destroying blow. “Perhaps we shall introduce bacteria at the height of the war, at the moment when the powers of resistance of the enemy are beginning to fail. “I do not consider consequences. I do not play at war. I shall not allow .myself to be ordered about by •com-manders-in-chief.’ I ghall make war. I shall determine the correct moment for attack. “There is only one most favourable moment. I shall await it—with iron determination. I shall not miss it. I shall bend all my energies toward bringing it about. That is my mission. If I succeed in that then I have the right to send youth to its death. I shall have saved as many lives then as could be saved.

Hitler paused again. His next words came like a peroration. “I shall shrink from nothing. No so-called international law, no agreements will prevent me from making use of any advantage that offers. “The next war will be unbelievably bloody and grim. But the most inhuman war, one which makes no distinction between military and civilians combatants, will at the same time be the kindest, because it will be the shortest.” New R.A.F. Command In the recent past the Royal Air Force has been divided into three commands—the Fighter Command, the Bomber Command and the Coastal Command—each with its chief and the whole under the head of the Force, Air Chief Marshal Sir Cyril Newall, whose title is Chief of the Air Staff. Now a fourth important command has been created by the grouping of all R.A.F. units in France under one man. The commanders of the four divisions of the Force are: Fighter Command: Air Marshall Sir Hugh Dowding. Bomber Command: Air Marshal Sir Edgar Ludlow-Hewijt. Coastal Command: Air Marshal Sir Frederick Bowhill. British Air Forces in France, Air Vice-Marshal A. S. Barratt. The official announcement of the new appointment emphasized that dual control would not be avoided. In other words, bombers and fighters operating in France, instead of remaining under their respective commands, will he commanded henceforth by Air ViceMarshal Barratt, who will be responsible directly to the Air Chief Marshal.

In Defence Of Kilts

A warm controversy is being waged at Home as a result of the British Army decision to equip all Highland regiments with the regulation “battle dress,” and to relegate the kilt to ceremonial occasions. Many Scotsmen, including war veterans, are strongly opposing the change on practical as well as sentimental grounds. Typical of many protests is one contained in a recent letter to “Tli® Times”:— • “? Iv husband served for 28 years in the beaforth Highlanders and w'nt through many campaigns. He always maintained that the kilt was “the finest campaigning dress in the world.” Is it not a fact that there were fewer deaths from illness aud disease in the kilted regiments during the South African War than amoii" anv others? “Brigadier-General Douglas Campbeo (as he then was! commanded a Brigad* of the Hist Highland Division during ini aml his °! >inion did m»t alter Hie kilt is n practical and hygienic drewand in no sense a fancy dress as many Sassenaelis appear to think : it keeps a man warm where warmth is most vital, among other advantages. “In any case, if the reasons for depriving the Highlander of hie* national dress and the Highland regiments of the dress they have made famous all over the world are said to be for their own health and comfort, it is surely common sense to allow those most concerned a voice in the matter.”