BRITISH CHOICE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 17 August 1940, Page 2

BRITISH CHOICE

WAR WITH GERMANY DEATH BEFORE DOMINATION VISITING CAPTAIN’S VIEWS “I have spoken to all classes of people in Britain, and I am convinced that the feeling is universal that they would rather be dead than under Nazi domination,” said Captain A. E. Lettington, D.F.C. (with bar), master of a visiting merchant vessel, in an address to the Auckland Rotary Club (reports the “Herald”). “All at Home realise that there are only two ways by which Hitler can win,” Captain Lettington said. The first was by a quick attack, and many hoped that he would choose that course, for they felt confident that he would get a tremendous thrashing. The speaker had seen preparations in England for such an event, and they were on a stupendous scale. PROTECTION BY ROYAL NAVY The other course for Hitler was' to sink Britain’s merchant shipping and thus starve the country into submission. Those in a position to judge were sure that course would also fail, because the merchant marine was too well looked after by the Royal Navy. Dealing with air attacks on Britain, Captain Lettington referred to the effectiveness of balloon barrages, and said that German dive bombers were definitely not hitting their objectives. He contradicted local impressions that certain parts of England were very badly damaged, and suggested that some New Zealanders might be giving too much credence to Berlin broadcasts. The Germans were not doing the damage to Britain that Britain was doing to their own country. In addition to the effective balloon barrage, there were several factors to account for this. The German airmen were not so efficiently trained as the British, while their machines, large in numbers, were inferior in quality. In addition, the nature of the German countryside made it much easier to bomb than Britain. AFTER THE COLLAPSE OF FRANCE When France capitulated, the people of England were momentarily stunned, felt they had been misinformed and were angry with the Government, the speaker continued. That attitude did not last long, however, and gave waj to a feeling almost of relief. The British saw themselves on their own, no longer relying on anyone else, and they were determined to go ahead and win. Too long had there been a Maginot Line complex in England. “Mr Winston Churchill has the heart of the British people,” Captain Lettington added.” They are absolutely sure that under his guidance we will win in the end.”