GRAVE HOUR

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23661, 21 May 1940, Page 8

GRAVE HOUR

INSPIRING SPEECH CALL FOR COURAGE (PREMIER'S CONFIDENCE [ABILITY TO STRIKE BACK By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright British Wireless LONDON, May 10 Declaring that it would be foolish to disguise the gravity of the hour but still more foolish to lose heart and courage, the Prime Minister, Mr. Winston Churchill, broadcast to-day a speech which epitomised tho convictions of the British people. The address, which made a profound impression on his hearers, was not only transmitted to British and Empire listeners, but also relayed on the French broadcasting system and to the United States. "I speak, to you for the first time as Prime Minister," said Mr. Churchill, "in a solemn hour for the life of our country, our Empire, our Allies, and on-behalf of the cause of freedom. "A tremendous battle is raging in Franco and Flanders. The Germans, by a remarkable combination of air bombing and' heavily armoured tanks, have broken through the French defences north of the Maginot Line, and strong columns of their armoured vehicles are ravaging the open country, which for the first day or two was without defenders. Danger to Both Sides "The columns penetrated deeply and spread alarm and confusion in their track. Behind them there is now appearing infantry in lorries, and behind them large masses are moving forward. "A regroupment of the French armies to make a head against and also striko at this intruding wedge has been proceeding for several days, largely assisted by the magnificent efforts of the Royal Air Force. We must not allow ourselves to bo intimidated by the presence of these armoured •vehicles in unexpected places behind the lines. If they are behind our front, ,the French also at many points are fighting actively behind theirs. "Botl/ sides, therefore, are in an extremely dangerous position, and if the French Army and our own Army are well handled —as I believe they will be —if the French retain that genius for recovery and counter-attack for which they have so long been famous, and if the British Army shows the dogged endurance and solid fighting power of which there have been so many examples in the past, a sudden transformation of the scene might spring intp being. Stabilisation Expected "It would be foolish to suppose that well-trained, well-equipped armies, numbering three or four millions of men. can be overcome in the spaco of a few weeks or months by a swoop or raid of mechanised vehicles, however formidable. We may look with confidence to the stabilisation of- the front in France, and to a general engagement of the masses which will enable the qualities of French and British soldiers to be matched squarely against those of their adversaries. "For myself, I have invincible confidence in the French Army and its leaders. Only a small jpart of that splendid Army has yet been engaged. Only a very small part of France has yet been invaded. "There ip good evidence to show that practically the whole specialised and mechanised forces of the enemy have been already thrown into the battle, and we know that very heavy losses have been inflicted <on them. More Favourable Air Position "In tho air, often at odds believed to be overwhelming, we have been clawing down three or four to one, and the relative balance of the British and German Air Forces is now considerably more favourable to us than at the beginning'of the battle. Cutting down the German bombers is fighting our own battle, as well as that of France. "My confidence in our ability to fight it out to a finish with the German Air Force has been strengthened by the fierce encounters which have taken and are taking place. At the same time, our heavy bombers are striking nightly at the tap-root of German mechanised power, and already have inflicted serious damage on the oil refineries on which the/Nazi effort to dominate the .world directly depends. BOMBS ESCAPED PRINCESS AND BABIES ATTACK AT QUAYSIDE LONDON, May 15 Thirty German aeroplanes attacked tho ship which brought Princess Juliana, Prince Bernhard, and their two babies to England at the week-end. Princess Juliana escaped death narrowly on the quayside in Holland. She had just stepped from her car and was assisting a nurse to carry tho gas-proof cot, in which her youngest baby was sleeping, when a German aeroplane power-dived. Its bombs crashed on to the end of the pier, less than 200 yards away, smashing it completely, and killing a man. Tho explosion shook everyone in the Royal party. Other German aeroplanes took up the attack. .When their bombs failed, they machine-gunned tjie decks of tho .Royal vessel. Seamen defending tho vessel fired anti-aircraft guns until they were too hot to touch. Still under heavy lire from tlie German aeroplanes, tho ship reversed down the canal and reached the open sea. Here the guns of British warships and British fighter aeroplanes joined in tho attack on tho German machines, somo of which'were brought down. "The sky seemed full of metal," said an officer. "Jt seemed as if nothing could live through tho barrage. Yet thev still' returned to tho attack. ' Two aeroplanes attacked togothor, sweeping o.ur ship from stem to "stern. As our guns turned on them another bomber swooped and dropped a very heavy bomb, shaking tho ship. The raiders then drew off."