BRITAIN'S FIGHT

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23769, 24 September 1940, Page 8

BRITAIN'S FIGHT

FAITH IN VICTORY , LONDON'S GRIM ORDEAL BROADCAST BY LORD MAYOR By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright British Wireless LONDON, Sept. 22 A spirited repudiation of the suggestion that Britain is a beleaguered fortress was made in a broadcast address to America by, the Lord Mayor of London, spoken in his absence owing to a slight cold by the former Lord Mayor, Sir William Broadbridge.

Cargoes Still Arrive He snid: "Just look for a moment at tliis England of ours. It is the homi? of men and women resolutely preparing themselves for the most supremo task in British history. "Night by night there flies out from this island the spearhead of our attack on Nazi Germany. That spearhead ts the Royal Air Force, whose heroic exploits are known to all the world, but even these brave men of the air could not give us command of the seas. "If the British Fleet did not hold the ocean around, our shores against all comers, the hope of freedom in the world would die. Who, except Goebbels, could suggest that Britain is besieged to-day when our ships bring us daily, and in safety, the food we eat, the steel, copper, oil and cotton we need for our efTort in the war? We are daily revictualled and replenished from the granaries and arsenals of the world, and week by week our export trade is carried out over the seven seas. World's Debt to Navy "This is no idle boast: It is the plain honest truth, but do not imagine we can keep our seaports open to receive the rich cargoes of the outer world without paying a price, and a very heavy price. Patrols of the Royal Navy are guarding not only the shores of Britain, but the security of the whole world. "We stand to-day facing the greatest crisis in our history, looking to victory sure and complete with a banner bearing our ancient motto, 'Domine Dirige Nos.' " Referring to the present trials that London was undergoing, the Lord Mayor said: "London has known past moments when all she most valued, liberty and life itself, were at stake, but never in her long annals has she been called upon to face an ordeal so cruel or so searching. Her long established traditions of safe and settled ways have been assaulted as never before. Her peaceful citizens have been subjected to the ruthless cruelty of an embittered foe bent on her destruction. "To-day London stands as the very bulwark of civilisation and freedom as we know it. It is the greatest responsibility the world has ever known. This red earth of our countryside, these paved streets of my city, built on Roman foundations shall, and will, be defended to the last. London City has sometimes in her history been attacked, but never sacked."