MR CHURCHILL'S REVIEW

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24827, 29 January 1942, Page 5

MR CHURCHILL'S REVIEW

WAR SITUATION NOTHING GLOSSED OVER "WORSE YET TO COME" RUGBY, Jan. 27. Mr Churchill, in the House of Commons, said: " Since my return to this country I have come to the conclusion that I must ask to be sustained by a vote of confidence from the House of Commons. This is a thoroughly normal, constitutional, and democratic procedure. A debate on the war has been asked for. I have arranged it in the fullest, freest manner for three whole days. Any member will be free to say anything he thinks about or against the Administration, or against the composition or personalities of the Government to his heart's content, subject only to the reservation which the House always so carefully observes about military secrets. " Could you have anything freer than that, or any higher expression of democracy than that? Very few other countries have institutions strong enough to sustain things like that while fighting for their lives. I leave it to. the House to explain what has led me to ask for its exceptional support at this time. It has been suggested that we should have a day's debate of this kind in which the Government would no doubt be lustily belaboured by some of those who have lighter burdens to carry, and that at the end we should separate without a division. In this case such sections of the press which are hostile—and there are some whose hostility is pronounced—could declare that the Government's credit was broken, and it might even be hinted after all that has passed and the discussions there have been that it has been privately intimated to me that I should be very reckless if I asked for a vote of confidence from Parliament. The matter does not cease there. It must be remembered that these reports can then be flashed to all over the world and repeated in enemy broadcasts night after night in order to show that the'Prime Minister has no right to speak for the nation, and that the Government in Great Britain is about to collapse. No Longer Alone

"Anyone who listens to fulminations that come from sources across the water knows that it is not an exaggeration. There is another aspect. We in this island for a long time were alone holding up the torch. We are no longer alone now. We are now at the -centre and among 28 united nations comprising more than threefourths of the population of the globe. Whoever speaks for Britain at this moment must be speaking not only in the name of the people—and of that I am pretty sure I am—but in the name of Parliament, and, above all, of the House of Commons. It is the genuine public interest that requires that these facts should be made manifest in a formal way. "We have had a great deal of bad news lately from the Far East, and I think it possible, for reasons which I shall presently explain, that we shall have a great deal more. In this bad news there will be many delays, blunders, and shortcomings, both in the Far East and elsewhere. " I see all this rolling towards us like the waves in a storm, and that is another reason why I require a formal solemn oath of confidence from the House of Commons, which hitherto in this struggle has never flinched. The House of Commons would fail in its duty if it did not insist on two things —first, freedom of debate; and, secondly, a clear, honest, blunt vote thereafter. Then we shall know where we are. and those with whom we have to deal at home or abroad. Friends or foes will know where we are and where they are. It is because we have free debate, in which 20 or 30 members may take part, that I demand an expression of opinion from the 300 or 400 members who have to sit silent. It is because many things have gone badly, and that worse is to come, that I demand a vote of confidence."

Mr Churchill then went on to survey the war situation. "Three or four months ago we had to cope with the following situation: —The German invaders, advancing and blasting their way through Russia, the Russians resisting with the utmost heroism—but no one could tell what would happen, no one could tell whether Leningrad, Moscow or Rostov would fall, or where the German winter line would be established. No one can tell where the German winter line will be established now; but now the boot is on the other leg. We are all agreed that we must aid the valiant Russian armies to the utmost limit of our powers. Best Aid for Russia " His Majesty's Government thought, and Parliament upon reflection agreed, that the best aid we could give Russia was in supplies of many kinds, wax materials and munitions, particularly tanks and aircraft. Our forces at home and abroad had for a long time been waiting thirstily for these weapons, and at last they were coming to hand in large numbers. At home we had always the danger of invasion to consider and prepare against. We sent to Premier Stalin (for that is how I understand he wishes to be addressed) exactly what he asked for. The whole quantity promised was sent, but there is. I am sorry to say, a small lag, due to bad weather- but it will be made up in the early days of February, and thereafter deliveries will be strictly maintained. This was a decision of major strategy and policy. No one can say but that it was right to put it first, when they watched the powerful achievement, unhoped for and undreamed of by us. We little knew the Russian strength, but that made it all the more glorious. Our munitions were, of course, only a contribution to the Russian victories, but they were an encouragement in Russia s darkest hour. "Moreover, if we had not shown a loya! effort to help our ally, albeit at heavy sacrifice to ourselves, I do not think our relations with the Premier, M. Stalin, and his great country would be as good as they are now. There would have been lack of comradeship, which might have spread to reproaches on both sides. " Far from regretting what we did. I can only wish it had been in our power to have done more."

DESERT CAMPAIGN THE BRITISH TACTICS DELAYING FORCE BUILT UP RUGBY, Jan. 27. "Three or four months ago, at the time when the German advance was rolling onwards," said Mr Churchill, " we were particularly concerned with the possibility of the Germans forcing the Don River, the capture of Rostov, invasion of the Caucasus, and the reaching of the Baku oil wells before winter by the panzer spearhead of the German army. " Everyone knows the deep anxiety that was in our breasts. Such an advance would have involved the destruction of the Russian fleet and the loss of command of the Black Sea. It would have affected the safety of Turkey, and it would in due course have exposed to the gravest danger, Persia, Iraq, Syria, and Palestine and beyond those countries, all of which are new under our control. It would have cut the Suez Canal and imperilled Egypt and the Nile Valley. "At the same time as this menace defined itself, Rommel, with his army of 10 German and Italian divisions entrenched in fortified positions at and behind Halfaya Pass, was preparing to make a decisive attack on Tobruk as a preliminary to an advance on Egypt from the west. The Nile Valley was therefore menaced simultaneously by a direct attack from the west and by a more remote, but in some ways more deadly, attack from the north. In such circumstances it is a classical rule of war, reinforced to some extent by endless examples, that you prepare to fight a delaying action against one of these two attacks, and concentrate, if possible, overwhelming strength against the other and nearer."

Long and Painful Delay

"We therefore approved of General Auchinleck's plans for building up a delaying force in the vast regions from Cyprus to the Caspian Sea on what 1 may call the Levant-Caspian front and the preparing of installations of airfields and communications upon which a larger force could be based when time and transport allowed. On the western flank we prepared to set upon General Rommel and try to make a good job of him. For the sake of this battle on the Libyan Desert we concentrated everything we could lay hands on, and,we submitted to a very long delay—very painful to bear for us here—so that all preparations could be perfected. We hoped to recapture Cyrenaica, including vital airfields around Benghazi, but General Auchinleck's main objective was more simple—he set himself out to destroy General Rommel's army. Such was the mood in which we stood three or four months ago. Such is the broad strategic decision we took.

" Now when we see how events have mocked and falsified human effort and design and shaped themselves I am very sure this was the right decision." The Prime Minister continued: "For more than two months in the desert the most fierce and continuous battle raged between scattered bands of men armed with the latest weapons seeking each other dawn after dawn, fighting in the desert throughout the day and often long into the. night. Here was a battle which turned out very differently from what was foreseen. All was dispersed and confused. Much depended on the individual soldier and junior officer, much, but not all, because this battle would have been lost on December 24 last if General Auchinleck had not assumed command and ordered the ruthless pressure of attack to be maintained without regard to risk or consequences. But for this robust decision we should now be back on the old line from which we started or perhaps further back. Tobruk would oossibly have fallen and General Rommel would be marching towards the Nile. Cj'renaica has been regained. It has still to be held. We have not succeeded in destroying General Rommel's army, but nearly two-thirds of it, wounded, prisoner or dead.

Enemy Met On Equal Terms " In this strange, sombre battle of the desert, where our men met the enemy lor the first time on equal terms, we lost in killed, wounded, and captured, about 18,000 officers and men, of whom the greater part were British. We have in our possession 36,500 prisoners, including many wounded, of whom 10 000 are Germans. We killed and wounded at least 11,000 Germans and 13,000 Italians. In all the total accounted for exactly amounts to 61.000 men. There is also a mass of enemy wounded, some of whom have been evacuated to the rear or to the sea. Of the forces of which Rommel had at his disposal on November 18 little more than a .third now remain, Eight hundred and fifty-two German and Italian aircraft havve been destroyed and 386 German and Italian tanks. During this battle we never had more* than 45.000 men against the enemy force, if thev could be brought to bear, much mofe than double as strong.

" Therefore it seems to me that this heroic epic struggle in the desert, although there have been many reverses—local reverses—tested our manhood in a searching fashion and proved not only that our men can die for their King and country—everyone know that—but that they can kill."

Tribute to General Rommel "I cannot tell what the position is at the present moment on the western front in Cyrenaica," added Mr Churchill. "We have very daring opponents against us, and, if a may say so in the havoc of war, a great general. He has certainly received reinforcements, and another battle is even now in progress. I make it a rule and I always rejoice to have always made it a rule, never to prophesy beforehand how battles turn out," »

Mr Churchill added: "Not only has the enemy suffered nearly three times oir losses on the battlefield, but the blue waters of the Mediterranean have thanks to the enterpirse of the Royal Navy our submarines, and air force, drowned a large number of reinforcements which have been continuously sent. This process has had further important success during the last few days " He would characterise the campaign as "a highly profitable transaction." Certainly it was an episode of the war most glorious to British, South African, New Zealand, Indian Free French, and Polish soldiers and airmen who played their part in it. The prolonged, stubborn, steadfast and successful defence of Tobruk by the Australian and British troops for seven hard months was an essential preliminary to any success.

"For what has happened in the Meanwhile on the other bank of the Nile Valley, in Palestine, Iraq, and Persia we must thank Russia," he said. "The valour of the Russian Army has warded off a danger which undoubtedly we ran. " I therefore think the present situation in the Nile Valley, both west and east, incomparably easier than anything we have ever seen since we were deserted by the French BordeauxVichy Government and we were set upon by Italy. "It is only by the smallest margin we have succeeded so far in beating General Rommel in Cyrenaica. To beat his tanks and his air force every tank and every aircraft was needed. Only by victories on the Russian flank on the Black Sea Coast have we been spared the over-running of these vast lands from the Levant to the Caspian, which in turn give access to India, the Persian Gulf, the Nile Valley, and the Suez canal."