The Southland Times. WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 1940. Five Short "Weeks

Southland Times, Issue 24174, 10 July 1940, Page 6

The Southland Times. WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 1940. Five Short "Weeks

“J7OR THE last five weeks,” says an official wireless message, printed this morning, “the War Office has been intensely preoccupied with preparations for the Battle of Britain.” During the same period of military reorganization the entire industrial economy has been converted into a system geared for an abnormal productivity. Military and industrial activity had to be co-ordin-ated to an extent never before attained in Britain. The magnitude of this great task can best be judged by giving special attention to the time factor. Five weeks ago the British Expeditionary Force had just been successfully evacuated from Flanders. It was known that the equipment taken to France, including much artillery and hundreds of motor vehicles, was almost a total loss. Later criticisms, withheld from the House of Commons only because the situation had become too urgent for retrqspective debate, revealed that the British armies in France were not as well supplied with arms and materials as they should have been at the end of eight months of static warfare. During those precious months, while the Nazi war machine was generating the terrific force which allowed it to sweep so impetuously and destructively through the French defences, British statesmen were still thinking, like the French generals, in terms of a war of position. Industrial activity was not being accelerated rapidly enough, and the vitally important air programme was lagging badly. These handicaps were still in existence when the Churchill Government came into office. Heroic Efforts Almost overnight the bitterest critics of Mr Chamberlain’s negative war policy found themselves facing a task of heroic proportions. Confronted suddenly with a series of grave military reverses and with the threat of imminent invasion, they had to clear up the supply muddle, reorganize the key industries for a total effort, make a quick beginning in an expansionist programme designed for the needs of a long war, and at the same time adapt their plans to meet all contingencies which might arise from the presence of invaders who could be trusted to make use of “novel strategems.” Three men have made outstanding contributions to the work of preparation. The Prime Minister, dynamic and farseeing, has proved once again that in a dangerous hour England can find a great leader. Not the least of his qualities is the gift of placing the right men in key positions. His choice of Lord Beaverbrook as Minister of Aircraft Production (a post more important, in present circumstances, than that of a service Minister) has already been justified by the increased output of aeroplanes, and by evidence that a strong personality is brushing the last departmental cobwebs from the war activity which, perhaps more than any other, can be the guarantee of ultimate victory. Mr Herbert Morrison, as Minister of Supply, had the fullest need of energy and vision in repairing the omissions of his predecessor, an unimpressive figure who appeared to be satisfied with a passive role. It is true, of course, that Mr Morrison has been aided by the introduction of emergency powers, and by the sense of danger which cleared the way for sweeping changes. Nevertheless the new Minister has shown that his organizing ability is equal to the cool and rapid planning required on the eve of a major crisis. Home Defence

When the achievements of the new British Government have been fully acknowledged it is still necessary to ask if any group of men can hope to repair, in a few weeks, the failures of the complacent and inactive years. The answer is that, for the present, no such miracle is required. Obviously it is beyond human strength, even where it can use vast material resources, to match at short notice the total preparation of the Nazi machine Germany is organized, not for home defence, but for offensive action on an unprecedentedly large scale. Britain’s immediate need is to establish an impregnable defence system on her own shores. Such a task can be accomplished quickly, especially within the framework that already exists. Later the time will come when Britain can pass from defence to attack, and it is then that the expanded war industries will be tested to the limit of their strength. In the meantime the paramount consideration is home defence. The position would have been much better if less time had been wasted during the early stages of the war. But it is far better than seemed possible when

the full extent of the danger was at last made plain. The five short weeks since the return of the British Expeditionary Force have been used by men who, un'daunted by handicaps that might have seemed hopeless to lesser spirits, grappled with the weaknesses of Britain, and replaced them with the means of an inflexible resistance.