“ONE WAY WE CAN WIN WAR”

Southland Times, Issue 24174, 10 July 1940, Page 9

“ONE WAY WE CAN WIN WAR”

Invasion Of England By Hitler COMMANDER R. GIBB’S IMPRESSIONS “I hope Hitler decides to attempt an invasion of England because I think that is one way we can win the wai. If he attempts it I think he will meet his doom,” declared Commander Roger Gibb, R.N. (retired), in an interesting talk on the British Navy at the luncheon of the Invercargill Rotary Club yesterday. Commander Gibb served in the British Navy in the last war. He discounted the possibility oi a successful invasion of England by Germany because of the excellent natm al defences about the southern England coast line and the undisputed command of the seas by the British Navy. In view of recent events in which ceitain harbours on the Belgian, French and Dutch coasts, now in enemy hands, had been successfully blocked, Geimany was not likely to get any large transports of troops away from those harbours, he said. The only Pj ac ® s from which Germany might be able to embark and transport troops successfully were Kiel and the Norwegian ports. The use of flat-bottomed boats to take troops across the Channel should not be a difficult obstacle to overcome. Strong naval bases m the south of England would oppose any landing. . . , The building by Britain of naval bases all over the world and the important part they played were Reviewed by Commander Gibb. They were to be found at Gibraltar, Malta, Alexandria Aden, Colombo, Singapore, Darwin and New Zealand. The British Empire owed a debt of gratitude to the far-sighted men of other years who had prepared and laid down those bases. They had been obtained almost entirely’ in the days of the sailing ships. IMPORTANCE OF TUNIS A matter of tremendous importance at the present time was the fate of Tunis and it would be interesting to see what happened there, he said, referring to bases in the Mediterranean, The Bizerte naval base was the answer to the naval forces of Italy and it was essential that Britain have some control over Tunis and the naval base. Referring to the various navies of the world Commander Gibb said that the outstanding feature of the Italian navy was the speed of its ships. They were faster than those of the British Navy, but to get that greater speed sacrifices in armament and hitting power had been made. It was hoped that British ships would show that with better armament and hitting power Italy had made a fundamental mistake in building such ships. The Dunkerque and the Strasbourg, of the French fleet, were two beautiful ships which had been built in reply to the building of the German Scharnhorst and Gneisnau. The Strasbourg was strongly armoured and possessed high speed and if she got to any of the trade routes she would set some dilficult problems, he said. Not a great deal was known of the Japanese fleet or what Japan had built in recent years, but as far as the Southern Pacific was concerned the Singapore base, with its powerful British squadron and the help of the American fleet should be an effective , replv to any threat by Japan. “In view of that I think Japan would think many times before coming here,” he added.