The Southland Times SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1941. With Calmness Fortitude

Southland Times, Issue 24355, 8 February 1941, Page 6

The Southland Times SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1941. With Calmness Fortitude

ALMOST EVERY day the cables predict new danger-points for Britain. In the Far East Japan has . grown more and more aggressive and threatens to at- , tack the Dutch East Indies ’ and Singapore. She is said to be . waiting to launch her attack at a time that will coincide with Geri many’s “all-out” assault on Britain. From the Near East come warnings of an imminent Balkan “blitzkrieg” by Germany with the object of overwhelming Greece and menacing Britain’s position in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Suez Canal. In Spain voices are calling for “a wrathful offensive (against Britain) : to improve our present circumstances at home and abroad.” Even America is not exempt from threats, if credence is to be given to a curious story from South America that within six or nine months Russia will attack the United States in the North Pacific while Japan attacks her in the South Pacific. When to all these dangers is added the ominous threat of a coming attempt to invade Britain herself, the task which confronts the Empire may seem to be insupportablj' heavy. Yet Britain j has been able to supply ample arm- i ies to fight on three fronts in Africa; she has not only made her own defences secure, but she has provided for the needs of Gibraltar, Malta, Singapore and other distant garrisons. In addition to all this she has been helping Greece and carrying out incessant bombing raids on key points in Germany and elsewhere. If any of these new threats materializes her resources will be i still further strained. The British statesmen and chiefs of staff responsible for Empire strategy must view the changing phases of this vast campaign with unceasing vigilance and constant anxiety. It is the calmness and fortitude of the British in the face of such odds that have so captivated the people of the United States. One writer speaks of the “awe-inspiring courage of the British people,” and adds: “They fight on and they are determined to fight back not in the manner of men resisting blindly, but as men who know the position, and the odds and the real alternative. I Only a great people could do this. The British are a great people.” Indeed, in all her long and glorious history Britain has never appeared in greater moral grandeur than in the fierce ordeal through which she is now passing. Even the leaders of her arch-enemy Germany are com- I pelled to pay reluctant homage to I her dogged courage and her refusal I to be intimidated or demoralized, i Moreover, if Japan seeks to take cunning advantage of her heavy preoccupation in the West and Spain summons up courage to attack the lion at bay, no temporary territorial gains by these scheming gangsters can affect the final result of the war so long as Britain retains command | of the sea. In the Mediterranean, I where the potential opposition is | strongest, that command remains so * overwhelming that the only regret j expressed by the Fleet is that its ; searches for the enemy are vain, j 1 “Our fighter patrols have possession i ] of the sky,” a correspondent with I 1 the Mediterranean Fleet has written, ; ’ “and soon we shall be back again ’ 1 at our base for a brief respite, some- j 1 what disappointed with the lack of j ( action, but with undiminished faith !. in our Mediterranean domination.” | j Upon her domination of the sea, | j which extends far beyond Mediter- ! j ranean waters, and with the united ! t and unsparing efforts of her people, ; 1 Britain is building a vast defence | 1 structure that will withstand all the j assaults of her enemies.