“V for Victory”

Southland Times, Issue 24492, 21 July 1941, Page 4

“V for Victory”

THE “V for Victory” campaign had gathered its own momentum in the occupied countries long before Mr Churchill gave it the official blessing of the British Government. It grew spontaneously from' the longing for freedom, and was partly an expression of the instinct for communal intercourse which is always repressed or made dangerous where the Gestapo casts its ugly shadow. Frenchmen, Czechs, Dutchmen or Norwegians who talk openly of their hopes for an Allied victory are likely to be betrayed by informers. It is much easier and much safer to hold up a hand with the first and second fingers at a suggestive angle, or to knock at a friendly door with the Morse for “V”—three short and a long tap. The letter is scrawled on walls and doors in chalk: even the Roman numeral for five is being used to carry the message of hope. Now that the movement has been sponsored in Britain a more elaborate system is being established. Every broadcast to the occupied countries, for instance, is preceded by the grand opening chords of Beethoven’s fifth symphony—an almost perfect musical representation of the morse signal for “V.” They are also a reminder of the inescapable forces of destiny which some critics believe to have been the composer’s theme. The importance of the campaign has been acknowledged by the Nazis, who have announced that henceforth “V” will be their own symbol for victory. This was ,a clever move, for if Germans and their enemies are both using the letter its value may be largely destroyed. 8.8. C. announcers have pointed out that no German word for victory, beginning with V, is in wide public use, although there is another V-word which means “lost.” Doubtless the British sponsors of the plan will evolve new variations. The most interesting point in the whole affair is that this is a first major effort to carry the war of nerves into the German camp. If it is organized imaginatively it should be possible to gain for it a more than symbolic value. The fact that the Nazis felt impelled to take over the sign was in itself an admission that its potential dangers were recognized in Berlin. Conquered people who see their chance of liberation in a war still raging across Europe are in the mood to pass from symbols to action. There have been many reports of sabotage in most of the occupied countries, and the “V” for Victory campaign, or a derivation from it, could easily become the nucleus of organized resistance. Britain’s entry into the war of nerves is a welcome sign that the silent allies may yet have their opportunity in the battle for freedom.