The Timaru Herald FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1940 Demand For Reprisals

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVIII, Issue 21836, 13 December 1940, Page 6

The Timaru Herald FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1940 Demand For Reprisals

THE public demand for reprisals was reported this week to have received a “fresh and wider impetus” from the savage raiding of London on Sunday night. The Times referred to it as “a typical example of destruction for destruction’s sake,” and The Daily Mail declared bluntly that “the point has been reached where we must ask whether our humane policy is encouraging the Germans to bomb British civilians.” Such questions cannot be answered fairly anywhere except in Britain. Only those who are sharing the ordeal, who witness the suffering and feel it within their homes and cities, have any right to talk of moral viewpoints. It is easy enough to declare that evil can never be conquered by another evil when the arguments are weighed in safe places a long way from the echoes of the sirens and the explosions, English civilians look upon the question from the midst of violence, and with the anger that thrives on nerve strain. For them it is not an academic problem, but a fundamental response to danger. They have been told that British bombing power must be spent thriftily, where it can gain the best results, and that blows against factories and aerodromes can do more to reduce the weight of attack on their cities than can an indiscriminate sowing of death in Berlin. Many of them are prepared to accept this official interpretation of air strategy. But others are reaching the attitude of a fighter who has taken heavy punishment while he waits for his opponent to tire, or to leave an opening in his defence; and they are beginning to feel that the moment has come to hit back with searching blows. It is possible, too, that the time is approaching when the Bomber Command will be strong enough to spare squadrons for reprisal raids. Until now it has had more than enough to do while carrying out a systematic pressure on selected targets. It should never be forgotten that England is small and that Europe is large. The Nazi bombers sweep in from their scattered aerodromes to converge upon narrow target areas; but the British machines have to fly wide and far to points in Northern Italy, in Czechoslovakia, in the eastern and southern parts of Germany, and on the coastline that swings down from Norway to the Bay of Biscay. And more bombers may now be needed for co operation with the land forces in the Western Desert. When these facts are considered it seems a wonderful thing that the Royal Air Force has done so much to weaken the German war machine and to spread dismay in the western provinces of the Reich. A time may Come, however, When Britain will attain a numerical superiority. On that day there may not be many Englishmen who will want to protest against reprisals. An enemy who stakes so much on sheer terrorism may need a taste of his own medicine before he can be brought to his senses. Bullies respond favourably to rough treatment. And the argument that in total warfare such blows often fall on the innocent instead of the guilty may not carry much weight with Londoners who turn sombrely from their shattered hospitals and hear the steps of homeless women and children on the broken pavements of their streets.