WE MUST KEEP IT

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 86, Issue 241, 13 October 1942, Page 1

WE MUST KEEP IT

COMMAND OF SEAS ADMIRAL SEES HARD VICTORY San Francisco, Aug. 31. “This war is likely to be a long and a hard one and we should avoid being carried away by sovereign solutions,” Rear Admiral James Wilfred Sussex Dorling, British Navy told a large gathering in Los Angeles, states the Auckland Star's San Francisco correspondent. He said there has never been a royal road to victory in any war, quickly illustrating his point with a reference to Henry J. Kaiser's cargo ship project. “Cargo planes have a good use,” he said, “but—and it is a big but—they cannot take Ihe place of ships. It is inconceivable that anything but shins could carry the millions upon millions of tons that will be needed overseas. Cargo planes are excellent to transport supplies to out-of-the-way places, provided their production does not interfere with that of combat planes. I feel sure that Mr. Kaiser, were he present here, would agree with me. Admiral Dorling’s remarks were considered significant because for a year he has been British Admiralty supply representative in U.S.A. He spoke highly of Washington efficiency, said British-American co-operation is working smoothly, but said that the war from the Allied side is still in a more or less formative stage and that patience is one of the ingredients of success jn war. When Admiral Dorling began to talk he described himself as “a sailor of the United Nations,” and when he finished he said “Victory can and will be won”—and held up his hand with two fingers forming a V. “Yun have hoard Washington called everything, even a mad house,” he said. “As an outsider I can testify that, generally speaking, things are none very well indeed. The difficult things are done at once. The impossible things will take a little longer We are in a period of preparation, and it is always an exasperating one. Everybody wants a smack at the enemy, but the time may not yet be ripe. Troops are all important, for they must ultimately land and bring the enemy to his knees. But sea power is the basis of the Allied Power for we must above all keep command of the seas. The building of Merchant ships is of especial importance while the Allied navies keep the sea lanes clear so that supplies and troops can be moved where they are most needed to meet the enemy any place he may be found. “The sinkings by German submarines have been very serious. We have seen that convoys do work, for we can move troops overseas with sufficient convoy protection to make their passage fairly secure. We can do the same with the merchant ships it we have enough and proper ships for convov. Therefore, I believe that the protection of merchant ships should be accompanied by the production of convoy ships to go with them. This is a prime necessity.”