The Waikato Times THURSDAY, JUNE 20, 1940 CONFIDENCE IN BRITAIN

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21144, 20 June 1940, Page 6

The Waikato Times THURSDAY, JUNE 20, 1940 CONFIDENCE IN BRITAIN

Without attempting to minimise the magnitude of the task, Mr Winston Churchill in his powerful address to the House of Commons has succeeded by logical reasoning in creating a new wave of confidence in the ability of Britain and the Empire to meet the German challenge and eventually to gain a resounding victory. Even if France withdraws completely from the struggle, which is not yet by any means certain, Britain in her own strength behind the invaluable moat of the Channel, is forging a war machine of tremendous force which Germany has yet to test. It transpires that British forces rescued from their predicament in France numbered seven-eighths of the total expeditionary force of 400,000, and Britain now has under arms at home 1,250.000 men, with thousands more in the process of recruitment.

Mr Churchill confirms the common assumption that the Air Force and the Navy will be the two arms to which Britain will look primarily for protection from invasion from the Continent. Even if the Germans could successfully run the gauntlet of British naval and air powder they would still in their weakened condition have to meet that vast army which protects British shores. The fate of the French Navy is, of course, still a matter for conjecture, but the British Navy alone is a tremendous power the full weight of which Germany has not yet tasted. Small forces might escape the vigilance of the Navy, or even of the Air Force, but it is inconceivable that a force large enough to hope to make an invasion successful could escape detection and attack in the Channel.

The part to be played by the Air Force also is vital, and it can be accepted that Britain will proceed to build aeroplanes with all the resources at her disposal and to bring from the United States every machine that Americans can build and sell. It is easy to envisage Britain in possession of an aerial armada mightier than any Germany could produce. These machines will have the double duty of protecting the British Isles from invasion and of carrying the war into the enemy’s camp on the Continent. Germany herself has demonstrated how devastating the air arm can be, and she will yet learn that Britain can reply with even greater effect. If it happens that Britain is beseiged it must be remembered that Germany a few months hence will enter another winter which she must contemplate with grave misgivings. The blockade has undoubtedly taken severe toll of German resources, and it remains to be seen whether the countries captured, devastated as they are by the Germans themselves, can assist in making good the deficiency. The millions of captive people must be fed, and it is certain that their own productiveness under German compulsion will be far less than when they worked for themselves. It is not impossible that in the coming winter Europe will experience the most ghastly famine for many generations. Terrible suffering by the millions of dispossessed people is inevitable. Even if successful militarily on the Continent, Germany probably faces a period of desperate difficulties which will weaken her fighting strength.