Hitler’s Dilemma

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21304, 24 December 1940, Page 6

Hitler’s Dilemma

BIG MOVE NEEDED * BRITAIN IN THE WAY PLANS FOR INVASION (United Press Assn.—’Elec. Tel. Copyright) LONDON, Dec. 22 A great deal of space is devoted by the weekly press to speculation as to the necessity of Hitler’s making a striking military move in the near future, and the possibility that the invasion of Britain may be the prime consideration. Between the would-be master of Europe and the fulfilment of his ambition stands the British Empire. In order to surmount this obstacle, Hitler, following in the path of previous “men of destiny,” must subjugate Britain herself. Nothing else will do. Adventures which do not individually contribute to and collectively eventually bring about the capitulation of Britain are not worth the enemy’s consideration. Hitler’s conquest from the North Cape to Hendaye were all part of this grand design. This vast coastline gives three main advantages—it strings out the British Navy, it has provided the enemy with innumerable bases for his attack on British shipping, and, should he elect to take the risk, from any point along it he can launch a series of assaults with the object of actual invasion. Britain’s Tight Blockade Hitler is faced with the graduallycontracting steel ring of the blockade outside which the British Empire is quickly accumulating vast armaments and an overwhelming air force, and adding rapidly to its sea power. Germany’s situation is becoming such that as Mr Churchill has said, “Hitler has great need of doing something now, or soon.” The untoward events in the Mediterranean and North Africa may well force Hitler’s hand and compel him to undertake now what he hoped to accomplish last September before his air force was so trounced as to make his plans, as then formulated, unworkable. a The intervening months are regarded by ' some commentators as having been used for what one of them describes as “ad hoc research” carried out upon several weak points in Britain’s defences, and it is suggested the wheel has come full circle. Should Hitler decide on invasion, this school of thought believes that the method will again be by concentrated day bombing directed against British fighter stations, followed by troop-carrying aeroplanes, whose operations would be impossible unless the British fighter squadrons were first rendered harmless. Pay For Gambles The essential hazardousness of this manoeuvre is not disguised, but it is pointed out that there is plenty of evidence to show that Hitler is always prepared *to pay for his gambles. Although it is fully recognised, probably as well by the German Staff as by anyone else, that the odds are greatly against success in such an adventure, it is pointed out that the hope is not so forlorn as to allow the British peoples to “sit back” behind their fortifications and, in their turn, gamble on the chance of the attempt never being made. All military history shows that nothing is impossible in war. Careful planning, at which the Germans excel almost to the point of weakness, surprise, or an unexpected form of assault, have before now accomplished a spectacular victory. What happens in the Mediterranean or in Africa does not matter if Britain is defeated. The next few weeks, or possibly days, are full of danger. GERMAN RAIDERS HEAVY ATTACK ON BRITAIN MAINLY AGAINST PROVINCES 0 (United Press Assn.—Elec. Tel. Copyright) LONDON, December 22 Soon after dark German raiders began heavy attacks on widely separated parts, including Liverpool. Heavy gunfire and several bomb explosions were heard in one London district, but the main German raids appear to be directed against the provinces. ANOTHER NAZI TRICK HEIGHT OF AEROPLANES (United Press Assn.—Elec. Tel. Copyright) LONDON. Dec. 23 Commenting on a German clami that their bombers came down tn So feet in a recent raid on London, the aeronautical correspondent of the Times says it is believed in some quarters that the raiders manage to suggest that they are much lower than they really are. They do this, it is said, by attach - ing a long steel wire from the exhaust of the bomber’s engine and hanging an amplifier on the end of ‘.he wire, thus increasing the noise of the engine. PROTEST TO RUMANIA .United Press Assn.—Elec. Tel. Copyright) LONDON, Dec. 22 j The Belgrade correspondent of the I Daily Telegraph says that the Soviet Minister to Bucharest has protested ! against the a’nti-Soviet campaign in Rumania and the continued arrest of ‘ so-called Communists.