The Great Wheel

Camp News, Volume 2, Issue 96, 31 October 1941, Page 2

The Great Wheel

At Blackpool they used to have a very pleasing device called the Great Wheel. You sat in a small cage and were hoisted round the full cycle and then ejected at the bottom, having seen the world from above the Blackpool rooftops for a tanner —or was it two-pence?

In Berlin where that well-known tap-dancer Dr. Goebbels beats his ugly rhythms, they also have a Great Wheel. It costs nothing to be taken for a ride on this machine. It differs from the Blackpool contraption inasmuch as when you return to the spot from which you took off, the blood has run to your head and you don’t know whether you are on your head or your heels. Will you come for a trip? And may we hold your hand?

Switch it on, Dr. Goebbels. We are going up now. It is the German

Ministry of Propaganda speaking in 1939 on the conclusion of the RussoGerman Pact: “The agreement between the Reich and Soviet Russia is the final proof of the solidarity between Berlin and Moscow against the Imperialistic adventures of the British Empire. German arms will consecrate this pact with victory in the West.”

And now we’re going down to the accompaniment of this statement issued by the German news agency recently:

“The military .pact concluded between Britain and the Soviet Union against Germany is considered in political circles as a significant comment

on the military situation. It is well known that when a decline has once begun it cannot be halted, especially when two parties who cling together

are involved.”

Feeling dizzy? Sit down, it’s only Adolf’s fun.