RUMOUR IS A WEAPON OF THE ENEMY

Korero (AEWS), Volume 2, Issue 13, 3 July 1944, Page 13

RUMOUR IS A WEAPON OF THE ENEMY

Why It Starts: How to Deal With It

A KORERO Report

44 Z'-'ome hither, Catesby, rumor it abroad, That Anne my Wife is very grievous sicke.” Richard 111 (in Shakespeare’s play of that name) had his reasons for the order ; people to-day, nearly four hundred years later, certainly “ rumor it abroad,” but in most cases with no reason at all. Rumour is a weapon of the enemy, and has been a weapon, a dangerous weapon, in all the wars of history. Probably it was the first sign of what we know to-day as propaganda. Rumour was a weapon of war before the invention of gunpowder and when Bren-gun carriers were knights with shining armour on white chargers ; there is little difference in technique. But it is no less effective, and the damage it has caused, with the conditions of modem warfare, is incalculably greater. Ships sunk ; lists of casualties from islands where the enemy has been waiting, hidden on the beaches ; surprise bombing attacks from the air ; nerves strained and morale weakened from stories of no truth. Rumour. Lies, with death and suffering the result. Security officers know only too well. In this fifth year of war, the lesson has been taught too often, but people, civilians and servicemen, have not understood the answer. There are many types of rumours. Stories with little or no truth which are intended to weaken morale, with consequent damage to the war effort. Enemy agents and sympathizers sometimes start them ; their circulation may safely be left to idle chatterers and gossip experts. We all know the trouble that can result. Typical examples can be remembered from the days of 1941-42 when the Japanese occupation of Pacific islands was in full swing, bringing closer to New Zealand the chance of invasion. Many were the stories, supposedly heard from Japanese broadcasts, of the futility of the black-out precautions. “ Don’t go to all this trouble and inconvenience, don’t cause all this discomfort—all aero-

plane attacks are to take place in the daytime.” " And,” Japanese radio was heard to say by so many people (but not including the officials whose job it was to listen), “ we hear that New Zealand has had an unusually good wool season ; that’s fine, we’ll be over to collect it soon.” It was rubbish, with all the rest ; it should have been recognized as rubbish, but many people were worried and upset needlessly. A similar type of rumour was also started in a military camp when the buzz went round that the reinforcement stationed there until embarkation was to be hurried away because the British Government was paying the New Zealand Government sums varying from £250 to £SOO for each man sent away—the mission was so dangerous. The absurdity of the story is obvious. The value to the enemy of troops with morale weakened in this manner is also obvious. The enemy is shrewd. If he hasn’t information, if he wants to check reports that have come his way, he can start a rumour that will cause so much upheaval and confusion that the only means of squashing it is a flat denial. From such a denial he is often able to learn plenty. A serious example of this occurred when a troop transport left New Zealand with reinforcements for the 2 N.Z.E.F. Soon after the ship was away from port, a rumour that she had been torpedoed

and sunk, with a heavy loss of life, spread like leaking gas, and smelled about as sweet. The story was repeated all over New Zealand, and all over New Zealand relatives and friends of the men who left on the transport heard the report. The anxiety can be imagined. So serious and general was the reaction that the Government had to broadcast an official denial of the sinking, and of any attack. The people were reassured, the lie had been killed ; but implicit in the denial was the valuable information to the enemy that a troop transport had left New Zealand and was still on the high, and dangerous, seas. The aim of that rumour had been accomplished. Then there are the rumours either originating from or circulated by people who apparently are not very bright. Security officers in New Zealand have tracked down false reports ..that undoubtedly have been started by enemy agents and sympathizers. However, the greatest number of rumours which may help the enemy are not started by them. They are started by New-Zealanders whose loyalty to country and war effort is 100 per cent. — cannot be doubted. They are just not very bright. ' There is no other conclusion. People’s conscious and unconscious Reasons for Rumours are suggested later in this article. But the damage they cause is no less harmful because it is unwitting;

Recently in Wellington a number;. of the ship’s company .of an American vessel spent a night ashore ; they attended a dance. A representative of a photographic firm was present, many photographs were taken ; the next day a large order (of was made with the firm. Some of the photographs were to. be collected by the partners of the soldiers and sailors, the rest to be forwarded to the ship by mail. Later in the week the order was completed, and when a sailor from another ship came into the shop some of the photographs were displayed on the counter. The sailor recognized some of the men, and mentioned that their ship had been lost with all hands. The manager was dismayed, there: was nothing to do but cancel. the order. Girls' (some of . whom were wives and sweethearts of the men concerned) were told, the “ sad ” news, and, further, that instructions had been received from the authorities to cancel the order. The. story was entirely false Security officers were quick to act, . but in other and similar cases they are often too late to save grief and anxiety. . In a New Zealand coastal town the E.P.S., after inactivity for several months, was called out to ensure that the organization was capable still of working quickly and smoothly. Here are a few examples of the clutch of rumours that were quickly clucked round and far beyond the town (1) enemy submarines were off the coast; (2) enemy subs, and an aircraft carrier were off Cape X ; (3) enemy warships had been seen off the coast ; (4) an enemy sub. or an aeroplane from a carrier had sunk two New Zealand destroyers ; (5) a minesweeper had been sunk ; (6) of five bombers sent, from an Air Force station to bomb the sub. only three had returnedtwo had been lost to enemy gunfire. All these stories because one Thursday night the E.P.S. had made sure it could save the pub. if there was a fire. The interest in rumour is- perfectly natural and healthy, and rises from normal human curiosity. In peacetime it is, generally, more or less harmless, but in time of war there arise special circumstances which make the dissemination of rumour much more widespread and much

more dangerous. In wartime there is a burning interest in facts on which depend the well-being of our families or our country ; at the same time access to these facts becomes more difficult. Events, taking place on distant battlefields, cannot always be reported for a long time ; analyses of events on so huge a scale is difficult; and, of course, any news which would help the enemy must be withheld. Thus we have a combination of a greater and more urgent need for information and a lesser possibility of its being satisfied. Where information ends, imagination is apt to take over. The gate is left wide open. Emotional causes make for the spread of rumour. Anxiety (which is always easier to bear in company, when there is always the hope of having that anxiety allayed) ; annoyance with apparently carefree people (make them worried, too) ; know-alls who wish to be importantly first with the news (and if the story isn’t startling, embroider it until it is) ; the wish to be important ; wishful thinking in its many senses. It can be seen that rumours are passed on because they give expression to conscious, or unconscious emotions in the people who repeat them. This is also why they become distorted in their passage from mouth to mouth. Each individual in the sequence has his own special set of emotions which colour the form in which he relays the story. Add to this the use of spurious authority and circumstantial detail, and it is not hard to imagine how rumours can soon become far removed from their original source and any truth. Information is the cure, accurately and quickly made available ; unfortunately, in wartime that is not always possible. Scepticism, ridicule, and humour, and the use of common-sense, are the effective antidotes. Scotch the rumour, squelch the person who doesn’t. You will be doing a service to the war effort. In New Zealand, according to rumour, there was to be no opposition from the Government to a Japanese invasion ; the Maoris had been promised the return of their lands for help to the Japanese, help approved by chiefs and leaders ; crews

of New Zealand naval ships have mutinied and been shot ; coastal vessels have been sunk ; women have been found scalped ; there have been fights in the streets involving (according to the numbers killed) most of the population of certain cities. Everybody has heard some of the stories ; and they have not always been treated with the contempt they deserved. The United States Office of War Information has published a set of rules for checking the rumour-spreader. They are worth remembering : — Never repeat a rumour. Do not repeat a rumour even to deny it. If you know the facts which can spike a rumour, tell the facts promptly. If you do not know the facts which can stop a rumour, ask the rumour-teller where he got his facts. Don’t give a rumour the benefit of the doubt. In the United States, “ rumour-clinics ” gather and analyse the most dangerous of current rumours ; where possible, refutations are published in the newspapers. Desert Saws, the newsletter of the 6 (N.Z.) Infantry Brigade when it was in the Alamein Line, dealt similarly with what it called “ latrinograms ” ; military camps and stations often have rumour boards. Remember, if a report is not published through the official sources, it is probably either untrue or there is a security reason for suppressing it.