RISING TEMPER

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 05, Issue 73, 3 July 1942, Page 4

RISING TEMPER

IF the voice of the House of Commons is still to be designated the voice of the People of England it would appear that popular opinion considers there is serious cause foi concern at the conduct of the war. The recent turn of events in Libya, has set up a wave of rising temper that even the rugged personality of the Prime Minister is unable to calm. The call is for action a,nd the ruthless overhauling of the British High Command. The. cry in the Commons to-day is for clear-cut and purposeful grappling with the enemy and less verbosity and to put it vulgarly skite' of what we are capable of producing in the way of war material. The same sentiments are echoed throughout the Empire. Perhaps the greatest clamour is however for an investigation of the military command and the elimination of weaknesses, which have been evil legacies from the time of the Crimean war of 80 years ago and which have still to be eradicated if we are to hold our own in modem'warfare. There can be no doubt about it, but that the initiative in the conduct of the Libyan campaign has been on the mam m Rommel's hands. It is this asset which to-day brings him to the gates of Alexandria, a feat, which a month ago would have been as unbelievable as the fall of Singapore; We cannot escape facts and our natural dismal is not unmixed with a certain bitter indignation that cur strategy and our military intelligence was not equal to counter the Nazi commander's bold thrust which has given him dominance and practical control in the confused struggle now known as the Battle of Egypt. Let us endeavour to examine the situation as closely as we dare. From a totally unbiased point of view we have to admit that on every front the armies of Germany have been victorious. In. their viscious, and in many instances cowardly assaults the Nazis have succeeded one way and another in over-running the whole of the European mainland. What countries are not actually within their grasp are either trembling at their own weakness to defend themselves or else blatantly pro-Axis. Compare our own position, where from our island fortress we send out devastating air raids or occasional 'commandos. The only nation standing up to the German war machine to-day is Russia, and the only nation squarely facing up to Japan is China. What is wrong with our own army, that we cannot seem to stand the buffeting of modern warfare ? Has the celebrated British morale or tenacity deteiioiated so much that it is now no longer possible to-carry our arms gloriously to all corners of the globe? No, most definitely no, for the fighting spirit and elan of our soldiers was never more alive than it is to-day. The truth is slowly coming to the surface, rising through the reticence of criticism which masquerades as disloyalty and proven by the grim turn of events so that it cannot be denied. The weakness lies definitely with Whitehall and the castiron tradition of army class, which is blind to practical application and runs in a one track channel of meaningless military etiquette and code. We have a lesson to learn from Germany, from Russia and from China. They the beaten nations of the last war. stamped out their hidebound military school and upon their ashes erected a new order based entirely upon modern deductions. War strategy learnt in a modern school which had speeded up with the times and to-day shows its efficacy to the: world. Britain's task to-day is not merely to sift through the army tradition but also to scrap once and for all the useless eyeglassed figureheads, and the cocktail-drinking ornaments who decorate the Army Clubs throughout the Empire. Only when we have done this will the core of our military caste again assume its firmness and its soundness, that once earned for it the description of "Hearts of Oak."