The Dominion TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 1942. THE URGENT CALL

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 280, 25 August 1942, Page 4

The Dominion TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 1942. THE URGENT CALL

Sir Archibald Sinclair’s speech reported yesterday came as a timely warning that the defeat of the Axis Powers cannot be accomplished without a tremendous effort on the part of the United Nations. What the British Secretary for Air had to say was a statement of plain fact, worthy of careful reading and very serious reflection. It set out the odds in favour of the enemy and those on the side of the United Nations. The odds in favour of the enemy are measured by what *the Axis Powers have so far achieved, and the great gains in material resources which have been added to their strength as a result. The odds on the side of the United Nations, while giving full marks for achievements accomplished, are calculated on the capacity of their war efforts to balance and finally outweigh the enemy’s gains in strength by an intensified production,of material resources, especially in the air. . . < By common consent this is likely to be the most critical . year of the war. It is a year in which, as Sir Archibald Sinclair so strongly urges, the whole war effort of the United Nations, in all departments, civil and military, must be at concert pitch. 1 hat pitch will not be easy to maintain unless every one of us is possessed and inspired by the spirit of urgency. There is too great a tendency to move by fits and starts. Spasmodic bursts of energy are succeeded by periods of relaxed effort, phases it will have been noted, which usually coincide with the ebb and flow of the foitunes of war in this theatre or that. For example, the retreat to and evacuation, from Dunkirk, described by Mr. Churchill at the time as a colossal military disaster,” was followed by a tremendous outburst of concentrated energy in British war production, with reactions of various kinds throughout the Empire. But the period of high tension did not last. lii our own case similar fluctuations in ardour and effort have been noted. There were reactions of intensity after Pearl Harbour, after Singapore, after the first bombing of Darwin, after. the Japanese submarine attack on Sydney Harbour. Then came Allied successes in the Coral Sea Battle, Midway Island, and lastly the Battle of the Solomons, the end of which has still to be written. These successes are a temptation to breathe more freely, to regard the. menace to our own shores as having been assuringly diminished, in short, to relax. This insidious spirit of complacency must be fought down hard and relentlessly. There is no occasion, no justification, no excuse, for relaxing. The call is urgent. The danger in all seas and in all continents is as grave as ever. Every discerning reader of the war news must see that. By using our utmost effort now we shall not only make the final victory assured, but we shall also shorten the war.