WAR MACHINERY

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20051, 25 September 1939, Page 6

WAR MACHINERY

PREPARATION FOR CRISIS BRITAIN AND GERMANY NAZIS SUPPRESS TRUTH ENGLISH PROPAGANDA “After having gone from crisis to crisis, the people of England were not prepared to allow Herr Hitler to make another move towards the domination of Europe,” said Mr. Dawson Muir, a member of the staff of the Herald, who returned yesterday after a tour of Great Britain.

During the course of the past year the confidence of the people had been restored with the building up. of the British war machine to a strength that was to be marvelled at considering the short time at the disposal of the Government. All was in readiness for a fateful September, all Ponces being mobilised /in varying degrees

Mr. Muir said that many were inclined to think that Herr Hitler would not strike, On the other hand, (he majority of the people to whom he spoke claimed that there were many points suggesting I that if the Fuehrer did not make a stand he would start on a decline. Herr Hitler's Choice Prior to the move into Poland, food was being rationed in Germany. That could be evidence of shortage or of the storing of necessities of life for a campaign. Apart from that, all that was known generally outside Germany was that the fields were being intensely cultivated. The machinery for war was ready and men were mobilised and standing by. All that was causing the expenditure of millions of pounds and with the passage of months Herr Hitler’s equipment was deteriorating and becoming elowly obsolete. To continue to keep up the strength of his army and air force, Herr Hitler would be faced with further enormous expenditure.

He and his campaigners in the propaganda field had succeeded in suppressing the truth from the German people and firing them with tales of encirclement and the alleged roguish intentions of the British, all with the object of crushing the life out of Germany. It must have been realised that it would be impossible to preclude the influx of British news through the new department of information that was formed to counteract the Nazi service in Germany.

Leaflets for Germany

The tactics used by Britain in the early days of the present conflict lent weight to the view that the British propaganda was filtering through prior to the outbreak of hostilities and the futility of war was being more plainly seen by the German populace. In the first six days of the war no less than four flights were made by Royal Air Force planes over Germany for the purpose of dropping millions of leaflets making a direct appeal to the people. Surely, added Mr. Muir, that was evidence of the British Government’s knowledge of some simmering discontent and that it would be more diplomatic to feed it rather than quell the possible uprising by the bombardment of civilians in the cities That the leaflet-carrying machines were not attacked again served to bear out another point. Many of the Germans were said to be so apathetic to the present war that they would not open fire on enemy planes unless it was their duty to do so to protect the lives of their women and children. While British airmen dropped leaflets in place of bombs they would not be endangered by anti-aircraft barrages. Duration of War The opinion of the man in the street in London was that the war would not be a lengthy one as long as Russia did not side with Germany and Italy remained neutral. Even if Russia did go to Germany’s aid it would not have a sufficient surplus of oil and other necessities for warfare to provide for the Nazi forces. It w.as felt that the time would come when the internal pressure intensified rationing in Germany, would see the German pacifists take charge. That conclusion would be assisted by the fact that fighting would have reached a stage where the minds of the Nazis would be occupied to an extent that the Storm Troopers and members of the Gestapo would not have the same organised authority. All the men in those services were selected carefully and their manpower would be required in the front line, leaving the home front more or less unguarded, or at the most watched by an inexperienced force.

Before war started the fear in London was that the announcement of the beginning of the conflict by Germany would be a sudden bombardment of the metropolis. However, the argument that that course would not be adopted because it would v be immediately answered by a hail of bombs over Berlin seemed to be borne out.