WAR PROGRESS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20072, 19 October 1939, Page 5

WAR PROGRESS

BRITISH REVIEW | ALLIED EFFORTS COMPLETE UNITY CHECKING ENEMY LAND, AIR AND SEA ; FALSE CLAIMS EXPOSED 1 (Elec. Tel. Copyright—-United Press Assn.) (British Official Wireless.) Reed. 11 a.m. RUGBY, Oct. 18. Making his weekly war statement jin tire House of Commons to-day, ; the Prime Minister, Mr. Neville j Chamberlain, said that the statement he made on October 12, was chiefly concerned with tire attitude of the British Government to the speech of Herr Hitler of October (i. "Apart from the comment which has appeared in German newspapers, there has been no indication from Berlin of the view of the German Government upon the issues which I sought to define," said Mr. Chamberlin. “There is, therefore, nothing I can add to my statement of last week. “Meanwhile opinion in other countries has had an opportunity of finding expression, and tire German propaganda organs have used all possible ingenuity so to twist foreign comment, as to make it somewhat less unfavourable to their own point of view. "I should doubt whether this effort lias had any success outside of Germany itself, for it is difficult to conceal the fact that the vast bulk of comment of nearly all shades of political colour m neutral countries has shown appreciation of the attitude of the Allied Governments. Fundamental Issues “It seems evident that the inconveniences which war inevitably brings for all non-belligerent countries, and which, for its part, the British Government intends to do Us best to mitigate, have not obscured tlie .fundamental issues at stake, the determination of which must affect for good or ill, the moral and material welfare of neutral peoples no less than tnat of (he belligerents,” Mr. Chamberlain said that on the Western Front the British Expeditionary Force had now taken over its allotted sectors of the French line, and all divisions were in position. The understanding between the French and British High Commands was complete as was proved by the fact that a British force was under the French Commandcr-in-Chief, while on the other hand French troops were serving under the British Commander. in-Chief. Checking U-Boats He paid a tribute to the unremitting efforts of the navy in attack and defence and to the memory of officers and men who had been lost, whether on sea or land or in the air. Tie said that the successes against the U-boats had already been reported to the House by tlie First Lord of the Admiralty, Mr. Winston Churchill, yesterday. Heavy toll had been taken of U-boats since the war began. The failure of this form of attack to interfere with British trade was shown by the estimate that tlie losses sustained by British shipping entering or leaving United Kingdom ports during the week up to Tuesday represented only about onc-half of one per cent of the total number of sailings.

Attacks by enemy aircraft on the fleet 'bases which had begun were a new feature of the war, but one fully expected. The extent of the enemy’s disappointment at the failure of these attacks to inflict any serious injury might be measured by the fantastic nature of the claims they felt obliged to invent. Denials Repeated Mr. Chamberlain added: "It is not true, and I must repeat once again, though by now the news grows stale through repetition, that H.M.S. Hood ->r H.M.S. Repulse or any other capital ship suffered the least damage.” He continued, amid laughter, "The same is true of the Ark Royal.” iMr. Chamberlain said that Britain was resolute enough to bear bad news, and the Government had not hesitated to publish the full extent of the losses sustained. “The imaginary losses which the German broadcasts have described with such unblushing impudence may serve for the time to raise their spirits, but in the end their falsity will be demonstrated and the consequent disappointment will be only the more depressing,” said Mr. Chamberlain. “We on our side have no intention of claiming successes of which we are not convinced. It is far more important that the world should be able to believe implicitly in the truth of a communique we issue than that we should reap short-lived advantages which distortions of the truth may bring. Enemy Air Losses “We know that in the air battles which during the past two days have, for the first time, been fought over our own coasts, we have destroyed eight enemy aircraft without losing a single machine of our own. We believe that several more German bombers may have failed to reach home. “The total number of aircraft taking part in the raids did not exceed 30. The casualties we inflicted upon the enemy Unis certainly exceed 25 per cent of the attacking force and may have been higher. “These results are a splendid tribute to the courage and determination of officers and men of the Royal Air Force. “The Auxiliary Air Force won its first and resounding success by bringing down three out of four German aircraft destroyed in the raid on Rosy th. “In these early days we must not, of course, indulge in boasts. The attacks so far have been few and on a small scale, and it is unwise to assume that we shall always be as successful as in the first exchanges. There arc many surprises in war and they cannot all be pleasant, but we at least have the satisfaction of knowing that we have made a good beginning.”