NAZIS’ GREAT FAILURE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 259, 30 September 1940, Page 7

NAZIS’ GREAT FAILURE.

ESSENTIAL SERVICES CONTINUE-

(British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, Sept. 28. Recalling that London has now been subjected nightly to enemy raids for three weeks, the Times strikes a “bal-ance-sheet,” and states: “With every night that passes it becomes more difficult to find any plan at all in the enemy’s operations. Broadly speaking, the bombing has been moro indiscriminate, wanton, and unaimed. “There have been cpnsiderahle material damage and civilian casualties, though fewer than had been expected from an air offensive of this kind. The homes of numbers of people, from the King to the humblest commoner, have been damaged or destroyed and shops, both large and small, have been wrecked ; but the enemy has not yet succeeded in stopping a single one of the services and activities that are necessary to the life of a great city. Everything from the delivery of milk to—may we say? —tho production of a great newspaper goes on. Nor have these attacks broken the spirit of any Londoner. “Tho eqemy cannot, therefore, claim one military gain, direct or indirect, from the tactics lie has employed.” ADMISSION OF FAILURE.

Stating that the Nazis seem to imagine that their air otfensive will sooner or later produce the same kind of collapse as in the Bow Countries and Franco, the Times proceeds to point out the essential distinctions between the circumstances and the conditions in those countries and Britain, and it continues: “Though there is so little for the enemy on the credit side, much must go down on ’the debit side. “In the first place, his devotion to night raids is an admission of his failure in day attacks and of the success of the night attacks by the Royal Air Eorce. The R.A.F. lias a technical reason for these attacks—namely, the distance of the objectives .in Germany from our bases,' which prevents our bombers from being escorted by fighters, and the Germans have not this reason.

“In the second place, even their night raiders ,d° not escape scot free, and the price they have to pay will become increasingly heavy. “Thirdly, the indignation and determination he has engendered among the British people and their friends in other lands should be included in accounts as tho very reverse of the terrorisation that Hitler hoped to effect. While we are awaiting a fuller answer to the Gorman night bomber, we can add one final item. As Mr Churchjll said, ‘He badly needs an early decision,’ and the progress of the British Commonwealth’s air training plan in Canada shows that Germany’s only hope is a swift victory in the air.”