INVASION THREAT

Taranaki Daily News, 16 September 1940, Page 6

INVASION THREAT

To-day is the latest of the many dates upon which it has been alleged that Herr Hitler is to launch his invasicn of Britain. Whether this prophecy as to the time of the German attack is correct or not it was made clear by Mr. Winston Churchill in his broadcast last week that Nazi preparations for an invasion had in no way slackened. The Prime Minister of Britain detailed those preparations and added that there could be no reduction in Britain's vigilance or in her preparedness to repel an invader should he succeed in reaching the shores of the United Kingdom and Ireland. Those defence measures have included attacks upon the areas in German-occupied territory from which an. invading force would be likely to set forth, and where it is known that personnel and material for the invasion are being assembled. Once more attack is proving sound defence, and the success of( British air forces in interfering with' the German invasion plans is reported to have led to a change in the comments vouchsafed by the German leaders to the people they govern. # # » # Up to a week ago their comment was that an invasion of Britain was inevitable because Herr Hitler had willed it. The success of the adventure was also assured, but according to reports from Switzerland the resistance shown by Britain to the air raids on London combined with British raids on German military positions have led to a new attitude at Berlin. It is now alleged there that invasion is unnecessary. Britain can be brought to her knees by the destruction of her economic life by continuous air raids and the German sea " blockade," which has been singularly ineffective, as the junior Axis partner, Signor Mussolini, has learned from the trarisport of reinforcements from Britain1* to Egypt. The weekly figures of losses caused to British, allied and neutral merchant shipping by enemy action are sobering, but when they are •^ompared with all the mercantile tonnage afloat the futility of the German claim to have blockaded Britain is obvious. The absurdity of the claim has been recognised at. Moscow, where there is no love for Britain. But the Russian dictatorship is as realist as the German or Italian, and when it announced that Germany had not won in the struggle with Britain nor did Herr .Hitler control the English Channel it was simply announcing facts that existed and which obtain to-day. # # # # Neither invasion threats nor air raids have shaken the confid^nce of the peoples of Britain and of Greater Britain. The German attempt to assassinate the Sovereign in his London palace and the indiscriminate bombing of civilians at London and elsewhere appear to be based on the belief that British community life and government is as rigidly controlled as in their own system, and that if it is hammered hard enough it will break. The Nazi leaders have overlooked a fundamental difference" between democracy and dictatorship, The former is a living system capable of resiliency in crises and of evolution as conditions change. The latter is a machine-like system and a broken machine cannot, like a living organism, adapt itself to the changes that result in its breakdown. Meanwhile Britain awaits with spirit undaunted any onslaught that may be made whether it be to-day or in the distant future. There is deep concern over the ravages already caused and over the further assaults that are to come. But there is even deeper confidence in British ability to resist and to overthrow an unscrupulous and vengeful enemy.