LONDON STRONG

Taranaki Daily News, 23 September 1940, Page 7

LONDON STRONG

By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright.

AMERICAN VIEWPOINT REPORT OF C0MM1SSI0N NO EARLY WAR DECISION

Rec. 6.30 p.m. London, Sept. 20. A United States army commission, which has returned to New York after a monf- at London, has reported that the intensive bombings had not done serious military damage and had not affected the morale of the people. Brigadier-General George Strong, spokesman of the commission, said he did not believe there would be a decision this winter. "If the bombings continued for a year at the same rate as in the last 10 days, the result would probably be serious," he added, "but the Royal Air Force is not yet at its peak." British Reports Correct. Brigadier-General Strong asserted that, from personal observation and checks, British reports of air warfare were subslantially correct. When they erred, it was on the conservative side. Asked whether the British claim to the shooting down of 185 German planes in a single day last week was true, he replied that the actual count was 192 planes. The Royal Air Force now had better material and trained personnel than ever, he said. Brigadier-General Strong told the Press after reporting to • the Secretary of War, Mr. H. L. Stimson, that Britain

would be able to defeat Germany after a long war. "The people, united behind Mr. Churchill, are cheerful and grimly determined to end German military domination of Europe," he said. "I belive they can do it." Brigadier-General Strong paid a tribute to the superiority of British pilots. The German pilots were machine-made and lacked enthusiasm, while the British pilot was a highly trained individual who regarded combat as a sporting proposition. Serviccs Maintained. Rising after a night disturbed by the almost continuous roar of the anti-air-craft barrage, punctuated by the occasional crump of nearby enemy bombs, the average Londoner ftnds a timely reassurance in the regular appearance of milk at his door and a newspaper in his letter-box, says a British official wireless message. It is these manifestations of normality and the efficient functioning of the processes of communications and distribution over a wide area, involving a great variety of activities, which had most deeply impressed foreign observers at London. This is obvious from the frequency with which the theme recurs in their dispatches. The most recent example is that of the London cof respondent of a Madrid newspaper .wfyase report in Friday's issue dwells on the normal manner in which the distribution of bread and milk is carried out at London. He says food suppVes have not been made worse by the raids. He also reported on the adequacy of the food supplies and the failure of the raids seriously to disturb the railway services. Foreign Press representatives in the British capit.il are being driven to the same conclusion as that reached by Brieadier-General George Strong.