War Day by Day

Taranaki Daily News, 26 September 1940, Page 6

War Day by Day

(By Our Special Observer.)

Comment on the News War's Widening Clutch Dakar Naval Operations

When Britain and France declared war on Germany it was freely prophesied that fighting would quickly embrace the whole world in its scope. But for three , parts of the first year the theory did' not appear to be working out. Then a change came. In rapid succession small countries were subjugated by Germany, and there followed the collapse of a great nation:, Largely as a sequel to the last happening, the war to-day shows an inciination to sprawl out all over the place. The entry of Italy into the belligerent sphere was a possibility always: ioreseen, but he would have been stigmatised a madman who visualised the state of afairs at the present time. French and British ships storming a port defended by French ships and guns; French aeroplanes setting out 4o bomb the British fortress of Gibraltar; French troops fighting, unaided by Britain, an invader of French coloniai territory. But the incredible phantasmajoria is actually happening, and how many other figures will crowd into the scene ere the whole settles into a comprehendible focus only time can tell. Though the outcome* of the operation at Dakar is as yet obscure, it should be one of rapid decision. Control of the sea lends to the controller the ability to conduct swift and disconcerting troop movements. It is highly unlikely that the.resistance of tHe French commanders was not foreseen and, that measures Ijave been taken to meet such a situation: Norway ■ surely showed the utter futility of embarking upon an expedition- in a state of unpreparedness. Unless the situation ashore has been utterly misjudged, some "honey-combihg of the defender's forces is inevitable, and what happened for Germany at Osloshould happen for Britain at Dakar. It is, vital to the cause of free Frenchmen that General de Gaulle's initial operation should be successful, and their ally and protector is hardly likely not to back up the effort to the limit of available resources. It is true that the Vichy Government threatens imminent and vigorous reprisals, but these familiar and compatible dictator-like warnings are not likely to deter the forces opposed to them. The form the reprisals take will, of course, matter a lot. and the powers at Vichy will not have lost sight of the fact that Britain herself has now set her jibs unequivocably on that very point. Vichy, everybody understands, shelters from reprisals on Metropolitan France with General de Gaulle's men as hostages of sentiment for the security of their motherland, but there are many winning tricks Britain can play if Vichy is keen to continue the game. M. Mandel's Creation. It is evident that the situation in IndoChina has reached the stage where the Government of Marshal Petain can only assume its precedented attitude of beating its bosom, and at the same time waiting for the hoavens to fall. That the French in Indo-China are able to fight is not the result of the foresight of any Vichy Minister, but to a man whom they have under lock and key. Had M. Georges Mandel been able to work for France as he was, in his capacity of Minister of Colonies, for the overseas possessions of the republic things to-day might have been very different. Mandel's efficiency was often characterised as "deadly.'.' When he becam6 Minister of Colonies in April, 1938, he was allotted 440,000,000 francs for the improvement of the defences of Indo-China. There France's money was not wasted, but spent on anti-aircraft .guns, coastal batteries, improved harbours, and other defences.

But perhaps more important than all these, M. Mandel laboured to make the colony self-sufficient in war-time. The Minister pushed public works, expanded light industries, and built up production of rice upon which the country might live, Has Japan Erred? At this stage it seems that Japan may have erred in departing from the totalitarian practice of limited objectives. Be-' fore haying swallowed item one on the programme she is biting at item two.' The first item, the flabby jellyfish of China, refuses to slip down the, gullet i>f a little man, and the second item is stinging with some force. The rivalry between the armies comprising the Japanese army is now on display. Each of the four armies is autonom'ous, and takes orders only from Tokip— and not always from Tokio. The Canton army, which is invading IndoChina, is the smallest , of the armies of the Mikado, and probably has ideas that it can show the powerful Kwantung army clique, which rules at Imperial headquarters, that what the Kwantung army accomplished in Manchukio, despite the diplomats' arrangements, the Canton army can repeat in Indo-China. However, aside from the French opposition, the situation bears signs ominous to the Japanese cause. Rumours of a total embargo of vital su'pplies are strong at Washington, which may check the situation in its early stages, or may result in Japan. cutting the painter. A happening that tve are assured has , no bearing on the position is the reported visit of a United States battleship to Singapore for repairs. Though one must believe that it is merely an ordinary courtesy extended to a friendly ship, at the same time one cannot help thinking it would be helpful in certain circumstances that the shipwrights and artisans in the Singapore dockyards should have some pvactical experience in attending to a warship of a typc unfamiliar to them. Deflating the German Ego. Enough has been said in this column of recent weeks on the subject of reprisal raids on Berlin to estadlish that the commentator shares the^ uplift of spirit imparted to the London'ers by the successive nightly raids on the German capital. In view of the discussions which have been rife in the past few weeks on the • ethical question of the bombing of Berlin, it is interesting to look back at the reaction at New York as a result of the first raids. These, it vvill be recalled, drew a furious speech from Hitler which caused a boom on the stock market! The astute American brokers saw in the German Fuehrer's almost insane rantings signs that he was bcihg hit where it hurt most, and their financial barometer reacted accordingly. "If the British throw down 2000 to 3000 kilogrammes we vvill uriload 150,000 to 180,000— yes, 200,000 kilogrammes," screamed Herr Hitler. With this nicety of calculation, and the fact that the Royal Air Force is now really dropping bombs on Berlin, to keep his Fuehrer's promise Goering must inevitably produce his full aircraft strength. Then a great problem will be solved. F'erhaps the answer will assist the bombing of the cities of Germany in deflating the German ego. Nazism knows only one arguforce. It cannot be appeased. It ^.ust be cowed or broken dowa.