MILITARY, AIMS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 22 September 1939, Page 5

MILITARY, AIMS

POLICY OF THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT NO RUSHING INTO RASH ADVENTURES. FAITH IN SUSTAINED EFFORT. (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY,. September 20. Speaking of the conduct of the war, in his statement in the House of Commons, Mr Chamberlain said: “It must be remembered that in all military preparations a great initial advantage rests with the aggressor. No country without aggressive intentions can be as quick off the mark as one that has kept only one set purpose continually in view —the purpose of aggression. “I will not hazard a guess at this stage of the war as to when and where a decisive force will be assembled or when the decisive moment will arrive. This must depend upon events, which no one can foresee. But the scale of the preparations and the fact already announced that we are basing them on the assumption that the duration of the war may be at least three years ensures that our strength will increase progressively to meet whatever may come. “I want my final word to be one of warning that we as a Government will not be rushed into courses which the military advisers, with whom we work in the closest possible contact and with .mutual confidence, do not ap-l prove. There is no sacrifice from i which we will shrink, but there is no operation we will undertake unless our responsible advisers and allies and we ourselves are convinced it will make an appropriate contribution to victory. We will not rush into adventures offering little chance of success and calculated to impair our resources and postpone the ultimate victory. Military history teaches that this leads to disaster.” Mr Chamberlain concluded with the remarks of a famous Polish general made to an Allied mission: “We shall fight. A large part of our country will be overrun, and we shall suffer terribly, but if you come in we shall know that we will rise again.”