HUNTING THE U BOATS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 2 October 1939, Page 5

HUNTING THE U BOATS

MR WINSTON CHURCHILL BROADCASTS ASSURANCE OF MAXIMUM WAR EFFORT. ARMIES ON GREAT WAR SCALE. By Telegraph—Press Association— Copyright. (Received This Day, 11.15 a.m.) LONDON, October 1. The First Lord of the Admiralty (Mr Winston Churchill), broadcasting on the first month of the war, said: “We have not reached the severity of fighting that can be expected. Important events, however, were the overrunning of Poland, which nevertheless would emerge like a rock from a tidal wave, and Russia’s assertion of her power in pursuit of a cold-blooded policy of self-jnterest, though by such action had [been created an Eastern front which Germany dared not assail. Herr Von Ribbentrop was summoned to Moscow to accept as a fact that Nazi designs on the Baltic States and the Ukraine must stop. Russia’s future action was a riddle, to which a possible key was her self-interest. It was not in accordance with that self-interest that Germany should plant herself on the shores of the Black Sea, overrun the Balkans or subjugate the Slavonic peoples of South-Eastern Europe. Russia’s interest fell into the same channel as the British and French. None of these three could afford to see Rumania, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Turkey under the heel of Nazi buccaneers.

“I proclaim at the risk of being proved wrong, my conviction that the second great fact is that Herr Hitler and all he stands for is being warned off East and South-East Europe,” said Mr Churchill.

“The third event, on which I speak as First Lord with especial caution, is that the U-boat attack on the life of the British Isles has not so far been successful. It is true that when we were conducting our ordinary business, with two thousand ships in constant movement daily, they did serious damage, but the Royal Navy immediately attacked them and is hunting them day and night. It is a week since a British ship, alone or convoyed, has been sunk or even molested on the high seas, whereas we have captured through contraband control 150,000 tons more of German mer-chandise-food, oil, minerals and other commodities—for our own benefit, than we have lost by all the U-boat sinkings put together." Mr Churchill continued: “We are told that all the U-boats have gone home to tell their master about their exploits and experiences. It is not true, because daily we are attacking them on the approaches to the British Isles. Some U-boats preferred to go off to sink unprotected Scandinavian neutral ships. I hope the day will come when the Admiralty can invite ships of all.nations to join British convoys and insure them on voyages at a "reasonable rate.

"We must expect a renewal on a greater scale of the U-boat attack on the world’s seaborne commerce. We hope, however, that by the end of October we shall have three-fold as many hunting craft working as at the beginning of the war. We hope that our means of suppressing this pest will grow continually. We are taking great care about that. “As to what is happening in our own Island, I feel keenly the reproaches of those who wish to throw themselves into the fight but for whom we cannot at present find full scope. All this will clear as we get into our stride. “The Government will make the maximum effort of which the nation is capable and . will persevere, whatever may happen, until a decisive victory has been gained. Parliament will be kept in session and all grievances, muddles and scandals will be freely ventilated. A large army has already gone to France. British armies on the scale of the Great War are being prepared/'