GREATEST HOUR

Wairarapa Times-Age, 28 August 1940, Page 4

GREATEST HOUR

ENGLAND IN WAR CRISIS

CHANGE OF LEADERSHIP. TRIUMPH OF DEMOCRACY. “England is truly living through her greatest hour. The invasion of the Mother Country is a remote, hopeless dream of the master of Berlin, who has experienced, so far, the initial advantages of the lawbreaker and aggressor in his campaigns,” stated the Rev A. T. Thompson, in an interview this morning.

Mr Thompson will be remembered as Presbyterian Church minister in Masterton prior to 1915, when he left for Christchurch. He was a prime mover in the establishment of the Wairarapa High School, and has always taken a keen interest in educational matters. As a writer of prose, Mr Thompson has had his material published in several overseas publications. He left Masterton on a visit to England a month before the outbreak of war.

Mr Thompson emphasised that in Britain full preparation had been made for a German air onslaught before the outbreak of hostilities and that the whole machine had gone into action immediately war was declared. The general expectation was that London would be bombed immediately, but, as had been the case since, the unexpected happened. In the period of peace which ensued people had been lulled into a sense of false security. Mr Thompson summarised the reasons for this state of affairs as follows: (1) Encouragement due to the apparent inaction of the enemy on the lines that had been anticipated; (2), Broadcasts by economists whose forecasts were based on the economic status quo being maintained, and who did n?«Goxpect the turn of events; (3), War tpMkmentators fighting in terms of the strategy of the last war. As a result business went on as usual, and only the inconveniences of the blackout and the presence of the balloon barrage overhead showed that events were not normal. The development of the war and the collapse of France came as a stunning blow and were keenly and deeply felt, but Mr Churchill’s expression “We Fight on Alone,” was the expression of the people. Mr Thompson referred to the events which led up to the change in leadership in Britain, describing the latter as a triumph of democracy. The Royal leadership was also very real and deeply appreciated by the people. “My few weeks in Canada gave me a deep impression of what the striking power of the Empire, when gathered in its train, will mean. As our allies we also have famine and possible revolution in the countries now held loosely by the invaders,” concluded Mr Thompson.