Wairarapa Times-Age WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1940. THE HEART OF THE EMPIRE.

Wairarapa Times-Age, 11 September 1940, Page 4

Wairarapa Times-Age WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1940. THE HEART OF THE EMPIRE.

'HTIS MAJESTY the King spoke not for himself only, hut for his subjects in every part of the Empire, when he stated in a message to the chairman of the London County Council (Mr Emil Davies) which was cabled yesterday, ZnTts people in London- and elsewhere were much in his the u• • As the target of indiscriminate, but destructive and dead y German bombing, London is bearing at present a heavy 7 pai t of the war burdens of the Empire. The ancient city which takes a proud and honoured place as the heart of the Empntc is- for the time being in the forefront of the battle again. . Nazism. Its people, without distinction of age or sex, are menaced with death or injury in attacks from the air agains which no immediate or complete protection can be given. Kinship and an inheritance in common of the traditions that centre so largely in London give added depth and meaning to the sympathy felt in all British lands with the people ol London,'and those of other British cities, towns and countrysides exposed to enemy air attack, in their grim ordeal. Associated with that sympathy is unqualified admiration ol the high courage and fortitude displayed by British people in all areas which have been subjected to enemy air attack the root qualities of the British race have nowhere been exhibited more impressively than in London. Observers on the spot declare that it is a source of inspiration to see how deteimined the people of the bombed areas are to win the war. In their tactics of murder bombing, the Nazis are failing completely to terrorise the people o„f London and those of other British areas. At the same time, the enemy ’s prospects of achieving by these tactics results of decisive military value evidently are not promising. It is admitted frankly 7 in Britain that the'problem of intercepting and destroying night bombers is far from having been solved and presents great difficulties, and it is emphasised that London and other centres of highly concentrated population must face the certainty of a continuation of night bombing. Under the standards they have thus far set, however, it seems most unlikely that the Germans will ‘achieve in night bombing results in any way to be compared in military effect with the destructive and accurately directed attacks which the R.A.F. has been • carrying out for months against selected objectives in enemy and enemy-occupied territory. The attacks of British bombers undoubtedly are cutting down steadily and at an increasing rate the strength and resources of the German war machine. On the other hand, detailed reports of the results of enemy bombing in London show that many 7 of the bombed areas were of no possible military importance. Much as it is to be deplored, the loss of civilian lives on the scale it has reached in London will not weaken Britain as much as would the loss of equivalent numbers of members of the fighting forces. The havoc that has been wrought in residential areas and in other peaceful quarters of London may provide good reasons for extended and accelerated measures of evacuation, particularly of children, and of women who have no indispensable part to play as residents of the metropolitan area, but the total facts of the position are ill enough calculated to encourage the hopes with which the enemy 7 presumably 7 has undertaken his campaign of air murder and terrorism. In estimating the total outlook it is necessary 7 to take full account of what British bombing squadrons have accomplished and are accomplishing in the relentless offensive in which they 7 have been engaged since May last, and of the physical and moral effects of this offensive in Germany. In spite of all the efforts of the Nazi censorship and propaganda organisation, specific evidence is escaping of the widespread devastation and disorganisation effected by the British bombers and this evidence finds not a little support in the details of the enemy 7 propaganda transmitted from day 7 to day. Yesterday, for. example, the .German radio was credited with an extraordinary 7 flight- of mendacity. Describing the latest R.A.F. raid on Hamburg—at all events the latest of which there is news at time of writing—the enemy 7 radio said, of an operation in which waves of British bombers methodically 7 attacked the docks and buildings of the port during a period of over three hours, that between 60 and 70 bombs fell, destroying 30 dwelling houses. No military objective was hit. The British, also bombed residential districts of Kiel and Luneberg. Not content with this, the broadcast added that: — The British Air Force, too weak and cowardly to meet the Germans in open battle, restricts itself to defence and to night attacks against Germany. This can be regarded as nothing else than a desperate and despairing effort to hide the facts of the position from some of the people living under Nazi domination. In their extravagant inversion and denial of the truth, statements like those quoted can be regarded as nothing else than a measure of the enemy’s perception of his own inferiority 7 and failure. Serious account no doubt has to be taken of the toll in lives and the material havoc the enemy 7 may 7 yet be able to accomplish in Britain by 7 stealthy 7 and’ largely 7 indiscriminate night bombing. But account has to be taken also of the limited military effect of attacks of this nature and of the tremendous military effect of the British air offensive against Germany 7 and the territories she has occupied.