SHIPPING LOSSES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 1 October 1941, Page 5

SHIPPING LOSSES

MR CHURCHILL DEFENDS SECRECY

HINTS GAINED FROM HITLER’S TALK. IMPROVEMENT IN BRITISH FOOD SUPPLIES. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 10.23 a.m.) RUGBY, September 30. In stating that British, Allied and neutral shipping losses in the last three months were only a third of those of the preceding quarter, Mr Churchill added: “During the same period our slaughter on enemy shipping, German and Italian, has been increasing by leaps and bounds. It was, in fact, about one and a half times what it was in the previous three months.”

Defending the policy of not publisht ing statements of shipping losses at I regular monthly intervals, Mr Church--4 ill observed that anything novel or F pregnant said by Ministers would be effectively studied by -the enemy. He reminded the. House that for seven months Hitler had said nothing publicly about his war plans. What Hitler blurted out in the early part of the year had been useful. Mr Churchill cited Hitler as saying, in his last speech: “In the spring, our submarine warfare will begin in earnest and our opponents will find that the Germans have not been sleeping. The Luftwaffe and the Nazi German defence forces in this way and that will bring about an ultimate decision. In March and April naval warfare will start such as the enemy has never expected.” Britain, Mr Churchill continued, had been led to expect a crescendo of attack and the Germans in fact used even larger forces of U-boats and longrange aircraft against shipping. Coun-ter-measures undertaken in good time and on a larger scale proved successful. Few important munition ships had been lost and food reserves stood higher than ever before. An improvement in the basic ration for the whole country was now about to be made and the quantities and varieties of meals for heavy workers would be improved during the winter. “There will be better Christmas dinners this year than last,” Mr Churchill added, “and at the same time more justification behind those dinners.”