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Wairarapa Times-Age, 1 October 1941, Page 6

* ATTACKS HE MAY YET UNDERTAKE ■ BRITISH PREMI ER’S SURVEY j — i i NAZI ARMIES STILL POWERFUL. | BUT SHORT OF AIR STRENGTH. ( (British Official Wireless.) I (Received This Day, 11.40 a.m.) ; RUGBY. September 30. ; “Hitler has said nothing as to his J plans since February,” the Prime Minister (Mr Churchill) said in the course of his war review in the House of Commons. “We ere in complete ignorance at this moment as to what he is going to do. We do not know how far he will attempt to penetrate the vast lands , cf the Soviet in face of the valiant Russian defence, or how long his people will endure their own calamitous losses, or again whether he will decide to stand on the defensive an exploit the territories of immense value which he has conquered. “Should he choose this last, we do not know whether he will turn all his vast army southwards towards the Valley of the Nile, or if he will attempt to make his -way through Spain into north-west Africa, or to use the great Continental railways of Europe and its immense chain of airfields, or will shift his weight to the West and assemble an extensive army, with all the special craft he has constructed for an attempted invasion of the British

Isles. It certainly, would be in his power, whilst standing on the defensive in. the East, to undertake all three of these hazardous enterprises on a"great scale, all together at one time. His only shortage is in the air. That is a . very serious shortage, but for the rest. ( he still retains the initiative—we have ( not had the force to take it from him— i he has the divisions, he has the wea- j pens, and on the mainland of Europe , he has ample means of transportation.” ; These dangers and possibilities, and J how best to meet them, were studied , day in and day out, Mr Churchill add- ] ed. All the arguments about them in . the public Press were considered, as well as every helpful suggestion from 1 any quarter. ( AID FOR RUSSIA. < Turning to the assistance to be given ] to the Soviet, Mr Churchill said the in- ‘ terval since the message he and Pre- , sident Roosevelt had sent to M. Stalin i had been used in ceaseless activity and the whole ground had been surveyed. ' Many important supplies had already . been despatched and a mission had ( gone to Moscow with a clear and full knowledge of what it would be possible to give Russia, month by month, ; from now onwards. With this knowledge, the Soviet authorities would be ; able to decide how best to fill the gap between the heavy losses sustained, together with diminished production ' power, on the one hand, and the ar- " rival of supplies on the other. Exten- ' sive and serious sacrifices, would have to be made to enable the Soviet to remain indefinitely in the field as a first-class war-making power and en- 1 ermous new installations and the conversion of existing plant would have ' to be made in the United States, with all the consequent disturbances. Mr Churchill pointed out that the Soviet needed not only tanks, but aircraft, aluminium, rubber, copper, oil ( and many other materials vital to modern war. Transport reception there must be organised and it might be ' that transportation, rather than ability to give, would prove to be the limit- | ing factor. , DEFENCE OF BRITAIN. Dealing with allegations made in some quarters that the War Office was building up “a distended, bloated mass of soldiers in this island,” Mr Churchill pointed out that Britain could never have an Army comparable in numbers ■ with those of Continental armies. He described the present British Army as “a very good, medium-hized army,’ built up from one of insignificant numbers. It had a hard training last winter and would have a hard training this winter, and its officers had had opportunities of handling large-scale manoeuvres. It was upon this weapon, Mr Churchill said, supported by two million Home Guards, that Britain relied to destroy an invader should he succeed in making a landing on British shores. “When I learn of the frightful and indescribable atrocities which the German police and troops are committing on the Russian'population, in the rear of the advance of armoured vehicles,” he continued, “and the responsibility of his Majesty’s Government to maintain here at home a high-class force to beat down and annihilate lodgments from the sea or air, the problem comes home to me in a particularly significant, ugly and impressive form.” Mr Churchill warned critics against the fate which awaited nations or individuals which took easy and popular courses, and said that if he at present were trusted by the masses of the British people, it certainly' was not because he had followed public opinion in the last few years. “There is only one duty and one safe course.” he declared—“that is to try to do right and not to fear to do or say whqt you ■believe to be right.” CHANGES IN IRAN. Turning to Iran, Mr Churchill said a dictator had been driven into exile and a constitutional sovereign had been installed,' pledged to introduce much-needed reforms. A new alliance had been made by Britain and Russia with the whole Persian State and people. In the course of his speech, Mr Churchill stated that only military outposts in Cairo had been bombed. He added that Britain had as much right to bomb Rome as Italy had to bomb London last year. “We should not hesitate to bomb Rome to the best of our ability, and as heavily as possible,” he said, “if the course of war required such action and it were convenient and helpful.” The winter, Mr Churchill observed., would remove neither the pressure on Russia nor the danger of an invasion of this country. The spring would see heavier fighting in the East than any yet experienced, and the menace of invasion would bo present in a sharp form. “Only the most strenuous exertions and perfect unity of purpose, added to cur traditionally unrelenting tenacity,” he said, “will enable us to act our part worthily in the prodigious world drama in which we are now plunged. Let us make sure those virtues are forthcoming,”