FACING THE FACTS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 25 February 1942, Page 4

FACING THE FACTS

MR CHURCHILL ON SINGAPORE And General War Outlook ENORMOUS STRAIN ON EMPIRE RESOURCES AMERICAN ACTION STILL AT EARLY STAGE (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 11.32 a.m.) RUGBY, February 24. The British Prime Minister (Mr Churchill), in a general war review in the House of Commons, said: It had always been my hope that the United States would enter the war against Germany without Japan being immediately involved on the other side. The greatest forbearance was shown by both the English-speaking countries in face of constant Japanese aggression. Our efforts proved vain, and at the moment fixed by the war leaders in Japan, sudden and violent attacks were made on Hawaii, the Philippines, the East Indies and Malaya. Thereupon an entire new situation supervened. The conversion of the giant power of the United States to war purposes is only in its early stage, and the disaster of Pearl Harbour and our own naval losses have given Japan for the time being, but only for the time being, command of the sea, or at least superiority in the Far Eastern seas. Britain and the Empire were engaged almost to the full stretch of their power and equipment with Gerfhany and Italy in the Libyan Desert, which protects Egypt and the Suez Canal. Shipping to nourish our armies in the Middle East has to go round the Cape and can only make three voyages in a year. Our shipping losses since the war began have been very heavy and in the last two months there has been a most serious increase in shipping losses and our anti-U-boat flotillas and naval light forces of all kinds have been and are strained to the utmost limit. But they are bringing in food by which we live, materials for the munitions with which we are fighting and the convoys which carry our troops so continually and in such great numbers to various seats of war. At the same time, a heavy invasion enterprise was mounted by the enemy against Egypt. The extraordinary successes cf the valiant Russian armies have given us a breathing space in both directions. As lately as October and November we were not only fully extended, but indeed overstretched, and I cannot imagine what our position would have been if we had yielded to the pressure, which was so vehement at one time, to open up a new front in France or the Low Countries.

IMPACT OF JAPAN Upon this situation there suddenly came the impact of Japan—a new combat with a warlike population of eighty millions, with several million trained soldiers and vast amounts of modern material. This mighty impact fell upon our wide and prosperous but lightly defended possessions and establishments in the Far East, which had rightly been kept within the lowest level on account Of the imperative requirements of the European and African theatre. Where would we have been if we had spread oui’ limited an-ti-aircraft guns throughout the immense and innumerable regions and strong and vulnerable points of the Far East instead of using them to preserve the vital life of our ports and factories here and our fortresses which are under continuous attack and our operations with field armies in the Middle East? INEVITABLY HEAVY TASK Mr Churchill said the House must face and the nation must face the plain and brutal facts. “If,” he added, “having entered a war yourself ill-prepar-ed, you are struggling for life with two well-armed countries, one of them possessing the most powerful military machine in the world, and then, at the moment when you are in full grapple, a third, with far greater military forces than you possess, suddenly springs upon your comparatively undefended back, obviously your task is heavy, your immediate experiences are disagreeable and your fate is hard. From the moment Japan attacked, we set in motion to the Far East naval forces, aircraft, troops and equipment on a scale only limited by available shipr ping. All these forces and supplies were diverted or came from a theatre which already needed them and both cur margin of safety and our advance of operations has been notably, but not I trust decisively affected. Before I left for the United States, early in December, most of the principal orders had been given and we had managed to reinforce Singapore by over 40.000 men. together with large quantities of anti-aircraft and anti-tank artillery, all of which were withdrawn from other points where they were sorely needed or actively engaged. AIRFIELDS UNDER FIRE “This was especially true in regard to modern aircraft. Unfortunately, before enough of these could arrive in Malaya—there was no delay in giving orders and many daring actions were conducted by commanders—the airfields in Singapore Island were already under the fire of Japanese artillery from Johore. We were not, therefore, able to repeat the air fighting from an island base which has been so remarkable a feature of the prolonged defence of Malta, now under increasingly severe attacks. Nevertheless, the speedy reinforcement of Singapore by no less than nine convoys would have been judged a splendid achievement if the resulting defence had been crowned with success.” Mr Churchill said he had no further ; news about Singapore, but continued: “Singapore was a naval base rather than a fortress. It depended on command of the seas, which again depends on command of the air. Its permanent fortifications and batteries were constructed from a naval point of view. The various defence lines which had been constructed in Johore were not successfully held. The works constructed on the island itself to defend the gorge were not on a sufficiently large scale. I would certainly not attempt at this stage to pass judgment on our troops, 73,000 of whom are stated by the enemy to be prisoners, or on their commanders—certainly a larger number than were in the fortress at the time of the attack. THE IMMEDIATE OUTLOOK “We have more urgent work to do,” Mr Churchill continued. “We have to face the situation that results from this great loss of a base, troops and equipment —a whole army. There is little more that I can say usefully at this juncture on the progress of the war, and certainly it would be very foolish to try to prophesy for the immediate future. It is estimated that there still is 26 Japanese divisions in the ‘A.B.D.A.’ area, and a number of these

divisions can be moved and supplied at far less expense than European or United States troops. We have not as many divisions in the A.B.D.A. area and the enemy has for the time being a waning command of the sea. They have a command of the air which makes it costly and difficult for our reinforcements to establish themselves and secure domination. They are in many cases destroyed on the ground before they can effectively come into action. We must, therefore, expect many hard adverse experiences, which will be all the more difficult to bear because they are unaccompanied by a sense of imminent national or domestic danger, that feeling of being in the business ourselves which brought out all the best qualities of our people a year and a half ago. If I were to dilate on our hopes, they might soon be falsified and I might be mocked by those who prove themselves wise by our failures. If, on the other hand, I painted the picture in its darkest view, very great despondency might be spread among our ardent and growing forces and the enemy might be encouraged. ,1 would deprecate a long Series of speeches in the House, censuring or explaining in detail the many tragedies which are growing. I am not sure that we could afford to indulge ourselves too freely, having regard to the perils, that beset us and the ears that listen to us. GOOD HOPE AT LONG VIEW "If we look forward across the considerable period of immediate punishment through which we must make our way in consequence of the sudden onslaught of Japan, if we look forward to the broad and major aspect of the war 1 , we can see very clearly that our position has been enormously improved, not only in the last two years, but in the last few months. This improvement is due to the wonderful strength and power of Russia and the accession of the United States, with its measureless resources, to the common cause. Our position has in fact improved beyond any measure the most sanguine would have dared to predict. PHASE OF TRIBULATION “Beyond this phase of tribulation, <which may be shorter or longer in accordance with our exertions and bediaviour,” Mr Churchill went on to observe, “arises the prospect of the ultimate victory for Britain, the United States, Russia ancl China and indeed for all the United Nations—complete victory over all the forces that have fallen upon us. The ordeal through which we still have to pass may be tormenting and protracted, but if every one bends to the task with untiring effort and. unconquerable resolve, if we do not weary by the way or fall out among ourselves, or fail our Allies, we have a right to look forward across a great many months of sorrow and suffering to a sober and reasonable prospect of complete and final victory.” The Prime Minister .ended by repeating the words he used when he resigned from Mr Asquith’s Government on November 15, 1916. He said then: —

“There is no reason to be discouraged about the progress of the war. We are passing through a bad time now and it will probably be worse before it is better, but that it will be better, if only we endure and persevere, I have no doubt whatever. Old wars were decided by episodes rather than tendencies. In this war, tendencies are far more important than episodes. Without winning any sensational victories, we may win this war. We may win it even through a continuance of extremely disappointing vexatious events. To win the war it is not necessary to push the German line back over the territories they have absorbed, or to pierce them. While the German lines extend far beyond their frontier, while their flag over conquered capitals and subjugated provinces and military successes attend their armies, Germany may be defeated far more fatally in the third year of war than if the Allied armies had entered Berlin in the first.”

Mr Churchill continued: “Actually Germany was not defeated until the

fifth year, and we are already far advanced in the third year of the present struggle, except in this respect, provided you add Japan to Germany. In each case I derive comfort from this passage, which comes back to me like an echo from the past, and I commend it especially to the consideration of the House.”