FREE CRITICISM
FAVOURED BY CHURCHILL EVEN IN TIME OF MORTAL PERIL. FACTS OF THE WAR POSITION. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 10.0 a.m.) RUGBY, July 2. (Replying in the House of Commons debate, Hie Prime Minister (Mr Churchill) said that though everything had been done by some members to weaken the confidence of the people and the Army in their leaders, he was in favour of this freedom, which no other country would dare to use at a time of such mortal / peril. At any moment they might receive news of grave importance.
The misfortunes in Cyrenaica and Egypt, the Premier continued, had completely transformed the situation throughout the Mediterranean. We had lost upwards of 50,000 men, by far the larger proportion prisoners, and a great mass of material and stores. We were now in the presence of a recession of our hopes and prospects in the Middle East and Mediterranean unequalled since the fall of France. The fall of Tobruk, with about 25,000 men, in a single day, was utterly unexpected by the War Cabinet or the General Staff of the Middle East Command. The decision to hold Tobruk was taken by General Auchinleck, but the War Cabinet and its professional advisers thoroughly agreed with him beforehand. The Prime Minister said he was ready, on behalf of the Government, to take a full share of responsibility. The decision to surrender Tobruk was taken, to the best of his knowledge, by the commander of the fortress. When Mr Churchill left for the United States on June 17, they had no reason to be discontented with the situation, which seemed to have entered upon a wearing down phase. It was only gradually that very grievous and disproportionate losses to .our armour were sustained round and south of Knightsbridge. It was an aggravation, in the days which followed, to read distorted accounts of feeling in Britain. That these rumours from Home did not prejudice the work he had to do was due solely to the fact that Americans were not fair-weather friends. They never expected the war to be short or easy, or that its course Would not be chequered by lamentable misfortunes. In this case the bond of comradeship between all the men at top was actually strengthened. Only his unshakeable confidence in the ties which bound him to the mass of the British people upheld him through those days of trial.
WASHINGTON DISCUSSIONS.
The Washington conversations were concerned with nothing but the movements of troops, ships, guns and aircraft, and measures to combat losses at sea and to more than replace sunken tonnage. Shipping losses had been very heavy lately and the bulk had been on the eastern shores of America. Most strenuous measures were being taken to curtail this loss. These, combined with the great United States and British shipbuilding effort, should result in a substantial gain in tonnage at the end of 1943 over and above what we now possessed. One of the most painful parts of the Battle of Libya, continued Mr Churchill, had been that, in the opening stages, wo were defeated in conditions which gave good expectation of success. Malta was now stronger in aircraft than ever before, but during incessant Axis attacks on the island it was impossible for fighters to do much to impede German supplies to North Africa. The enemy, by the tactical use they made of the 88 millimetre gun, gained a decided advantage, but this became apparent only as the battle proceeded. We were so mauled in the struggle that no effective counterstroke could be delivered. The withdrawal from Bir Hachim was the turning point in the Battle. On June 13 we had about 300 tanks in action. By nightfall no more than seventy remained. This happened without any corresponding loss being inflicted on the enemy. It was for the House to decide whether those facts resulted from a faulty central direction of the war or from the terrible hazards and unforseeable accidents of battle.
SWIFT ENEMY ADVANCE. Most authorities expected, Mr Churchill said, that ten. days or a fortnight would have been gained by the withdrawal to Mersa Matruh. However, although we inflicted very heavy damage, the advance of a German light division and 100 or 150 heavily-armed tanks led to our further retirement, owing to the destruction of our armour. Mr Churchill said he could not tell the House about the reinforcements which had reached the Eighth Army, or were approaching it, except that they were very considerable. They did not regard the struggle as in any way decided. Extreme exertions had been made in the last two years to strengthen the armies in the Middle East. There had gone from Britain nearly 5,000 pieces of artillery, 50,000 machine-guns, and over 100,000 mechanical vehicles. The Government had sent over 2,000 tanks to the Russians, who were using them with vigour and effect. Mr Churchill said he considered that he had discharged his responsibility for everything that had happened by not interfering with the tactical handling of armies. Before the battle, he urged General Auchinleck to take command himself, as he thought he was the man to handle the business. General Auchinleck gave good reasons for not doing so. Mr Churchill said he could not pretend to form a judgment on what had happened. He liked all commanders to feel that between them and public criticism, the Government stood like a strong bulkhead; otherwise they would not run risks, nor would the Government run risks unless it had behind it a loyal and solid majority. LOYALTY BOTH WAYS. “In war time, if you desire service, you must give loyalty,” said Mr Churchill. “The battle now raging is of the mcst intense and serious character. The Government has assured General Auchinleck of its confidence and believes it will be found that this confidence has not been misplaced.” Mr Churchill said he would say nothing about the future except to invite the House and the nation to face with courage whatever it might unfold. He
had never shared the view that this would be a short war or that it would end in 1942. It was far more likely to be a long war. Now, more than halfway through the summer, no major offensive had been taken by Hitler against Russia, unless he called his attacks at Kharkov and Kerch an offensive. The Russians had surprised Hitler and would surprise him again. Hitler had made a contract with the demon of the air, but the contract ran out before the job was done. For the last six months our convoys to the East had grown. Mr Churchill said he was confident that a mass invasion of Australia would be most hazardous. India had now been strongly reinforced. Ceylon, which at one time appeared to be in great jeopardy, was now strongly defended by naval, military and air forces. The struggle in Egypt was approaching its full intensity, and was ah action of the highest consequence. -The House, said the Prime Minister, must be a steady and stabilising factor in the State and not an instrument by which disaffected sections of the Press, could attempt to provoke one crisis after another. All over the world—throughout the United States, as he could testify, in Russia, China, and throughout every subjugated country, all our friends were waiting now to know whether there was a strong and solid Government in Britain and whether the national leadership was challenged or not. “Every vote counts,” Mr Churchill added. “If a vote of censure on the National Government is converted into a vote of censure on its authors, a cheer will go up from every friend of Britain and a groan of disappointment will ring in the ears of the tyrant we strive to overthrow.” As reported in an earlier message, the motion of censure was defeated by 475 votes to 25. •
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Wairarapa Times-Age, 3 July 1942, Page 4
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1,315FREE CRITICISM Wairarapa Times-Age, 3 July 1942, Page 4
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