SOLID REASONS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 20 November 1942, Page 3

SOLID REASONS

FOR MORE CONFIDENT OUTLOOK BUT STERN, UPHILL FIGHT STILL AHEAD. WAR SURVEY BY SIR STAFFORD CRIPPS. (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, November 18. “Now that the first flush of rejoicing in our victory is past we can see that the gains made by our Allies in North Africa provide >a very solid reason for a more confident outlook in the future,” said Sir Stafford Cripps, Leader of the House, in replying in a debate in the House of Commons. He added: “Though we are rightly more confident we certainly must not be over-confident, for a very stern uphill fight still lies -ahead before we can even gain the mastery in North Africa and obtain the full harvest of this initial sowing.” Sir Stafford said that Mr Churchill had described our present success as the “end of the beginning.” It marked another stage in the development of the war. and this fresh stage would place an even greater strain upon our resources than any we had so far experienced. The enemy still had ample strength with which to strike back, and it would require the utmost effort by every man and woman in these islands and throughout the British Commonwealth to consummate, in association with the forces of our Allies, that complete victory with which alone we should be satisfied. POLITICS IN NORTH AFRICA. In the course of the debate some uneasiness had been expressed as _ to the political situation in North Africa. He could not do better than quote with approval the remarks of President Roosevelt in a statement'published yesterday. So far as the British Government was concerned, said Sir Stafford, the position of General de Gaulle was well understood and his recent statement on this matter was made with the British Government’s full knowledge. After stating that every single effort should be made to bring manpower to maximum efficiency, Sir Stafford said that perhaps the most serious problem raised in the debate was the U-boat danger. The fact that we did not widely advertise the steps taken to cope with this menace must not lead the House to think we were doing nothing in the matter. Very special measures were being taken to make effective both the offensive and defensive in this important field.

SOLOMONS BATTLE. Expressing appreciation of the distinguished part the Dominions were playing in the Pacific front Sir Stafford, referring to the Solomons battle, said it was quite clear that the navy of our ally had won a most important victory marked by most gallant fighting on their part. We should all like to offer most sincere congratulations to the United States Navy and this latest triumph, following earlier successes, would have done a great deal to redress the balance of naval strength in that area.

It was a very important contribution that had been made to our joint offensive in the south-west Pacific and it should decrease considerably the chances of any successful counter-at-tack in the Solomons. Very great strides in the direction of unified strategy had been made, thanks very largely to the -personal efforts of Mr Churchill, and the Government was constantly aiming at thfe greatest measure of unification consistent with widely separated theatres of war. This not only related to our American Allies, but to our Russian Allies as well. Concluding, Sir Stafford . gave an assurance that our bombing effort against the Axis powers was regarded as one of the essentials of victory and no efforts would be spared to deliver large, continuous loads of bombs over Italy and Germany” when weather conditions permitted. Once we established airfields in North Africa the Italians will come to realise what their German allies suffered and may come to realise what an even more intensive attack means in terms of destruction and discomfort.