All This Has Been For The Cause Of Freedom

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21205, 30 August 1940, Page 3

All This Has Been For The Cause Of Freedom

Monday Will Mark the End of the Most Momentous Year in History ......

B RITONS desired nothing more than peace. But standing between us and our hopes was Hitler’s long-matured and inflexible resolve to secure world domination by war. Later Mussolini joined him and now we have been at war well-nigh a year and still the British Corrtmonwealth of Nations stands united to champion the cause of free men, determined to exterminate the scourge of totalitarian aggression which has made of statesmanship nothing but sinful racketeering. To Britain again has fallen the task of seeking out and preserving man’s greatest desire — order, progress ivithoiu fear, and eternal peace. This is a tear of opposite conceptions of life —the international and democratic outlook as opposed to the nationalistic and totalitarian and the world is too small to house them both for, in theory and in practice, the Nazi regime is of such a character that there can be no compromise between it and the democratic way of life. This is a fight for freedom, too. But it is more. We cannot fight against Hitler without fighting for international justice, the rights of the individual and toleration in racialism; ice cannot fight against tyranny without upholding the cause of once-free but now fettered people the world over; in fact we cannot aim to destroy Hitler without bearing arms for the liberation of Frenchmen, Czechs, Dutch, Belgians, Norwegians, or any other of the oppressed races of this world. It is the evil things against which we fight—brute force, bad faith, injustice, oppression, and persecution. On Monday will end the first year of the war. While honouring the men who have given their lives for the cause lei us rejoice in the knowledge that their sacrifice has not been in vain for today we can see the dawn of a new phase of war, the period when the doom of Hitler will be sealed by the ascendancy of Great Britain and her Allies. In the knowledge that right will prevail let us proclaim with Shakespeare . .

This England never did, nor never shall, Lie at the foot of a conqueror .... Come the three corners of the world in arms And we shall shock them. Nought shall make us rue, If England to itself do rest but true.

'TO APPRECIATE the significance of war developments it is well to recall the historical highlights of the last decade. The cause of the conflict will then become clearly defined and so will be determined beyond doubt the responsibility for_ the struggle which has engulfed' nearly a score of independent countries. The economic storm which swept the world early in the 1930’s when nations failed to realise the necessity for international co-operation, bred the atmosphere of discontent in Germany in which Nazism thrived after a fitful existence since the National Socialist Party was formed by Adolf Hitler in 1920. On January 30, 1933, Hitler became Chancellor of the German Republic. Thereafter Nazism was in power to conduct a policy which led in successive and well-defined stages to the outbreak of war in 1939. Hitler gained the support of the German army as a result of the inglorious blood purge of the Nazi Party on June 30, 1934. That gave him the power to attack the structure of the Versailles Treaty. Undeclared war of at least six years was thus the prelude to open hostilities last September. March of Aggression The sands of peace were running out more quickly from the time of the German re-occupation of the Rhineland, which was followed by compulsory national service in the Reich. These events led to the Franco-Russian and the RussoCzechoslovakian pacts. methods which were to become well-known to the entire world, Hitler annexed Austria on March 11, 1938, as the next step in his drive for domination of all German-speaking peoples. After the re-occupation of the Rhinelafid Great Britain announced her intention of spending £1,500,000,000 on armaments during the next five years, but the Austrian annexation led to further measures to increase Britain’s defence programme. Obviously the nation’s defences 'and military preparedness were in bad shape, a factor which forced Britain to accept German aggression unchallenged. Hitler’s next victim was Czechoslovakia. He encouraged dissension among the German minority of that Central European democracy and created a state of tension which presaged his demands for the cession of Sudetenland. Peace negotiations were arranged and Mr Chamberlain’s pilgrimage to Munich on September 29, 1938, prevented war. Czechoslovakia had to cede Sudetenland, however, to satisfy Hitler’s “last territorial ambitions in Europe.” It became painfully evident to British people that the nation had been quite unprepared to go to war in September, 1938. Facing Up to Hitler Mr Chamberlain had been deceived in his hope for a settled Europe. The duplicity of Hitler again shocked the world when Germany violated the Munich agreement and annexed the Czecho-Slovak Republic, which was declared a German Pretectorate on March 16. 1939. Hardly had Czechoslovakia disappeared from the map than Germany demanded from Lithuania the return of Memel, which was taken over on March 22, 1939. Britain’s policy of appeasement was now scuttled; apprehension was caused in Poland; and the decision to stand up to aggression was taken when Great Britain pledged itself on March 31, 1939, to defend Poland against violation of her independence. Events moved rapidly as the international situation deteriorated, and it became increasingly apparent that democracy and Nazism could not live side by side. Germany denounced on April 28 the non-aggression pact with Poland which had been concluded in January, 1934. Germany required the cession of the Free City of Danzig to the Reich, a route through the Polish Corridor to East Prussia, and later demanded the entire Corridor. German-Polish relations deteriorated and Europe prepared for the plunge into war. Germany astonished the world by signing a Pact of NonAggression with Soviet Russia on August 24, but it failed to curb the determination of the democracies. On September 1, at 5.30 a.m., German forces invaded Poland. Never again could Hitler claim to have won victory without paying the price of war, for his failure to comply with the British and French demand to withdraw from Poland led to Britain and France declaring

war on Germany on September 3. n Hitler’s rise to power had been a n story of consistent and cunning ag- s gression; of broken promises and v hypocritical excuses. Clearly the I war-guilt was fastened on that one e man. I Zealand and Australia were s the first of the Dominions to declare b war. Whereas in 1914 the Empire a had gone to war by a declaration o from Westminister, in 1939 each of li the Dominions independently decided s on action. Thus on September 3 ii Britain, France, New Zealand, and s Australia declared war upon Germany and South Africa ranged herself against the enemy on September 6, four days ahead of Canada’s entry into the struggle. o Heavy clashes opened early on all j fronts. Poland resisted the full a might of the German war machine; s the R.A.F. dashed into action, bomb- t ing the Kiel Canal and Wilhelm- i shaven; the French crossed the German frontier between the Rhine and n the Moselle and within a few days E were advancing on a front of 125 j miles; and tragedy struck at sea the t day following Britain’s war de- r claration. The Athenia was tor- u pedoed and sunk with the loss of 125 y lives, a toll which was the greatest a loss of British lives on a passenger $ ship during the first year of the war.®p As suddenly as the war flames had n ignited on the Western Front, they r became less intense. The British t air force maintained vigorous patrols j but the novel dropping of propa- r ganda pamphlets became more pre- / valent than bomb raids. Bombing c of German naval bases, however, oc- ]\ cupied the attention of the R.A.F. at t; frequent intervals. The Navy car- s ried on, gradually gaining control t at the German U-boats, which soon 2 became a relatively ineffective weapon. The fleet also intensified its t blockade of Germany. c J Horror In Poland a While the Allies took advantage of the unexpected inactivity of the early phase of the war to improve 1 their preparedness the German forces tore relentlessly through the gallant Polish army. Horror was the keynote of Germany’s campaign against Poland, as the might of Nazi forces inflicted heavy toll on soldiers and helpless civilians without dis- • crimination. In less than a month ' the German “blitzkrieg” had subdued half of Poland but not until the ■ capital, Warsaw, had provided one • of the most heroic feats of resistance ‘ the world had ever seen. Then, on i September 17, with surprising sud--1 denness, Russia invaded Poland in “ violation of a pact of non-aggression, r the pretext being that the Polish • State had ceased to exist. Therer after Polish resistance collapsed. On - September 29 Germany and Russia l signed an agreement for the partition of'Poland which gave the U.S.S.R. five-eighths of the country. Help From U.S.A, l Turning to meet the main concen- ' tration of his enemies on the Western • Front, Hitler ordered the mobilisa- • tion of German troops on the Bel- ‘ gium and Dutch frontiers on Septemi ber 30. An immediate invasion of . the Low Countries by Nazi forces i failed to materialise, however, and, • instead, Hitler made a vague peace > offer which was announced together l with warnings of utter destruction of the Western democracies. The L coup failed and the war entered upon 1 » the second phase, which was stale- 1 i mate on land with activity conceni trated at sea, where British mastery J E became increasingly assured. Ger- 1 l many’s biggest successes in this < ■ sphere in the early stages were the ■ i sinking of the British aircraft-car- < , rier H.M.S. Courageous on Septem- ] t ber 18 and the more daring tor- « 1 pedoeing of the British battleship - H.M.S. Royal Oak in Scapa Flow on - • October 14. 1 Of tremendous importance to . ■ Great Britain and France was the - J decision of the United States of i ; America on November 4 to repeal ■ ? the Arms Embargo, which enabled ■ i belligerents to obtain war material < from America on a “cash and carry” I basis. The value of this de- ? cision was to become increasingly ? more important to the democratic - cause as the conflict proceeded. < 1 Meanwhile relations between . e Soviet Russia and Finland had bei. come strained after Estonia, Latvia i - and Lithuania had agreed to accept \ r Russian demands for the military i 2 occupation of strategic points within s their territories. Finland refused to d capitulate similarly and, without l formal declaration of war. the Red i Army marched on Finland on NoS vember 30. This campaign was

mercilessly conducted but the Finnish forces provided a heroic resistance,. checking the Russian forces, which suffered heavy losses. On December 14 Russia was formally expelled from membership of the League of Nations, but Allied assistance to Finland was ineffective because of Sweden’s refusal to allow a passage for troops. Sheer weight of numbers finally overpowered Finland and the nation agreed to Russian terms on March 13, surrendering considerable territory as a result. Achilles 9 Great Exploit One of the greatest Naval dramas of all time was fought in the South Atlantic on December 13. In an amazing combination of strategy, seamanship and British determination, three relatively small cruisers, H.M.S. Exeter, Achilles, Ajax, hunted down and battered into submission the much-vaunted Nazi pocket-battleship Admiral Graf Spee. New Zealanders learned with pride that the New Zealand Ensign had received its baptism of Naval fire under circumstances which gave the young Dominion a brilliant birth of a naval tradition. Gallantly the New Zealand sailors played their part with Achilles under the command of Captain W. E. Parry, who received the order of Companion of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath. Several New Zealand sailors received decorations, including Boy Allan Max Dorset, of Hamilton, recipient of the Distinguished Service Medal. Achilles suffered little from the battle, thanks to the remarkable seamanship of Captain Parry, but the toll of battle left its mark. New Zealanders whose memory will be honoured for ever because they gave their lives for freedom under circumstances of great gallantry were Able-Seaman A. C. H. Shaw, of Rotorua, and formerly of Cambridge, and Ordinary Seaman I. W. Grant, of Dunedin. Two British ratings were also killed on the Achilles. Able Seaman Edgar V. Sherley, of

Te Awamutu, who received the Distinguished Service Medal, was wounded in the action. Stories have been told of the battle and they will be re-told for ever. Most important factor was the success of the light-gunned British vessels with a total broadside of only 31361 b compared with the Graf Spee’s broadside of 47081 b, with a range of 30,000yds compared with the Exeter’s slightly less range and Achilles’ and Ajax’s 25,000yds range. The Graf Spee ran for shelter into Montevideo harbour and later Hitler ordered that it should be blown up—an ignominious end after a futile showing in battle. On February 23 Achilles returned home to receive a vociferous welcome in Auckland. Epilogue to victory was the daring rescue of the Graf Spee’s 300 prisoners from disgusting ill-treatment on the Nazi prison-ship “Hell-ship” Altmarck, which was accomplished by H.M.S. Cossack in Jossing Fjord, Norway, on February 16. Ctommand of the Seas Severest for generations, the winter which gripped Europe suspended major military opeiations between Germany and the Allies. Hitler, finding Up; his boasted sub-

s marine campaign was failing, again i violated international law by orderi ing the mining of British waters. , Germany introduced the magnetic - mine, which proved destructive until Britain soon introduced a coun- , ter. In the first seven days of the - war more than 100,000 tons of Allied i and neutral ships had been sunk, s. but the toll decreased rapidly and, e after three months of war, Britain i commenced 1940 with a net loss of s only 70,000 tons in the total pre-war e merchant tonnage of 21,000,000 tons, f The capturing of enemy ships and b re-building programmes had mitir gated the severity of the net loss. - Britain’s command of the seas was 3 convincingly demonstrated by the f regularity of trade and the enormous b success of the convoy system. s Inactivity on the part of the German y land forces was obviously reaching -an end. The direction in which e the Nazi aggressor would next leap i was indicated on April 8 when the e Allies mined the Norwegian coast tas a precautionary measure. Early v next morning the Germans crossed e the Danish frontier and invoked the e immediate surrender of Denmark, - and at the same time thousands of e troops crossed the Baltic Sea enf trance for the invasion of Norway. Thus started the second phase of the war, marking the start of the s most widespread armed conflicts tho i. wc/rld had known, f Immediately Britain and France

• answered Norway's call for help. The Royal Navy quickly sped into action, but the Norwegian capital had already surrendered and Germany rapidly took a grip upon the country which, despite the resistance of the army and navy, was doomed from the very start because of the Fifth Column treachery which had preceded the Nazi invasion. Again German methods were demonstrated but Holland, Belgium, and even France were yet to fall before the world was to appreciate the need for elaborate precautions against this new form of warfare from within. The early part of the Norwegian campaign was characterised by valiant exploits of the Royal Navy, particularly the destroyer flotilla action in the Narvik Fjord on April 10, when H.M.S. Hardy ran ashore and H.M.S. Hunter sank at the cost of destroying one German cruiser, severely damaging several destroyers, sinking six German merchant ships, and blowing up an ammunition ship. Ten other enemy ships were sunk on the same day in various actions. The first V.C. of the war was earned in the Narvik destroyer action by Captain B. A. W. Warburton-Lee, who lost his life when in command of the /destroyer flotilla. Landing at seven points in Nor-

By Roscoe Denton

way, the British Expeditionary Force dashed to the assistance of the Norwegians on April 15. On May 2, however, the troops were forced to withdraw from Southern Norway, where the Nazis had become firmly established. With control of the Norwegian air fields the Germans were able to maintain command of the area, which was a tremendous distance from the nearest British air bases. Britain concentrated the Norwegian campaign upon Narvik, which was captured from the Huns on May 29, but, with the Battle of France raging, we decided to evacuate Norway altogether on June 10. Frankly, it had to be admitted that the Norwegian campaign had not been a success. At the outset, however, the Royal Navy had taken heavy toll of the German Navy, which thereafter, practically ceased to exist. Such ships as Blucher (10,000 tons), and Karlsruhe and many smaller warships were sunk. Low Countries at War While the wounds of Norway were still fresh, Germany struck again. It was May 10 at about 3 a.m. t#iat Hitler launched another drive to destroy civilisation. On this occasion tlys victims were Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg and so, after eight months of war, the third decisive phase of the conflict

opened, a phase which was to develop into the Battle for France. Fighting raged all along the frontiers of Holland and Belgium, and Luxembourg was rapidly overrun. Against Holland the Nazis used parachute troops on a targe scale for the first time, and they were successful in capturing aerodromes behind the Dutch lines and taking advanced positions. Nazi bomb raids started on France also, and meanwhile a Franco-British army was rushing to the aid of the Low Countries. For five days Holland held out. The gallant nation paid 100,000 lives in that short time before the country surrendered on May 15, affer Fifth Column treachery had prevented the full operation of the carefully planned Dutch water defence system. Belgium continued the fight, but the tide of the Nazi superior mechanised forces swept on. On May 17 the Germans broke through the French defences north of the Maginot Line and the following day the Belgian capital, Brussels, was occupied along with Antwerp. Sensationally, the news came on May 19 that Marshal Gamelin had been succeeded by General Weygand as Commander-in-Chief of the Allied land forces. Meanwhile in England, on the day Germany invaded the Low Countries, there had been

tremendous political changes. Mr Chamberlain resigned from the premiership and Mr Winston Churchill appointed a new War Cabinet, which included Mr Attlee (Leader of the Labour Party), Mr Greenwood (De-puty-Leader of the Labour Party), and Sir Archibald Sinclair (Leader of the Liberal Party). On May 22 the new Government assumed control of all persons and property in the country for the duration of the war. Still the Nazis swept on. By May 23 the enemy had occupied Abbeville and the position had become very grave. Boulogne fell the following day when a colossal battle for the coast was raging. On May 26 General Ironside was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Home Defence and Gerieral Sir John Dill Chief of the Imperial Staff. Belgium Falls Shattering news came on May 28 of King Leopold’s order to the Belgian army to surrender. The Belgian Government vetoed the order, but it was too late to save the majority of the army. By May 30 the British Expeditionary Force and the, French troops in Northern France were falling back toward the coast and Calais was under German fire. By the en dof May the Great Evacuation of Dunkirk had commenced. It was completed on June 4 with the safe arrival in Britain of more than 335,000 Allied troops. The evacuation was one of the most brilliant tasks ever performed by the British Army and Navy working together. In adversity the British spirit becomes most pronounced and Dunkirk did more to stiffen the resolve of Britons the world over than would have a dozen victories on the field of battle. There were 220 warships and 620 other British ships engaged in the evacLiation, which was carried out under heavy fire from the German air force. In material the losses were enormous, nearly 1000 guns and the entire mechanised transport of the B.E.F. being abandoned in France. Mr Chamberlain described the Allied campaign in north France as a colossal military blunder. On June 5 Germany opened a new offensive on the middle Somme area and throughout the next few days violent battles raged on land and in the air as France embarked upon a last vain effort to tide the progress of Nazi mechanised invaders. With an estimated invading force of more than 1,000,000, Germany maintained a rapid advance which gradually enveloped northern France. By this time it had become painfully apparent that in the modem weapons of warfare, particularly in mobile mechanised divisions, Germany was far more efficiently prepared than were the Allies, who were unable to put the resources into the field which were required to stem the tide of invasion. On June 9 the Nazis launched a fresh attack from the sea to Argonne, it being estimated that another 1,000,000 Germans had been thrown into the blitzkrieg. France Seeks Peace Enemy advanced forces reached Rouen the following day. when fighting reached a point only 35 miles from Paris. On June 11 the French Government left Paris for Tours, and three days later the French capital was surrendered to the enemy to prevent its demolition during an inevitable seige. Thereafter the position was becoming extremely critical, although the army still fought on gallantly, unaware that even then the leaders were preparing to surrender the nation to terms imposed by the enemy. On June 16, eight days before the end, the French Government transferred to Bordeaux and Britain

r made proposals for an Anglo-French - union of peoples. The scheme lapsed, 1 however, for, unknown to her British 1 ally, France was now well forward 2 in her plans to surrender. Because - he could not agree to complete cap- , itulation, the French Premier, M. r Reynaud, resigned on June 17, to 2 leave Field-Marshal Petain to form - a Government with General Weyl gand as Vice-Premier. Immediates ly the nation sought what is described as an honourable peace with / Germany t This invoked British dei termination to fight on regardless of - the fate of her ally. Hitler and 1 Mussolini met to discuss the terens 1 which the totalitarian States might 1 impose upon France. All British Forces were withdrawn » from French soil on June 19, and the ! French plenipotentiaries, General Huntziger, Air-Marshal Pergeret, M. Leon Noel and Rear-Admiral Le Luc, were appointed to discuss peace terms with Germany. On June 21 the terms were handed to the } plenipotentiaries at Compiegne, the - historic venue of the armistice of the - Great War of 1914-1918. On that , same day the French Government 2 cast a vote by 13 to 10 rejecting the ) British proposals for an Anglol French Union. On June 22 the 1 French Government accepted the 2 German armistice terms containing i 24 points which, in effect, resulted ; in the complete capitulation of . France and the surrender of all the * nation’s war materials and , ret sources. Furthermore, about twothirds of the country was occupied t by Germany, which secured complete r control of the French Channel ports. I “Free-Franee” Fights On l The following day Britain repudii ated the Petain Government, and a » French National Committee under j General de Gaulle was formed in ; England with British official recogi nition. It had now become obvious i that the French debacle was largely [ the result of corruption combined with the unpreparedness of a nation l which had placed explicit trust in the defensive power of the Maginot J Line, which had proved practically 1 useless against the German plan of l invasion. Upon the day on which Francoj German hostilities ceased, June 24. * France surrendered to Italy also. s Italy was granted rights in Jibuti 1 (French Somaliland) and was a obliged to demilitarise Tunisia and s Algeria as well as her own country. -j With a daring typical of the most e amazing episodes of British naval i history, the Royal Navy seized con- _ trol of the major portion of the s French Fleet during the first week of July. French craft lying in Britf ish waters were boarded, while a British force engaged other units of r the French Fleet off Oran, stalling e their efforts to return to French t ports to comply with German ord--1 ers under the armistice terms. Italian £ fleet units were reported to have s steamed to prevent the British action a but they refrained from coming into 5 contact with the Royal Navy. On j July 7 the French naval forces at Alexandria, the British base in Egypt, were demobilised. Hard on the heels of these achievements, Britain announced the sealing with mines of the North Sea (toasts of Germany and Norway as a result of 1 remarkable work by the Royal Air 1 Force. The task, which increased 5 the blockade, had occupied 12 weeks, e On July 9 the powerful French r battleship Richelieu, of 35,022 tons, 2 was put out of action by the British 2 Navy at Dakar. l Activity became less pronounced - following the ending of France’s par- - licipation in the war. At sea tha / Royal Navy maintained its ceaseless! e vigil during which several ships werej - lost. Aerial warfare continued be-' ; J tween Britain and Germany un-! abated, but the real beginning of the * “ conflict in the air has yet to come, - however. On July 19 H.M.A.S i Sydney sank the Italian cruise*' Bar-

talomeo Calleoni (5069 tons) northwest of Crete. Blitzkrieg on Britain On August 8 it was reported that Italian forces were advancing into British Somaliland, the defence of which had become practically impossible since the French default. It had been decided by the British Government, however, that the small forces in the territory should inflict as heavy losses as possible on the Italians before withdrawing. This was done before Britain evacuated the possession on August 19. Fourth phase of the war developed during the second week of August when Gennany’s air armada opened its long-expected blitzkrieg against Britain. Thereupon developed the first great aerial clashes of the conflict, and the test found that the Royal Air Force was not wanting as the gallant force rapidly built up a glorious tradition to rival that of the Navy. At this time the battle for Britain had been considered to have commenced, but Hitler concentrated solely upon aircraft attack with the exception of long-range shelling of southern England from the coast of France, first adopted on August 12, and repeated from August 22. While the R.A.F. fighter squadrons took terrific toll of enemy raiders, our bomber squadrons became increasingly active over Germany as important strategical points and industrial centres became the targets for British bombs. Germany lost far more heavily materially than did Britain, but the most serious aspect from Hitler’s point of view must have been the colossal loss of trained airmen in the battles over Britain. R.A.F. 9 s Toll on Enemy Signs became apparent during the last week of the first year of war that Hitler had been obliged to delay his plans for an immediate military invasion of Britain, whose aerial answer to the Blitzkrieg of the German air force had confounded the Nazis. Gallant British airmen had taken terrific toll of the aerial invaders and throughout the Empire the R.A.F. was acclaimed as the saviour of Freedom. Day raids proved too costly to the enemy, whose air I force was ill-prepared for night air attacks and the result was that German bombing in recent days became extremely erratic. Statistics of air force fighting since the Battle for Britain really commenced show that up to yesterday the Germans had lost about 1250 machines over Britain alone. The British loss of fighters was less than 200 in the same period when the Nazi air force lost tremendously from the deaths of more than 3000 j trained airmen. Since the outbreak of war Germany has lost, up to yesterday, approximately 3500 warplanes. Since Italy’s entry into the war that nation Jotft 122 warplanes up to August 23, while the British loss J from the outbreak of war until that i date was 889, including 20 ’planes shot down in the Near East. Up to date the approximate loss of British shipping has been 2,000,000 tons, while about 300,000 tons of other Allied ships and 200,000 tons of neutral ships were,JoPt With troops and England, and others in training, New Zealand hatf played a dig part to- * wards the Empire cause. The Dominion's airmen have won renown for their splendid courage and ability in action and the Navy had already proved its fighting qualities. Most serious losses to New Zealand in the , first year of the war were the loss j of some 100 airmen, the loss by mini ing of the Niagara and the attack by \u raider on the Turakma. • As the war enters its second year i the Empire stands united and grimly determined. “Who stands il Freedom fall? Who dies if England live?**