The Waikato Times FRIDAY, AUGUST 30, 1940 CHALLENGE THROWN BACK

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21205, 30 August 1940, Page 6

The Waikato Times FRIDAY, AUGUST 30, 1940 CHALLENGE THROWN BACK

The battle for Britain has developed very differently from what the British Empire, and apparently Germany, expected. It is probable that, according to Nazi calculations, Britain should by now be prostrate at the feet of Germany. Instead, she is stronger than ever. The weapon that was to have crushed her resistance has inflicted surprisingly little damage and has, in fact, blunted and buckled itself in the attempt. Germany is obviously nonplussed and is enraged that the neutral Press agrees that the Nazi assault by air has failed to i ealise its objective. It is admitted that Nazi airmen who have been raiding Britain have been sent back to training schools to have their aim improved. And the raiding tactics have been changed from day to night and from massed attacks to scattered and individual sorties. British people cannot fail to read these signs, but in their own way they prefer not to believe that the German Air Force has yet been defeated. They have been warned that Germany still has large numbers of aeroplanes and that more desperate attempts will yet be made to batter the British Isles into submission. The enemy is resourceful and powerful and will not admit defeat at the first attempt. It is true that he has suffered the first reverse in a long career of triumphs and is annoyed at the tenacity of the British, but he will go on scheming and attempting every possible method of attack that is open to him. Britain has perhaps not yet seen the worst of his air laids, but she has at least gained confidence that she can meet him and beat him in open warfare in the skies.

No hint has been allowe’d to leak out of Germany of any plans or any intention of launching an invasion of England by any means other than the air. It is certain that the German High Command has discussed and assessed the possibilities of other methods, but if it has advanced any to a stage of readiness the secret has been remarkably well kept. As the autumn advances, Hitler will need to hurry if he hopes to make progress before winter grips Europe. It is a reasonable assumption that the throwing back of his aerial legions which were expected to smash the British resistance has thrown his plans into confusion. That assumption is supported by news from Russia and elsewhere that the heavy losses suffered by the German Air Force have come as a painful surprise to Hitler. An essential part of the aggressive plan was to convince the world that the air raids had reduced Britain to a state of nervous prostration and incompetence. But the truth has permeated neutral countries and even Germany itself, with the result that the enthusiasm of the invaders has been dampened. One 1 leading German newspaper which speaks for Goering and the German Air Force, “is indignant that the disastrous effects of the German air raids on England are not admitted in the neutral Press,” and it even adopts a threatening attitude towards the neutrals. Goering is not used to having the challenge thrown back in his teeth and he resents it. Did he not inform the world that he had only to touch a button to release clouds of aeroplanes that would reduce Britain to a shambles ?