The Waikato Times FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1940 READY FOR INVASION

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21217, 13 September 1940, Page 4

The Waikato Times FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1940 READY FOR INVASION

Mr Churchill’s warning that the climax to the German assault on Britain may be expected at any time finds the British people ready and eager to meet the foe face to face. Mr Churchill does not say that Germany will attempt an invasion by sea, but he asks the people to be prepared for it. All the indications are that if the attempt is lo be made at all it will be made soon. It is well known that ever since the fall of France the enemy has been concentrating all manner of craft in the French ports across the Channel, and that he has large numbers of men mobilised near the French coast. It is commonly supposed that the recent large-scale air raids were designed to prepare the way for an invasion when the circumstances are propitious. But even if the invasion is planned for an early date, Hitler has already failed. The preparatory bombardment has scarcely scratched the surface of Britain’s defences, and it has only succeeded in steeling the morale of the defenders. As a preparatory bombardment it is a farce, although Hitler may not realise the fact. But time is short and the Germans must press on quickly if they hope to end the battle before winter overtakes them. And so Mr Churchill believes that an attempt at invasion is possible within the next week or so. It must be remembered that the British Government has access to information that is not available to the general public, and the Prime Minister would not issue such a warning without good cause. Germany, of course, has not been able to keep secret the concentrations of ships, barges and men on the French coast. The Royal Air Force has not only spied out every movement but has in addition wrought terrible havoc by constant bombing raids. Even before it has ventured out the German expedition has suffered heavily. What it will suffer if thousands of men put out to sea and attempt to land on British soil can be left to the imagination. Every man in Britain is ready, and the Homeland today represents the most powerful and the most revered fortress the world has ever known. If Hitler strikes he will risk the greatest disaster in the history of arms. The tactics that the Nazis will employ can only be guessed at by those who have only very scanty knowledge of what the British intelligence service has learned of the German scheming. Big guns have been mounted along the French coast. Germany has a powerful air force waiting and large numbers of small vessels in which troops might be embarked. Troop-carrying aeroplanes may drop parachutists. Fast armed motor-boats may be employed to use guns and tornedoes. But Germany has no navy comparable with the British Fleet, and there lies one of her great handicaps. The preparatory bombardment has done nothing more than rouse the British defenders to a state of fixed determination that the Huns shall not pass, and there the position must rest until Hitler makes his fateful and fatal decision,