HISTORY AS IT HAPPENS

New Zealand Listener, Volume 4, Issue 87, 21 February 1941, Page 2

HISTORY AS IT HAPPENS

in this section weekly, appears a day by day record of the events of history in the making. As some time elapses in the publication of "The Listener," this diary is one week retrospective.

Thursday, February 6 The Italians on all fronts in Africa desperately speeded up their retreat regardless of loss of equipment. British troops pressed on determined that the fleeing armies should have no chance to rest and re-form. In Eritrea the Imperial troops advanced 150 miles in a fortnight and were 4 miles from Kerin. The Italians have evacuated 5000 square miles of Abyssinia. The Sofia correspondent of the "Daily Mail" said that King Boris and the Bulgarian Government had slowly lost control of the situation. Troops were sent to the Greek frontier. Enemy air attack over Britain was on a small scale, but British bombers attacked Dusseldorf and another squadron carried out a daylight sweep over northern France. Mr. Harry Hopkins, President Roosevelt’s personal representative to Britain, attended conferences at Downing Street and learned many British war secrets. Friday, February 7 Benghazi, capital of Cyrenaica and an important port, was captured by the British forces after an advance, the speed of which was almost unparalleled in history. It was believed that the advance was encouraged by Italian settlers who were anti-Fascist and by riots that had broken out between Libyans and Italians. More than 1500 prisoners were taken in Eritrea. The Italians violently counter-at-tacked in the central sector in Albania, but suffered a disastrous defeat, The former Prime Minister of Holland, Dirk Jan de Geer, returned to Holland from London, it was believed in order to visit his sick wife. J. G. Winant was appointed United States Ambassador to London. He was formerly Director of the International Labour Office at Geneva. London was again free from air raids; for the fourteenth night out of the last eighteen. Saturday and Sunday, February 8 and 9 The British armoured column which cut off the Italians’ retreat from Benghazi reached the coast 60 miles south, and were believed to be pressing on to the west. This body made a forced march of 150 miles in 30 hours which completely surprised the Italians who were trying to escape, and after a pitched battle the Italians were defeated. The fall of Benghazi was hailed throughout the American press as representing the final defeat of the Italians in Libya. A heavy bombardment of the important Italian commercial city of Genoa was carried out by units of the Royal Navy who escaped unharmed after firing 300 tons of shells into the town. The United States House of Representatives passed and sent to the Senate the Aid for Britain Bill. The voting was 260 in favour and 165 against, and

the Bill as passed was substantially in accord with the wishes of the administration. The Director-General of the Home Guard, General Eastwood, again warned Britain of the possibility of invasion. Monday, February 10 The German radio circulated rumours that Petain and Admiral Darlan had flown to Africa and rioting had occurred at Vichy, for the purpose of sowing confusion, but it was learned officially from Vichy that they were untrue. However, Admiral Darlan replaced M. Flandin as Foreign Minister, and VicePremier. An inspiring speech to the world was given by Winston Churchill in a broad cast to the nation and the Empire which was rebroadcast through the United States. He reviewed the war to date, made scathing remarks about Mussolini, spoke of German infiltration into Bulgaria, and gave another serious warning of the danger of invasion and gas attacks. He concluded by saying "Give us the tools and we will finish the job." Great increases in the strength of the Imperial garrison at Singapore were described by "The Times," which said that the garrison included British, Indian, Australian and New Zealand troops. Tuesday, February 11 The British Government withdrew the Minister to Rumania and his staff from Bucharest. A few hours later armoured trains filled with thousands of German officers and men dressed as civilians streamed from Rumania into Bulgaria. It was believed that a strong concentration in the Balkans had caused the Turks to reconsider their policy in the light of their national needs. An advance by British troops in the coastal area of Northern Eritrea was announced. General Franco and the Spanish Foreign Minister, General Suner, left to confer with Mussolini. A decree was issued at Vichy naming Admiral Darlan as Chief of State should Petain be unable to continue. Wednesday, February 12 Important concentrations of German troops were described in Rumania and Bulgaria amid a welter of rumour in the Balkans. The Turkish press announced that Turkey was prepared for anything. The Athens radio reported that some members of the Fascist Party secretly met in Rome to consider a peace plan. A new threat to Addis Ababa, capital of Abyssinia. developed with an important drive on the south-eastern front by South African forces. Free French forces advanced 350 miles inside south eastern Libya from the Chad sector. Wendell Willkie on his return from London, stated before the Senate For- eign Relations Committee that if Britain collapsed the United States would be in the war within thirty days,