TROUBLE IN FRENCH INDO-CHINA. Both the New York Herald Tribune and the New York Times headline this week-end’s French-Japanese clashes as a Japanese "invasion" of French Indo-China. That’s overstating what happened -- the Herald Tribune’s own story, by Victor Keen, makes it clear that the Japanese merely attacked a French blockhouse in the northern border city of Dong Dang. But Mr. Keen’s account also relays a jumble of contradictory assertions. One was that the attack took place "two hours before the expiration of Japan’s seventy-two-hour ultimatum demanding undisclosed military concessions from the French colony." But a dispatch from Haiphong claimed later that the Japanese action was a mistake, because France and Japan had reached an "agreement" concerning Indo-China the day before. The Japanese assert, not very convincingly, that they were peaceably marching through Dong Dang per their rights under the agreement when those warmongering French fired upon them.
The Haiphong dispatch claims that this new pact grants Japan the right to keep 6,000 troops on bases in Tonking province, station her forces at Haiphong, and to send armies to attack south China through an Indo-Chinese route. In return, Japan "guaranteed the territorial integrity of Indo-China and French sovereignty there" -- probably the same way Soviet Russia "guaranteed" Rumania’s new borders after seizing Bessarabia, i.e., by marching through them at will.
A NAZI "VICTORY" ON THE HIGH SEAS. The mighty warriors of Germany’s armed forces haven’t yet managed to triumph over the R.A.F. But they did manage a victory of another kind last week, as described in Monday’s Chicago Tribune --
"Two hundred and ninety-three persons, including 83 evacuated children bound for safety in Canada died last Tuesday night, 600 miles out in the storm lashed Atlantic when their ship was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine....Only 113 of the 406 persons on board survived. It was the first loss of children under Britain’s scheme to remove them from the war zone. The children who perished were from 5 to 15 years old. Men, women, and children were swept from lifeboats by heavy seas. Others died from exposure as rain and hailstorms swept them from 10 p.m. on the night of Sept. 17 until dawn the next day when a British warship reached the scene."
C.B.S.’s William Shirer said in his broadcast from Berlin last night that the German press is blaming the sinking squarely on Churchill. The Berlin radio jeered that Churchill should have known German submariners would blast the children to bits if they sailed westward on the Atlantic toward safety. Thus, in Nazi logic, Churchill is a "murderer."
IS HITLER POSTPONING THE INVASION? Charles M. Lincoln writes in Sunday’s New York Times about renewed signs in Germany that the invasion of Britain won’t come off anytime soon --
"The [British] navy waits; a million five hundred thousand [British] soldiers wait. They would welcome a straightout fight. They believed they would have come to grips long before this. They now think that perhaps there will be no fight....That Hitler has really abandoned his dearest dream cannot be safely assumed. He may make the attempt at any moment. He may never make it. What is going on right now between himself and the governmental and military groups which surround him we cannot know. But more and more, in Berlin, are heard the words ‘in the Spring,’ ‘Britain is vulnerable elsewhere,’ ‘the Mediterranean.’ Yesterday a highly placed German said, in Berlin: ‘Let’s leave open for the moment whether the Britain of the future may be regarded as European.’ What do these, and similar expressions coming from the German capital, signify? They certainly do not resemble the bombast of a few months ago. Whether Germany is to defer, or put aside, her attempt to invade England remains unanswered. But it would seem, from what has thus far transpired, that if the attempt is to wait upon mastery of the Royal Air Force and the breaking of the British people it will have to wait a long, long time."
Mr. Lincoln assures us that the bombing raids on England will continue, but that the air war could take on a new character in 1941, and a new intensity, as Britain builds her own arsenal -- "She has received 3,000 planes from the United States, will receive many times that number. Australia is producing 650 planes a month; Canada, ‘a large number.’ In England 600,000 are in the aircraft effort. The Empire training plan calls for 20,000 pilots and 30,000 air crews from Canada. Winter months may see many of them training on American soil. If Britain comes through the present crisis by next Spring she will be immensely strong in the skies....Next year should see air battles which will make the current conflicts seem trivial."
A NAZI "AFRICAN STRATEGY" MIGHT WIN. It seems reasonable that since time is so evidently on Britain’s side, the Nazis would be foolhardy to not invade as quickly as possible. Unless, that is, Hitler has opted for a new, round-about strategy for total victory. And that’s what appears to be more likely every day. I’m worried now that Germany will quickly join with Italy to create a number of new Mediterranean and African battlefronts, seeking to cut off Britain’s ties to her empire by taking Gibraltar, the Suez Canal, Malta, Aden, and other strategic points. The Axis will probably also try to grab the oilfields of Syria and other Near East outposts. What’s frightening about this is that the British are nowhere near as prepared for this as they are for on a head-on attack Would Britain’s navy and her already-stretched-thin land armies in Africa be enough to contain a combined German-Italian offensive? They seem barely able to contain the Italians as is. If the Axis moves southward this fall, Britain might be in desperate straits economically by next spring.
WILLKIE'S ALLEGED DOWNTURN. Also in Sunday’s New York Times, Turner Catledge isn’t buying the increasingly popular notion that Wendell Willkie is going downhill -- "The idea persists in Washington that the Willkie campaign and that if it does not make an upward turn soon another Democratic landslide may be the result in November. It should be borne in mind that this is the attitude of the capital, the home-base of the New Deal and a community which, at times, can get farther away from the rest of the country than would seem geographically possible."
But Mr. Catledge notes that recent national polls seem to bear out the mood in Washington. And Fortune magazine’s current survey is no comfort to the Republicans either -- 53.2 percent for President Roosevelt, only 35.6 percent for Mr. Willkie. Like the Gallup poll announced this past week-end, Fortune’s analysis offers the G.O.P. a ray of hope -- "In the number of people answering ‘don’t know’ -- 10.8% more than those having no opinion on Roosevelt -- like Willkie’s chances to be elected." But the Fortune survey was taken before the Willkie acceptance speech last month, and there’s been no evidence of a Republican surge since then.
Still, Mr. Catledge warns rightfully that "there are too many questions which can only be answered on election day, to warrant one in counting the chickens now." We’ve got a long way to go.
Saturday, September 24, 2016
Thursday, September 22, 2016
Sunday, September 22, 1940
THE AXIS WANTS TO CONTROL AFRICA. Sigrid Schultz writes in Saturday’s Chicago Tribune that Germany and Italy are "extending their ‘Monroe Doctrine of Europe’ to include Africa," and are working out the details at a Rome conference between Nazi Foreign Minister von Ribbentrop and Premier Mussolini. The German press has picked up the theme, according to Miss Schultz, "emphasizing that England must be expelled from the African continent." Herbert L. Matthews of the New York Times says that Spain’s future is figuring in the talks as well. Reputedly, the Axis partners are considering giving Spain part of French Morocco for joining the war, or at least for letting Germany and Italy use her as a base of operations against British Mediterranean fortresses such as Gibraltar.
Meanwhile, the Associated Press cites Fascist sources in Rome as hinting that a new Axis "surprise" might be coming soon, taking the focus away from the Battle of Britain for the moment and involving Spain, the Balkans, or the Near East. The A.P. didn’t mention it, but it’s possible, maybe even likely, that Germany might get dramatically involved with Italy’s war to grab the Suez Canal and other British holdings in East Africa (see below).
THE BOMBING GOES ON. Frank R. Kelley says in Saturday’s New York Herald Tribune that German warplanes are still blasting London in eight- and nine-hour-long nightly raids, although the numbers of aircraft involved seem to have dwindled somewhat. Apparently this morning’s strikes on central London came from "lone Nazi raiders," he writes, hitting the city at intervals that sound timed to inflict the maximum strain on Londoners’ nerves. And a separate Herald Tribune story reports, hopefully, that the R.A.F. is continuing its "unwavering offensive" against industrial cities in western Germany and invasion bases along the French coast. One time I’ve noticed in the papers over the last few days is the abrupt disappearance of invasion talk, after streams of warnings that the Nazis would cross the Channel sometime in mid-September. Seems like a good thing -- but then, isn’t Hitler usually more prone to strike when he’s not expected to?
NEW POLLS – BAD NEWS FOR WILLKIE. Expectations of a Roosevelt victory in November seem to be growing in the public and in the press. Fulton Lewis, a commentator on the Mutual network, has announced that his survey of leading Washington correspondents showed a prevailing belief in the President’s re-election -- forty-two forecasting a win for Roosevelt, and only eight picking Willkie. A survey of fifty veteran newspapermen in Newsweek shows a two-to-one split, thirty-four predicting Roosevelt and sixteen predicting Willkie. Newsweek points out that the correspondents’ personal views rule out a pro-Roosevelt bias in the poll. In that respect, twenty-five say they support Willkie, twenty plan to vote for Roosevelt, and five are undecided. In other words, Willkie isn't inspring much optimism so far even among some of the knowledgeable observers who are supporting him.
And the latest Gallup survey shows that the public mood seems to justify the outlook of men in the press. The completed results from throughout the nation now show the President leading in thirty-eight states, totaling 453 electoral votes, while Willkie leads in only ten states with 78 electoral votes. The Roosevelt share of the popular vote has also increased substantially, from fifty-one percent to fifty-five percent, says Gallup. But the pollster warns that eleven percent of the voters are undecided -- and that about one-third of the voters declaring for either candidate "have no very firm convictions about how they will vote."
Thus, it’s still way too early for Democrats to start celebrating. No doubt the voter shift has to do with the last two weeks of mass raids on London and the destroyer-for-bases deal -- Gallup notes that the President’s support always increases when the war in Europe heats up. Meranwhile, Willkie has been pretty much out of the spotlight, although his current two-week Western campaign swing promises to be the start of an all-out home-stretch drive. I still think it’ll end up being a very close election, barring a catastrophic turn in the war.
HITLER’S MEDITERRANEAN STRATEGY? Barnet Nover suggests in his Washington Post column Friday that the Nazis, stymied so far in their attempts to crush Britain head-on, might try to subdue the British indirectly by sending German troops across the Mediterranean instead of across the Channel --
"Great Britain remains un-invaded. And while there is still no certainty that Hitler’s invasion plans have definitely been called off for this year, there is a possibility that he may have to do so. The alternative for the Third Reich would be to throw its weight behind the Italian forces in Egypt while continuing the present aerial war of attrition against the British Isles. German troops, originally intended to be used in an invasion of Britain, might be employed in the invasion of Egypt. At the same time an attempt might be made to imprison the British fleet in the Mediterranean by a thrust at Gibraltar and Greece. Without Gibraltar the British would have to clear out of the West Mediterranean. With Greece in Axis hands German and Italian air power and the Italian submarine fleet could pound away at Britain’s Mediterranean fleet."
Mr. Nover indicates we should know soon whether German and Italian strategists are crafting such a plan -- "It is apparent that something important is stirring in Axis circles. Hitler’s time table has gone awry. But time presses. The British must be knocked out soon. If they cannot be knocked out on their home grounds, it is quite conceivable that the Fuehrer may decide to attempt the more round-about method of severing Britain’s Mediterranean lifeline."
WHAT WILLKIE NEEDS FOR VICTORY. Also in Friday’s Washington Post, Ernest K. Lindley offers a bit of encouragement to the Willkie campaign in the wake of the bad polling news this week --
"As it is still six weeks until election, it is possible that the pendulum will swing away from Roosevelt as rapidly and as far as the polls and other reports indicate it has swung toward him during the last few weeks. The Gallup poll shows, moreover, a substantial residue of undecided voters. They may have it in their power to beat Roosevelt by a narrow margin or to elect him by a landslide comparable to 1932 if not quite of 1936 proportions. But if Willkie is to capture these undecided votes and avoid a severe defeat, it looks now as if he would need not only greater campaigning ability than he has yet shown but also a few lucky breaks."
Meanwhile, the Associated Press cites Fascist sources in Rome as hinting that a new Axis "surprise" might be coming soon, taking the focus away from the Battle of Britain for the moment and involving Spain, the Balkans, or the Near East. The A.P. didn’t mention it, but it’s possible, maybe even likely, that Germany might get dramatically involved with Italy’s war to grab the Suez Canal and other British holdings in East Africa (see below).
THE BOMBING GOES ON. Frank R. Kelley says in Saturday’s New York Herald Tribune that German warplanes are still blasting London in eight- and nine-hour-long nightly raids, although the numbers of aircraft involved seem to have dwindled somewhat. Apparently this morning’s strikes on central London came from "lone Nazi raiders," he writes, hitting the city at intervals that sound timed to inflict the maximum strain on Londoners’ nerves. And a separate Herald Tribune story reports, hopefully, that the R.A.F. is continuing its "unwavering offensive" against industrial cities in western Germany and invasion bases along the French coast. One time I’ve noticed in the papers over the last few days is the abrupt disappearance of invasion talk, after streams of warnings that the Nazis would cross the Channel sometime in mid-September. Seems like a good thing -- but then, isn’t Hitler usually more prone to strike when he’s not expected to?
NEW POLLS – BAD NEWS FOR WILLKIE. Expectations of a Roosevelt victory in November seem to be growing in the public and in the press. Fulton Lewis, a commentator on the Mutual network, has announced that his survey of leading Washington correspondents showed a prevailing belief in the President’s re-election -- forty-two forecasting a win for Roosevelt, and only eight picking Willkie. A survey of fifty veteran newspapermen in Newsweek shows a two-to-one split, thirty-four predicting Roosevelt and sixteen predicting Willkie. Newsweek points out that the correspondents’ personal views rule out a pro-Roosevelt bias in the poll. In that respect, twenty-five say they support Willkie, twenty plan to vote for Roosevelt, and five are undecided. In other words, Willkie isn't inspring much optimism so far even among some of the knowledgeable observers who are supporting him.
And the latest Gallup survey shows that the public mood seems to justify the outlook of men in the press. The completed results from throughout the nation now show the President leading in thirty-eight states, totaling 453 electoral votes, while Willkie leads in only ten states with 78 electoral votes. The Roosevelt share of the popular vote has also increased substantially, from fifty-one percent to fifty-five percent, says Gallup. But the pollster warns that eleven percent of the voters are undecided -- and that about one-third of the voters declaring for either candidate "have no very firm convictions about how they will vote."
Thus, it’s still way too early for Democrats to start celebrating. No doubt the voter shift has to do with the last two weeks of mass raids on London and the destroyer-for-bases deal -- Gallup notes that the President’s support always increases when the war in Europe heats up. Meranwhile, Willkie has been pretty much out of the spotlight, although his current two-week Western campaign swing promises to be the start of an all-out home-stretch drive. I still think it’ll end up being a very close election, barring a catastrophic turn in the war.
HITLER’S MEDITERRANEAN STRATEGY? Barnet Nover suggests in his Washington Post column Friday that the Nazis, stymied so far in their attempts to crush Britain head-on, might try to subdue the British indirectly by sending German troops across the Mediterranean instead of across the Channel --
"Great Britain remains un-invaded. And while there is still no certainty that Hitler’s invasion plans have definitely been called off for this year, there is a possibility that he may have to do so. The alternative for the Third Reich would be to throw its weight behind the Italian forces in Egypt while continuing the present aerial war of attrition against the British Isles. German troops, originally intended to be used in an invasion of Britain, might be employed in the invasion of Egypt. At the same time an attempt might be made to imprison the British fleet in the Mediterranean by a thrust at Gibraltar and Greece. Without Gibraltar the British would have to clear out of the West Mediterranean. With Greece in Axis hands German and Italian air power and the Italian submarine fleet could pound away at Britain’s Mediterranean fleet."
Mr. Nover indicates we should know soon whether German and Italian strategists are crafting such a plan -- "It is apparent that something important is stirring in Axis circles. Hitler’s time table has gone awry. But time presses. The British must be knocked out soon. If they cannot be knocked out on their home grounds, it is quite conceivable that the Fuehrer may decide to attempt the more round-about method of severing Britain’s Mediterranean lifeline."
WHAT WILLKIE NEEDS FOR VICTORY. Also in Friday’s Washington Post, Ernest K. Lindley offers a bit of encouragement to the Willkie campaign in the wake of the bad polling news this week --
"As it is still six weeks until election, it is possible that the pendulum will swing away from Roosevelt as rapidly and as far as the polls and other reports indicate it has swung toward him during the last few weeks. The Gallup poll shows, moreover, a substantial residue of undecided voters. They may have it in their power to beat Roosevelt by a narrow margin or to elect him by a landslide comparable to 1932 if not quite of 1936 proportions. But if Willkie is to capture these undecided votes and avoid a severe defeat, it looks now as if he would need not only greater campaigning ability than he has yet shown but also a few lucky breaks."
Monday, September 19, 2016
Thursday, September 19, 1940
10,000 BOMB CASUALTIES, SAYS CHURCHILL. Over 2,000 civilians killed and 8,000 injured in the first half of September from air bombardments, four-fifths of those in the London area. By contrast, the prime minister told the House of Commons Tuesday that the total casualties for all British fighting forces in the same two-week period was 250. Raymond Daniell of the New York Times says Mr. Churchill’s remarks emphasized "what is all too tragically apparent here, that in this new kind of war the civilian has become the primary military objective." Not that it will ever work, says Mr Churchill, as he ridiculed German "hopes of terrorizing the civilian population into submission" as well as "the silly idea that [the raids] will put pressure upon the Government to make peace."
ITALIAN FORCES TAKE SIDI BARRANI. There’s no good news so far from Italy’s latest African campaign -- her troops have so far advanced sixty miles into Egypt and cracked two British lines of defense. According to the Associated Press, the Fascist army has chased British tank units out of the coastal city of Sidi Barrani, "reaching the beginning of an asphalt road leading 350 miles eastward to the Suez Canal, vital link of Britain’s empire lifeline." The attackers have taken two other towns, Sollum and Buqbuq, and 45,000 Italians are said to be to be encamped at the former. The A.P. puts Italy’s total strength in the offensive at 260,000 men, many of whom are still in Libya awaiting orders to join the offensive.
Allen Raymond writes in Wednesday’s New York Herald Tribune that the fierce fighting at Sidi Barrani was made much harder by the conditions -- "Italian correspondents on the Egyptian battleground have wired to their newspapers that the battle was being fought in a temperature of 106 degrees Fahrenheit, and that the sand blown about the combatants made visibility difficult along the ground."
BAD WEATHER FOR AIR RAIDS. Speaking of the weather, winds of gale force helped blunt the impact of a ten-hour Nazi air raid on Britain Wednesday, according to the Associated Press (the Washington Post headlined the story, "British Fight Raids in Hurricane"). Waves of 200 Nazi warplanes were repulsed as they successively tried to attack the city through the winds and through rain squalls over the English Channel, but as the weather abated more Nazi bombers returned to score hits on the central part of the city. And the wind had one terrible effect for the British, fanning large fires in the city’s East End.
But the British will get plenty of help from the weather in the months ahead, says the Chicago Tribune. In an interview with a U.S. Weather Bureau forecaster, the Tribune reports that "from now until late in March the British Isles will have the protection of fog, rain, and rough seas in the English channel against Nazi invasion. Because of the south-eastward movement of the Bermuda-Azores high pressure area, which shunts storms away from Britain during the warmer months, southern England will have cloudy weather seven out of every ten days from now through October, and cloudy or foggy skies eight of every ten days in February.
BERLIN GETS A BREAK FROM RAIDS. C.B.S. correspondent William Shirer, just returned to his Berlin broadcasts after a week’s absence, mentioned the bad weather last night, but spent more time explaining why Berliners are suddenly less concerned about British air raids over their city -- "they’re not having many." Apparently the R.A.F. has visited the Nazi capital only once over the last six nights, after an initial series of raids during the previous two weeks. Mr. Shirer says that his German acquaintances greet him by remarking that "they’re sleeping normally again."
BRITISH DEFENSE OF EGYPT IS VITAL. Hanson W. Baldwin writes in Wednesday’s New York Times that the Italian offensive to seize Egypt from its British defenders is probably close in importance to the Battle of Britain itself --
"As Egypt goes, so may go the Arab world. If Egypt falls, the British supply lines through the Suez Canal-Red Sea-Gulf of Aden area will be severed. If they are severed and the Italian flag flies above the Egyptian naval bases, it is most unlikely that British naval forces could any longer be maintained in the eastern Mediterranean. If these things occur, the consequences are incalculable. The oil fields of the Near East would lie at the mercy of the Axis powers; the Balkan nations, still clinging to a precarious neutrality but already under the economic or political domination of Germany, would become puppet States in all but name. Under such circumstances a British victory would seem to be impossible; the island kingdom might still stave off invasion and avert crushing defeat, but its chance of acquiring allies – and of eventual victory over Germany – would probably have ended."
Can Britain hold off the Italian advance? From what Mr. Baldwin writes, it doesn’t look promising so far. He puts British and allied troop strength at only one-fourth to one-half of what the Italians have, and so far the Italians are advancing at a rate of ten miles a day. But Britain may have an ally in the climate – "The British defense strategy appears to be based on the tactics of harassing the stronger Italians, of allowing them, against a stiffening resistance, to push gradually farther and farther into the inhospitable desert, and then to attack their supply lines. In a country were the temperature still is 110 to 120 degrees, and where water holes and oases are far apart, such tactics could be a real threat." Here’s to hoping. Despite the speed of the Italian advance so far, the Italians are taking a cautious approach, and it looks like it’ll be some time before we know how this latest battle is going. But rest assured the British understand that, unlike the fight in Somaliland, they can’t afford to lose this time.
BRITISH ADVERTISE CURES FOR WAR WORRIES. The New York Herald Tribune has a front-page story Wednesday full of quotations from British newspapers, illustrating how the British are bearing up under the air raids. The Herald Tribune notes in particular how editors and advertisers have seize the opportunity to pronounce various ways of helping ordinary Britons cure war-related ills --
"On air raid nights avoid headaches caused by gunfire noise. Two tablets (or one powder) of Cephos taken on entering an air raid shelter will enable you to avoid a headache."
"Siren tummy is the latest complaint. It is mild – but a nuisance....There are two ways of dealing with this. If you care to, you can take a mild sedative for the nervous system. Alternatively, you can wait a day or two until you are thoroughly used to the raids – and you will find that the feeling passes entirely."
"Defeat din with Aurax ear protectors. Subdue loud noises but enable you to hear warnings or ordinary conversations."
"Sleep gets broken up nowadays. Millions have to take it in short snatches. How to drop off smoothly and yet be fresh and alert on awakening has puzzled many. Aspro provides the answer."
"A.R.P. half the night. Shopping all the day. Your feet feel the brunt of it. Release them from pain and weariness with Panacel Ointment."
The bombings seem to provide other opportunities. One British paper records the court testimony of one woman – "Whenever the siren sounds my husband always hurries to the shelter. I didn’t think he was so nervous as he made out. One night I followed him and found him sitting with a girl’s head on his shoulder."
ITALIAN FORCES TAKE SIDI BARRANI. There’s no good news so far from Italy’s latest African campaign -- her troops have so far advanced sixty miles into Egypt and cracked two British lines of defense. According to the Associated Press, the Fascist army has chased British tank units out of the coastal city of Sidi Barrani, "reaching the beginning of an asphalt road leading 350 miles eastward to the Suez Canal, vital link of Britain’s empire lifeline." The attackers have taken two other towns, Sollum and Buqbuq, and 45,000 Italians are said to be to be encamped at the former. The A.P. puts Italy’s total strength in the offensive at 260,000 men, many of whom are still in Libya awaiting orders to join the offensive.
Allen Raymond writes in Wednesday’s New York Herald Tribune that the fierce fighting at Sidi Barrani was made much harder by the conditions -- "Italian correspondents on the Egyptian battleground have wired to their newspapers that the battle was being fought in a temperature of 106 degrees Fahrenheit, and that the sand blown about the combatants made visibility difficult along the ground."
BAD WEATHER FOR AIR RAIDS. Speaking of the weather, winds of gale force helped blunt the impact of a ten-hour Nazi air raid on Britain Wednesday, according to the Associated Press (the Washington Post headlined the story, "British Fight Raids in Hurricane"). Waves of 200 Nazi warplanes were repulsed as they successively tried to attack the city through the winds and through rain squalls over the English Channel, but as the weather abated more Nazi bombers returned to score hits on the central part of the city. And the wind had one terrible effect for the British, fanning large fires in the city’s East End.
But the British will get plenty of help from the weather in the months ahead, says the Chicago Tribune. In an interview with a U.S. Weather Bureau forecaster, the Tribune reports that "from now until late in March the British Isles will have the protection of fog, rain, and rough seas in the English channel against Nazi invasion. Because of the south-eastward movement of the Bermuda-Azores high pressure area, which shunts storms away from Britain during the warmer months, southern England will have cloudy weather seven out of every ten days from now through October, and cloudy or foggy skies eight of every ten days in February.
BERLIN GETS A BREAK FROM RAIDS. C.B.S. correspondent William Shirer, just returned to his Berlin broadcasts after a week’s absence, mentioned the bad weather last night, but spent more time explaining why Berliners are suddenly less concerned about British air raids over their city -- "they’re not having many." Apparently the R.A.F. has visited the Nazi capital only once over the last six nights, after an initial series of raids during the previous two weeks. Mr. Shirer says that his German acquaintances greet him by remarking that "they’re sleeping normally again."
BRITISH DEFENSE OF EGYPT IS VITAL. Hanson W. Baldwin writes in Wednesday’s New York Times that the Italian offensive to seize Egypt from its British defenders is probably close in importance to the Battle of Britain itself --
"As Egypt goes, so may go the Arab world. If Egypt falls, the British supply lines through the Suez Canal-Red Sea-Gulf of Aden area will be severed. If they are severed and the Italian flag flies above the Egyptian naval bases, it is most unlikely that British naval forces could any longer be maintained in the eastern Mediterranean. If these things occur, the consequences are incalculable. The oil fields of the Near East would lie at the mercy of the Axis powers; the Balkan nations, still clinging to a precarious neutrality but already under the economic or political domination of Germany, would become puppet States in all but name. Under such circumstances a British victory would seem to be impossible; the island kingdom might still stave off invasion and avert crushing defeat, but its chance of acquiring allies – and of eventual victory over Germany – would probably have ended."
Can Britain hold off the Italian advance? From what Mr. Baldwin writes, it doesn’t look promising so far. He puts British and allied troop strength at only one-fourth to one-half of what the Italians have, and so far the Italians are advancing at a rate of ten miles a day. But Britain may have an ally in the climate – "The British defense strategy appears to be based on the tactics of harassing the stronger Italians, of allowing them, against a stiffening resistance, to push gradually farther and farther into the inhospitable desert, and then to attack their supply lines. In a country were the temperature still is 110 to 120 degrees, and where water holes and oases are far apart, such tactics could be a real threat." Here’s to hoping. Despite the speed of the Italian advance so far, the Italians are taking a cautious approach, and it looks like it’ll be some time before we know how this latest battle is going. But rest assured the British understand that, unlike the fight in Somaliland, they can’t afford to lose this time.
BRITISH ADVERTISE CURES FOR WAR WORRIES. The New York Herald Tribune has a front-page story Wednesday full of quotations from British newspapers, illustrating how the British are bearing up under the air raids. The Herald Tribune notes in particular how editors and advertisers have seize the opportunity to pronounce various ways of helping ordinary Britons cure war-related ills --
"On air raid nights avoid headaches caused by gunfire noise. Two tablets (or one powder) of Cephos taken on entering an air raid shelter will enable you to avoid a headache."
"Siren tummy is the latest complaint. It is mild – but a nuisance....There are two ways of dealing with this. If you care to, you can take a mild sedative for the nervous system. Alternatively, you can wait a day or two until you are thoroughly used to the raids – and you will find that the feeling passes entirely."
"Defeat din with Aurax ear protectors. Subdue loud noises but enable you to hear warnings or ordinary conversations."
"Sleep gets broken up nowadays. Millions have to take it in short snatches. How to drop off smoothly and yet be fresh and alert on awakening has puzzled many. Aspro provides the answer."
"A.R.P. half the night. Shopping all the day. Your feet feel the brunt of it. Release them from pain and weariness with Panacel Ointment."
The bombings seem to provide other opportunities. One British paper records the court testimony of one woman – "Whenever the siren sounds my husband always hurries to the shelter. I didn’t think he was so nervous as he made out. One night I followed him and found him sitting with a girl’s head on his shoulder."
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