Evening star., 1940-09-07
GrimIy and GoyIy'

OIIiIIIy uHu 0UyV
Not only were London and most Of
England under fire from German air
raiders as Prime Minister Churchill
addressed Parliament Thursday, but
within a few hours after he spoke
Hitler's death-dealing sky armadas,
all through the ensuing night and
yesterday, rained destruction in
what dispatches describe as the
"mightiest assaults" yet launched
against Britain.
Attacking planes came "wave on
wave in formations too thick to
count" as they made desperate at
temptS to penetrate British defenSes
on the southeastern coast and all
over the London area. Early reports
that an air raid shelter in the me-
tropolis, containing thousand per-
sons, had been struck with many
casualties, and that vital public utili-
ties and communications were de-
stroyed, seem, happily, not to be
verified. Loss of life has undoubtedly
been heavy, and property damage
extensive, but the knockout blow
which at first appeared to be in
process of delivery, in accord with
Hitler'S midWeek boasting, has
failed, if such was the purpose of the
furious onslaught his air squadrons
have just ventured.
1t would be idle to pretend that
the German thrust for victory in the
battle of Britain has not become tre-
mendously intensified. 1t probably
has not yet approached the zenith of
ferocity. The Nazis' So-called soft
ening" of the enemy's territory by
progressively more devastating air
attack has now been in progress
month. 1t has not accomplished its
object. Britain is still in the ring
"grimly and gayly," as Mr.. Churchill
puts it, and he assures all concerned
that 1--WE can stand it." The Prime
Minister wants Britain to be under
no illusions that the worst in the air
is over or that the danger Of invasion
is past. On the contrary, he calls for
ever-increasing vigilance, while CIV
ing the country factual proof that
the Royal Air Force is capable of
meeting its ordeal manfully 1t has
punished the Germans in the ratio
Of three to one in machines and
six to one in men. While holding the
enemy at bay over Britain, the r. A.
F. is able simultaneously to take
large-scale offensive action, as evi-
denced by the daily and nightly
damage it has inflicted upon vital
German and Italian objectives far
over the continent. --,...
These gallant and effective feats
of Britain's intrepid airmen, in both
defense and offense, inspire many
neutral observers, including authori-
ties in the United States, with re-
newed confidence that British sur
vival is now something more than
within the range of mere possibili-
ties. If the island citadel can be
held throughout September, the ex-
pert consensus is that the tide of
battle thenceforth may swing steadi-
ly, if slowly, in Britain's favor.
Much American naval thought, re-
posing it's faith in the Mahan tradi-
ton that a nation in command of
the sea cannot be conquered, points
to the unbeaten and apparently un-
assailable British feet as factor in
the situation not to be underesti-
mated. Also never to be forgotten is
the fact that, should any German
landing in force take place, it will be
met by an army of more than one
million we'll trained and we'll
equipped British troops unquestion-
ably ready to give as good an account
of themselves as the pilots and
bombers of the Royal Air Force. AS
a result of augmented home produc-
ton and overseas replenishments,
the R. A. F.'s strength is in uninter-
rupted crescendo.
Mr.. ChurchilPs latest review of the
battle of Britain does not fail to
stress an aspect perhaps the most
important of all. Amid the odds
which, he suggests, are narrowing in
British favor, national morale re-
mains unshattered. The Prime Min
lister speaks of the vanishing summer
as having witnessed Britain's finest
hour" despite its unspeakable ter
rorS. 1t is in that unbroken spirit
that the proud people who chant
that "Britons never, never, never will
be slaves" are carrying on the good
fight-maintaining it in a way that
must inspire both them and their
friends beyond the seas with conf
dence that, sooner or later, it will
become winning fight.