Evening star., 1940-01-11
"Grim Days Ahead -"

It was a grim coincidence that
while Prime Minister Chamberlain
was broadcasting to the world from
the Mansion House in London on
Tuesday, the intensification of the
war, which he foreshadowed espe-
cially by sea and air, should have
set in almost simultaneously. Before
the day was over German planes
launched the most ferocious often
siVe of the winter in British North
Sea waters. Striking from behind a
veil of mist, the raiders bombed and
machine -gunned at least fourteen
ships, sinking two or more of them.
One of the British losses was the
10,O0O-ton liner Dunbar Castle,
wrecked by a mine supposedly
planted by a German plane. Dutch
and Danish vessels were among the
casualties of the day and night.
Thus the enemy was even more
prompt than the Prime Minister
imagined in precipitating those
"grimmer times" which he warned
Britain now lie ahead. Yesterday
the British replied in kind to inten-
sified German air operations. The
Royal Air Force carried the combat
into German territory, sending war
planes over Heligoland and over
German mine-laying bases in the
Frisian Islands. What appears to
have been pitched battle took
place over the island of Sylt, with
both attacking and defensive planes
engaged In force. Berlin claims
that three British planes were shot
down at Heligoland, out Of squad
ron of nine attackers. The Germans
further assert that their bombers
sank eight vessels in British coastal
waters. London acknowledges the
loss of two ships.
In the course of his uncommonly
impressive review Of the war at the
Lord Mayors luncheon, Mr.. Cham
berlain once again presented COM
parative figures of conditions at sea,
which are we'll designed to induce his
countrymen to face without finch
ing not only what has happened
thus far, but the worst that may be
yet to come. 1.-THE oceans OF the
world" he said, "have been swept
clear of German shipping. The Ger
man fleet, which at the beginning
of the war was less than quarter
of our own, has lost by capture, by
sinking and above all by scuttling,
5000 tons, and the rest of it Is
either bottled up or confined to the
Baltic"
AS to the British tonnage losses,
the Prime Minister explains that on
the whole these have been relatively
meager. "If we subtract from our
losses our gains by captures from the
enemy, by new ships or by transfers
from foreign flags" Mr.. Chamber
lain points out, 1--WE have lost to date
$4,000 tons, which is less than one
per cent of the merchant fleet that
we possess. And every day, every
day now, there are passing to and
fro upon the several oceans Of the
world no less than 100000 tons OF
British shipping" That is a truly
remarkable array of figures, and
1t appears that there is no present
likelihood that Britain's command
of the seas is in danger of impair
ment. What the Prime Minister
terms "the inexorable pressure OF
sea power" acting upon the enemy,
is producing ever-increasing diff
culties for Germany's whole econ
omy and for her ability to carry on
the war.
It remains true, of course, that
while the British Navy is contriving
to meet, ever more successfully, the
menaces of the submarine and the
mine, it has not yet had opportunity
to demonstrate its capacity to cope
with airplane bombers as weapons
of attack on naval and mercantile
craft. AS this weeks events indicate
q quickening of German initiative
In the realm of air offensive, the test
in question may be imminent. But
Mr.. Chamberlain's words reveal Brit
ish readiness for anything the Nazis
plan in the way of supreme throw
to overcome the iron grip of the
blockade. Until it's fingers can be
taken from the Reich's throat, Hit
ler's gnawing ambition to destroy"
the British Empire will remain an
empty dream.