Evening star., 1940-11-05
U.Boats Greater Peril
Than Air Attackers,
Churchill Warns
we ShuII Do Our Best
To Aid Greece From New
Bases, Commons Told

p0SeS, commons OIQ
(Continued From First Page0
must have strong army to avoid
a disastrous stalemate." ;"
7. On the home front and in tn.
Mediterranean I'VE are far better
off" than could be predicted four
or five months ago.
Greater Battles Forecast.
The Prime Minister called the
ratio of one British casualty to each
90 Italians in North Africa "a good
augury for the greater battles which
certainly will develop, if not in the
winter, certainly in the spring"
In the air war, he said bombing of
military objectives in Italian cities
and bases in South Italy will con-
tinue on an ever-growing scale"
German air raids have done very
little" damage to British munition
and aircraft production and no utility
In the great cities has broken down
although transport has been "a
greater difficulty" Churchill de-
clared
He said shelters are being multi
piled and improved
Germanys failure to invade
"when we stood alone constitutes
zone of the historic victories of
British Isles-and is a monumental
milestone of our forward march, y
Mr.. Churchill averred.
He said the weekly average caSu
alties in September was 4,500 and in
October $500 but the R. A. F. was
destroying three enemy machines
to each British loss and the enemy
was losing from to 10 pilots to one
for Britain.
Air power. "the indispensable pre-
sursor of victory" and sea power
which will move considerable
conclude that I personally have no
doubt whatever that we shall make
our way through all right"
Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax,
In a similar war review to the House
of Lords, said Germany's recently
redoubled efforts to Starve us into
surrender" would fail, that Britain
has made "the cause of Greece our
own" and that Turkey constitutes
q very solid barrier against aggres-
sion"
Partial Text of Speech.
Following are the passages de-
voted to the submarine menace and
the Greek crisis in Mr.. Churchill's
speech:
"A recent recrudescence of U-boat
sinkings has occurred in the At
iantic approaches to our islands.
The fact that we cannot use the
south and west coasts Of Ireland to
refuel our f1otillas and aircraft and
thus protect the trade by which
Ireland, as we'll as Great Britain,
lives, that fact is most heavy and
grievous burden and one which
should never have been placed upon
our shoulders, broad though they be.
Moreover, we have been during
the last month at the lowest point
of our flotilla strength. The threat
of invasion had always to be met
and the great forces we are main
tanning in the Mediterranean in
addition to the escorts necessary to
the protection of our innumerable
convoyS, these have imposed upon
the Royal Navy gigantic task.
Points to u. S. Destroyers.
The so American destroyers are
intn CT
when they are most needed and the
main flow of the new construction
started at the outbreak of the war
Is now coming along.
In spite of serious losses, We have
still very nearly as much shipping
tonnage as we had at the outbreak
of war and a great deal of neutral
shipping which used to trade freely
with us is now under our control.
Moreover our U-boat hunting is still
having its success. Two more Ger
man U-boats have been sunk in the
last two or three days on the west
ern approaches, one OF them the
U-boat which sank the Empress of
Britain.
I'VE have a number of their crews
who have been saved, as prisoners of
war.
"On the other hand, when I speak
of our shipping tonnage not being
appreciably diminished from the be-
ginnings of the war, it must be re-
membered that our shipping is not
so fruitful in war as in peacetime
because the ships have to 60 a long
way around and often to zig gag and
there are delays in the marshaling
of conveys and congestions at ports.
Admiralty's Intense Efforts.
"It would not be wise to suppose
that greater stringency has not been
brought about, although the actual
volume of shipping remains prac-
tically undiminished.
Il need scarcely say that intense
efforts are being made by the Ad-
miralty. My friend, the First Lord,
gives the whole of his life and
strength and high abilities to the
task and I am confident that he is
aided by the ablest officers in the
service.
Intense efforts are being made
BY the Admiralty and also by the
Ministry of Shipping to cope with
these difficulties and, having lived
through lot and had, in this war
and the last, great experience, I
personally cannot doubt that they
will be able to cope with them and
be able to bring in all vital supplies
SpECIAL NOTICES.