Evening star., 1941-04-09
Text Of Churchill Address Commons Reporting Progress ofW

take part in the war, neither Of |
which was capable of doing the
slightest injury to Germany, must |
now fight to the death for their |
freedom and for the lands of their |
fathers
Aided Greece When
She Asked for il.
Until Greece was suddenly and |
treacherously invaded at the behest |
of the base italian dictator she had |
observed meticulous neutrality.
1t may be that the sentiments |
of her people were on our side,
but nothing could have been more
correct than the behavior of her
government.
We had no contacts or engage |
ments of military character with !
the Greek government. Although |
there were islands like Crete of the |
highest naval consequence to us, and
although we had given Greece our
guarantee against aggression, we abb
stained from the slightest intrusion |
upon her.
1t was only when she appealed !
to us for aid against the Italians !
that we gave whatever support in |
the air and in supplies was pos
sible.
All this time the Germans con- |
tinued TO give friendly assistance
to Greece and to toy with the idea |
of new commercial treaty. Ger
man high officials, both in Athens |
and Berlin, expressed disapproval |
of the Italian invasion.
/ From the beginning of December
the movements of German forces
! through Hungary towards Bulgaria |
became apparent to all.
More than two months ago, by the |
traitorous connivance of the Bull
garian king and government, ad-
| vance parties of the German air |
force in plain clothes gradually
took possession of Bulgarian air.
fields.
Didn't Want War
Carried to Balkans.
Many thousands of German air.
men, soldiers and political police
were ensconced in key positions be-
fore the actual announcement of the
accession of Bulgaria to the axis |
was made.
German troops then began to pour
into Bulgaria in very large numbers.
One of their objectives was plainly
Salonika. which I may mention
they entered at o'clock this morn
ing.
1t has never been our policy nor
our interest to see the war carried
into the Balkan Peninsula.
At the end of February we sent
Foreign Secretary Eden and Gen.
Sir John G. Dill to the Middle East
to see if anything could be done to
form united defensive front in the
Balkans.
They went to Athens, and to An
kara and would have gone to Bel
grade but they were refused permis-
sion by Prince Pauls government.
If these three threatened states
had stood together they could have
had at their disposal go or 70 divi-
sions, which with a combined plan
and prompt united action taken,
might have confronted the Germans
with resistance which might we'll
have deferred them altogether and
must in any case have delayed them
a long time, having regard to the
mountainous and broken character
of the country and limits of COM
munications
Although We were anxious to pro-
mote such a defensive front, by
which alone the peace of the Bal
kans could be maintained. we were
determined not to urge upon the
Greeks, already at grips with the
Italians, any course contrary to
their desires.
The support which We can give
to the peoples fighting for freedom
in the Balkans and in Turkey, or
ready to fight, is necessarily limited
at present and we did not wish to
take the responsibility of pressing
the Greeks to engage in a conflict.
Bound by Honor
To Give Greece Aid.
With the new and terrible foe
gathering upon their borders, how
ever, on the first occasion Eden and
Dill met the Greek King and the
Greek prime minister, the latter
declared spontaneously on behalf of
his government that Greece was re-
solved al all costs to defend her free
dom and native soil against any ag-
greSsor, and that even if left wholly
unsupported by Great Britain or by
Turkey and Yugoslavia, they would
remain faithful to their alliance
with Great Britain, which came into
play at the opening of the italian
invasion, and would fight to the
death against both Italy and Ger
many.
This being so, our duty was clear.
We we're bound in honour to give
them all the aid in our power If |
they were resolved to face the might
and fury of the Huns, we had no
doubts but that we should share
their ordeal, and that the soldiers
of the British Empire must stand
in the line with them.
We were appriSed by our generals
on the spot, Dill and Sir Archibald
Wavell and Greek Commander-in-
Chief Alexander Papagos-both VIC
torious commanders in chief-that
a sound military plan, giving good
prospects of success, could be made
Of course, in all these matters
there is hazard. In this case, as
anyone can see, without particular
ising unduly, there was for us a
double hazard.
YugOslavs a Valiant
And Steadfast People. o.,
1t remains to be seen how we'll
these opposing risks and duties have
been judged. But of this I am sure,
that there is no less likely way of
winning war than to adhere
pedantically to the maxim of safety
first"
Therefore. early in March we
made military agreement with the
be I,a Ii |