Evening star., 1941-04-28
Text of Churchill Speech
American Decision to Petrol
Atlantic Zone Is Hailed

italian masses in Libya prisoners.
In none of his successive vic
tories could Gen. Wavell main
tain in the desert or bring into
action at one time more than
two divisions or about 10000 men.
When we reached Bengasi and
what was left of Mussolini's
legions had scurried back along
the dusty road to Tripoli, a call
was made upon us which We
could not resist. Let me tell
you about that call. You will re-
member how in November the
Italian dictator fell upon the
unoffending Greeks and without
reason and without warning in
vaded their country and how the
Greek nation, reviving their
classic faith, hurled his armies
back at double quick.
Meanwhile, Hitler, who had
been creeping and worming his
way steadily formward, doping
and poisoning and pinioning one
after another Hungary, Rumania
and Bulgaria, suddenly made it
clear he would come to the rescue
of his fellow criminal.
Lack of unity among the Balkan
states has enabled him to build
up a mighty army in their midst.
While nearly all the Greek troops
were busy beating Italians, the
tremendous German military ma
chine suddenly lowered up on
their other frontier.
Cites American Regard
For British Cause.
In their mortal peril the Greeks
turned to us for succor. Strained
as were our resources we could
not say to them nay"
BY solemn guarantee given be-
fore the war Britain had prom
iSel them her help. They de-
clared that they would fight for
their native soil even if neither
of their neighbors made common
left them to their fate.
But we could not do that.
There are rules against that kind
of thing and to break those rules
would be fatal to the honor of
the British Empire, without which
We could neither hope nor deserve
to win this hard war.
Military defeat or miscalcula-
ton can be repaired The for
tunes of war are tickle and chang
ing, but an act of shame would
deprive of us the respect we now
enjoy throughout the world.
And this would sap the vitals
of our strength. During the last
year We gained by our bearing
and conduct potent hold upon
the sentiments of the people of
the United States. Never, never
in our long history have we been
held in such admiration and re-
gard across the Atlantic Ocean.
In that great republic now in
much travail and stress of soul,
it is customary to use all the
many varied and solid arguments
about American interests and
American safety which depend
upon the destruction of Hitler
and his foul gang and even
fouler doctrines.
But in the long run believe mp
for I know, the action of the
United States will be dictated not
by methodical calculation of
profit and loss. but bN moral
sentiments and by that cleaning
fash of resolve which lifts the
hearts of men and nations and
springs from the spiritual founda-
tions of human life itself.
Case Put Up to Australia
And New Zealand.
We for our part were, of course.
bound to hearken to the Greek
appeal to the utmost limits of
our strength.
We put the case to the Domin-
ions of Australia and New zea-
land and their governments with
out in any way ignoring the
hazards told us they felt the
same as we did So an important
part of mobile portions of the
army of the Nile was sent to
Greece in fulfilment of our pledge.
1t happened that the divisions
available and best suited to this
task were from New Zealand and
Australia and that only half of
the troops who took part in this
dangerous expedition came from
the mother country.
see that German propaganda
is trying to make bad blood be-
tween us and Australia by max
ing out that we have used them
to do what we would not have
asked of the British Army.
I shall leave it to Australia to
deal with that taunt. Let us see
what has happened. We know,
of course, that the forces we
could send to Greece would not
by themselves alone be sufficient
to stem the German tide of in
vasion, but there was a very
real hope that the neighbors of
Greece would by our intervention
be drawn to stand in line to-
gether with her while time re-
mained.
How nearly that came off will
be known some day. The tragedy
of Yugoslavia has been that this
brave people had government
which hoped to purchase an
ignoble immunity by submission
to the NaZi will.
Thus, when at last the people
of Yugoslavia found out where