Evening star., 1941-02-12

Stdntlal control OF the seas and WIN
the r. A F. a going concern. 10
establish a bridgehead in England
or Ireland would entail the Sacri-
flee of the entire German Navy
and much OF Goering's Luftwaffe
Even If a landing were effected,
there is no confidence in the Ger
man high command that it could
escape annihilation There are D.
900 ,00U men under arms in England
prepared TO crush a NaZi invasion.
There are 10000 men and highly
mechanical striking forces in North
Ireland ready TO start rolling the
moment the Germans set foot in
Fire. Supply would be difficult and
the result might easily be dis
aster.
Attempt Reported in September.
If the high command is worried
by these problems Of strategy and
logiStics. the rank-and-fle OF the
army is frankly afraid. This is be-
cause of the reported fate Of the
September invasion" The Ger
mans put everything they had in
the air over England, but the r.
A. F. simply clawed them down bv
the hundreds. The German Navy
would be apt to mutinv, as IL did
in 1918, at the idea of a suicide
offensive" against Britain's home
fleet Even with the two new Mani
IS 1000 ton battleships, Admiral
Raeder feels no confidence in the
morale of his men in the face OF
hopeless odds. II cornered they
would fight bravelv but in a xacri-
flce play they might refuse to move
their ships
The worst element is in the rank
and-flle of the Germany Army.
The fate OF the first NaZi eXpedi-
tionary force is known to German
troops and civilians from Narvik,
Norway. to Brest in France. Be-
cause of its horror the British have
never publicized this victory.
Last autumn an R A. r. patrol
sighted the German landing forcs
several miles off the Belgian coast,
in huge f1otilla OF small boats. The
Nazis were trying to reverse the
| evacuation of the B. E r. from
Dunkirk and had assembled a large
striking force which they hoped
could escape destruction-as the
British had escaped the previous
June by offering a large number
Of small targets to air lombard
ment.
The r. A. F. air marshal pressed
| the button and Plan A" went into
| effect. 1t worked without a hitch.
| Squadrons Of r. A. F. bombers mads
a circle around the Nal f1otilla,
dropping, not bombs but fuel oil on
the water. They were followed by
other British planes dropping small
incendiary bombs on the oil. Then
! they crlSS- crossed the German ar
mada with more oil and incendiaries.
more oil and still more incendiaries.
| In a moment the sea was a mass
/ Of flames in which thousands OF
screaming. struggling, terrified men
we're doomed to perish under condi-
tions of fantastic horror. Thus ths
fire ships which destroyed the Span
ish armada in 1888 were repeated
in modern form in 1910.
Expedition Held DESTROYED.
The German expedition was de-
stroyed. Enough men managed To
escape to land 10 tell the tale. To
preserve general morale. the Ger
man high command rapidly distrib-
uted them in small numbers all
along the North European coasts.
Thus the mass Of the people in
Hitler's new Europe did not learn
what had happened, though thers
was curiosity at the large number OF
casualties suffering from burns In
German hospitals. but in every in
vasion port" there are burned and
wounded German soldiers to tell
their comrades to look out for the
r. A. F., that 1t is no joke to be
caught in small boat with ths
entire sea in flames.
Since then the British havs
worked out new schemes, new tao
tics, new gadgets for an even more
| dramatic destruction OF any future
Nazi invasion and part of Hitler's
problem will be to get his men
actually in motion and to keep them
moving once the threatened invasion
is launched. They may mutiny or
run away. scatter or become pan
icky at the first sight of an r. A. r.
| patrol.
Yet it has become an inner politj-
cal necessity for the Hitler regime
to invade and conquer England this
spring. He has promised his people
that the war will end this wear.
Perhaps he is right but in the sense
that the war will end in 194l in
another German collapse, as in 1918.
! That is what the mass of Germans
expect to happen. as they witness
the collapse Of Italy today Just as
Austria Hungary began TO crack
early in 1918. That is why the ad-
ministration here believes that. with
open-handed aid to England, we can
keep out Of war and still help create
a real and lasting peace on the ruins
Of Hitlerism.