Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-03-14

greatest attempt and failure OF
all. the Spanish armada. There
were many others and not all
in the gentler seasons.
ETHE SEA-" said Winston
l. Churchill, "was In our
early times a great disadvan-
tage, because an invader could
come across the sea and no one
knew where he would land"
He was thinking of the great
succession of raids. invasions
and conquests by Nordic and
Germanic sea peoples which kept
England devastated for CEN
turtles. He referred TO the great
defensive advantage of conti-
mental countries where routes of
land conquests were few and
fixed by geographical barriers.
But" he continued, 1--WE did
not evacuate the island and say
we must live on the mainland.
We conquered the sea and every
element which had given an in
vader access to our country
became its greatest protection.
Now there Is the air. The sea
Is perhaps no longer complete
security for our island develop
ment; II must be the air, too.
Why should we fear the air."
THAT is about the best basic
l. analysis / know upon which
to study whether Hitler can in
wade England. He certainly
can't do it without mastery of
the air over England. With
every month that passes he gets
further from that goal
Invasion is still within the
limits of possibility. but it
couldn't happen without the
greatest slaughter of young
Germans ever visited upon any
people in the whole history of
wars-a wholesale massacre too
horrible to contemplate-with
success. after all that sacrifice,
distinctly doubtful,
This has not been Hitler's
-n4ethed-He-h s-eeHetiefed-faf'-
more area, more nations. greater
populations with far less blood
shed than any war-maker since
the beginning.
These are some of the reasons
why most of our experts believe
that Hitler will not attempt an
invasion of Britain unless the
whole aspect of the present
situation changes-unless she is
starved TO helpleSsness, a great
portion of her navy shattered
and her air power driven to
earth.
Nobody can say that none of
this can possibly happen, but all
observers / know agree that it
is most unlikely.
nOES that mean that Hitler
~ will probably lose the war
or Britain win it? II certainly
means nothing of the kind.
There are other theaters in
which the balance of power and
advantage could be swung either
way so far that some kind Of
peace would be the only reason
able outcome.
The only war-aimS we have
heard are. on the British side.
that Hitlerism must be crushed
completely and. on the German
side, that Britain must be
crushed completely. In the pres
ent obscure state of affairs and
as far as they permit a cropping
guess into the future, either
outcome is most unlikely 10
reach any such finality.
That could change but, in the
existing condition. our people
are being kidded if they believe
any such boasts. The making
of those boasts is the most ma
tural thing l.. the world on the
part of either side.
Their leaders couldn't say
anything else and retain either
their leadership or their follow
ship. No government of a coun-
try at war could. But we are
not at war in any such sense
that our leadership should be
anything less than frank or our
people anything less than real
iStic.
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