THE CHINA MAIL, MAY 9, 1940.
FRANK SPEAKING BY MR. CHURCHILL
LONDON, TO-DAY.
MR. WINSTON CHURCHILL, REPLYING FOR THE GOVERNMENT TO THE DEBATE IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS YESTERDAY, SAID: “A NEW ISSUE WAS SPRUNG UPON THE HOUSE AT 5 O'CLOCK AND WE ARE INVITED TO CON- SIDER ALL THE FAULTS OF THE GOVERN- MENT, AND A VOTE OF CENSURE IS TO BE TAKEN UNEXPECTEDLY WITH ONLY THIS LITTLE NOTICE, ON THE ADJOURNMENT TO- NIGHT."
andoned because on April 17 the two diversionary landings had made good progress and it seemed easier to cap- ture Trondheim by this method than incur a heavy cost in a direct attack.
withdrew "The Admiralty never their offer or considered the operation impracticable in the naval aspect.
Page
NAZIS ON PREMIER'S SPEECH
Amsterdam, To-day.
The first German newspapers arriving here yesterday” carried brief reports of Mr. Chamber-'- tain's Commons speech.
and
Some of the adjectives they ap- ply to it are “lame, lying
"Reuter. cowardly."
"Grave doubts were entertained the by the military in regard to
all possible responsibility for the at- possibility of making a`landing in the face of the enemy air superior-tempt provided it was supported by
expert opinion. ity.
"In those circumstances. the Chiefs of Staffs and the Vice-Chiefs, without the slightest difference of opinion, ad-
The Question
"But, even if we assume this view been
is right that we could have masters at Trondheim or its ruins by
into a main attack.
April 25-could we have brought to "Nobody has the right to suggest bear a sufficient army south of Trond-
Regarding the Norwegian campaign, and the gen-vised it would be less costly and easier eral war situation, Mr. Churchill said: "In this to convert the diversionary landings war we are frequently asked why we do not take the initiativë. The reason for this serious dis-the Navy withdrew from their under- advantage of our not having the initiative is one ruled the Admiralty. · which cannot speedily be removed.
last ships would be sunk. Nobody can give
so absurd a promise as that.
"It was our failure in
the five years to maintain or regain air last In the parity with Germany. two years the opposition parties came round and gave great and valuable aid, but the fact remains we have failed to achieve, air parity, which was considered to be vital to security.
our
the in
a
"Our numerical deficiency in air-in spite of our superiority quality both in men and materials- has condemned us, and will condemn
come, to us, for some time to great deal of difficulty, suffering and danger, which we must endure with firmness until more favourable con- ditions can be established, as assured- ly they will' be.'
"It is no use talking about this war In terms of the last war. Air In power has greatly affected it, some ways it has decisively" affect- ed the movements of fleets and armies.
Deadly Due
"We must not exaggerate this new factor but neither must we refuse to give it its deadly due."
Mr. Churchill, continuing, said Mr. Alexander had asked why we didn't touch enemy communications in the Skagerrak, for our present naval pre- ponderance ought to make it feasible for us to dominate the Skagerrak with our surface ships and thus cut com- munications with Oslo from the first moment and continuously.
:
"This has been a costly German success. Seven or eight thousand men have been drowned and thousands of corpses have been washed up.”
Replying to a question why we did not send big ships into Narvik on the Mr. first day with the destroyers, Churchill said the reason was that the only one available, was a battle- battle- cruiser. We had only two cruisers and we felt it would be a very great danger to the balance of the Fleet if we lost one of them.
The authorities at the Admiralty when Warspite. went in to Narvik were very much relleved to find no controlled minefields had been laid in the fjord and no destroyer was lurking in some narrow angle to fire its bouquet of torpedoes. "Things are very different when looked at beforehand and looked at afterwards. What would have been said if Warspite had been sunk?
"It was madness to send one of our most valued ships into narrow con- gested waters. If you dare and for- -feit is exacted, -it-is-murder-of-your sailors, and if prudence withholds you, you are craven, cowardly, inept and timid.
and other
taking or that the politicians over-
Situation Changed
"I take full responsibility, together with the Prime Minister and other Ministers, for having adopted unani- mously the view of our expert ad→ visers.
"I thought they were right on the information we had. I see no reason to alter my view by what. I have learned since. `·
"However, the situation rapidly be
thrust The German came worse. north of Oslo developed at an enor- mous pace. The Norwegians were un- able to hold the mountain passes, and did not destroy roads and railways.
"Even if we had at the present -time got 25,000. or 30,000 Allied troops into action on that front, which, in view of the enemy's, air 'superiority, is .a force highly questionable, such would not have been able to arrive in time or be equipped with artillery or anything like equal air support in time.
heim to drive the invader back?
"German
communications north- ward were incomparably superior to anything we could obtain at Trond- heim and auxiliary landing places in that region. It would have been costly struggle.
A
"There are already 120,000 Ger- man troops operating in southern and central Norway.
The Facts
Mr. Churchill said that by April "Although we could have thrown 25 or 26 the possibility of the ar-in continual reinforcements, I can- rival in regions south of Trondheim not believe there was the slightest of very large German forces had to chance of ultimate success between an be foreseen.
army based on Trondheim and the German army based on Oslo."
Intense Bombing
Mr. Churchill added that if Swederi At the same time the intense con- had come to Norway's ald and put tinuous bombing of the bases at her airports at the disposal of the Namsos and Aandalsnes prevented R.A.F., a different position might the landing at those small ports of any large reinforcements and even of artillery and many sup-
Ashing have been established.
plies for the troops on shore. to
necessary
It was therefore: withdraw the troops-or-leave-them-} to be destroyed by overwhelming forces.
The decision to withdraw was undoubtedly sound. (Government cheers). The withdrawal
NARROW VOTE: NEW CABINET?
London, To-day. Reuter understands that complished with very great skill and Mr. Chamberlain will remain
The First Few Hours. "We were asked why we didn't go into Bergen, Trondheim ports in the first few hours.
"If troops had not been landed the only object in going into the fjord
destroy has
such there. were
from
anemy alr "But the immense strength, which can be brought to bear on our patrolling craft, made this method far too costly to be adopted..
"Important forces would have to be employed in order to maintain at surface patrol and losses which would be inflicted on that patrol from the air would undoubtedly very soon con- stitute a naval disaster.
Submarine Blockade "I am so sorry these things should be so. We therefore adopted the sub- marine blockade as the only method at our disposal and in doing this I followed the opinion of the naval au- thorities.
an
*"There is a great deal of difference about being-responsible for an ore. der' which may "lose" several valu- able ships and in expressing opinion without such responsibility "I have been guided in the advice I gave
the Cabinet by responsible naval expert opinion. Therefore we limited our operations in the Skager- rak to submarines,
"In order to make that blockade as effective as possible the usual restric- tions which we had imposed on the action of our submarines were relax- ed.
"All German ships, by day and night, were to be sunk as opportunity served.
Costly German Success "This statement that I made was most foolishly and grotesquely twist- ed into a statement that all German
.
would have been to enemy destroyers as These were largely destroyed the air by the Fleet Air Armi..
"There is no dispute it was our duty to do our best to help the Norweglans and for that the capture of Trondheim was the best way.
always been "My thoughts had fixed on. Narvik. There, it seems, is a path that may lead to some deci- sive achievement in the war.
German "But when the
outrage occurred there was no dispute. We were bound to go to the aid of the Norwegians and Trondheim was the place.
Diversionary Landings
"A plan was prepared by the joint staffs for two diversionary landings and for at Namsos and Aandalsnes,
with very good luck.
was
ac-
All the responsible naval, military in office but the reconstruc- and air authorities principally con- tion of the Government is Cerned and the War Cabinet at every stage united.
Naval Desire
were
probable. Reuter.
(SPECIAL TO "CHINA MAIL")
LONDON, TO-DAY.' THE CHAMBERLAIN GOVERN- Mr. Herbert Morrison (Labour),
MENT HAD A SENSATIONALLY intervening, asked if the naval au- thorities on the spot at Trondheim NARROW ESCAPE IN THE DIVISION were willing and anxious to Trondheim and whether their desire was countermanded or not sanction- ed by Whitehall.
eriter
Mr. Churchill replied: "I not only deny it but I give a strong denial, There were no naval authorities on the spot at Trondheim.
"No authorities that we consult- od differed from・・ the advice ton dered by the Chiefs of Staff and the Vice-Chiefs, and Ministers are not sheltered by the fact that they accept expert advice, a
"I always believed the Navy could carry troops into Trondheim Fjord and land them to come to grips with
IN THE COMMONS LAST NIGHT, THE LABOUR MOTION BEING DE- FEATED BY 281 VOTES TO 200.- HAVAS.
DEEP RECONNAISSANCE BY AIR FORCES (SPECIAL TO "CHINA MAIL")
Paris, To-day. German patrols were sent out in the Nied, Blys and Vosges sectors, but were easily repulsed.
re-
French planes made a deep connaissance over Germany and over the German second line of defence. German 'planes made three or four flights over Eastern France, one
a direct landing in Trondheim fjord, the enemy. where enemy forces had seized that "I would have been 'glad to take far as the Paris region-Haves, *port.
"This was undoubtedly a hazar- dous operation. There was the fact that a very large number of valu able ships would have to be con- tinuously exposed for many hours with to air attack and possibly grievous lossCE.
"Nevertheless the Navy were per. featly, ready to carry troops in. No doubt was entertained, about their ability to do so.
Plan Changed
timed
"Why then was this plan, for April 25, abandoned? It was ab-
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