THE CHINA MAIL, JULY 5, 1940
ACTION GIVES THE LIE DIRECT
TO PEACE TALK
(Continued from Page 6)
"'A. Sail with us and continue the fight for victory against the Germans and Italians.
B. Sail with reduced crews under The re- our control to a British port. duced crews will be repatriated at the earliest moment.
""If either of these courses are adopted by you we will restore your ships to France at the conclusion of the war or pay full compensation if they are damaged meanwhile,
this the crew and captain may have realised.
Torpedoed
of the Atlantic, utmost ald.
to give us their
"In the fullest harmony with our Dominions we are moving through a not period of extreme danger and splen-
did hope
when every virtue of our race will be tested and all we have and are will be freely staked.
"She was pursued by aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm and hit by at least one however, have torpedo.. She may, been joined by some French vessels from Algiers during the night.
take them.
"This is no time for doubt or weakness. This Is the supreme hour to which we will be called.
Confident Energy
}
These vessels were well placed to "I venture to read to the House a Join her and the whole were able to message which I caused to be sent to reach. Toulon before we could over-all who are serving in positions of im- portance under the Crown. I shall be glad to send a copy of it to every member for his own use- not that such exhortations are needed.
of
"The Dunkerque will be out of a tion for many months to come.
"I need hardly say the French ships "C. Alternatively, if you feel bound to stipulate that your ships should not fought-albeit in this unnatural cause
with the characteristic courage be used against the Germans or Ita-the French navy, and every allowance lians unless they break the armistice, must be made for Admiral Gensoul and then sail them with us with reduced
his officers, who felt
themselves crews to some French port in the West Indies, Martinique, for instance, where obliged to obey the orders they they can be demilitarised to our satis-ceived from their Government at Ger- faction or perhaps be entrusted to the United States and remain safe till the end of the war, the crews being re- patriated.
Sink Or Swim
"Paragraph 6: If you refuse these fair offers I must with profound re- gret require that you sink your ships within six hours.
man dictation.
"This is the message: 'On what may be the eve of attempted inva- sion or battle for our native land, the Prime Minister wishes to impress upon all persons holding responsible re- positions in the Government, the Fighting Services or civil departments, their duty to maintain a spirit of alert and confident energy.
"I fear the loss among the French ships and in the harbour must have been heavy as we were compelled of to use a very severe measure force, and several Immense explo- sions were heard.
fire directed
upon
them.
""While every precaution must be taken that time and means afford, there are no grounds for supposing that more German troops can be landed in this country, either from the air or across the sea, than can be destroyed or captured by the strong forces at present under arms. ""The R.A.F. is in excellent order
opinion in their circles or by their Bübordinates.,
"They should not hesitate to le- port or if necessary remove
any of- ficers or officials who are found to be consciously exercising a disturbing or. depressing influence and whose talk is calculated to set alarm and despon- idency.
""Thus alone will they be worthy of the fighting men who, in the air, on met sea and on land, have already the enemy without in any sense being out-matched in martial qualities.'
Lies And Rumours "In conclusion, I feel entitled to the confidence of the House (cheers) and members should readily believe 'shall not fail in our duty however painful it may be.
WC
So
"The action we have already taken shall be in itself sufficient to dispose once for all of lies and rumours
United industriously spread in the States and elsewhere by German pro- which you meet with paganda and fostered here at home by the Fifth Column.
"These lies and rumours have sug- gested we had some intentions of en- tering into negotiation with the Ger- man and Italian Governments.
"All idea of that should be com- pletely swept out of the way by the British Losses
very drastic and grievous action we felt ourselves compelled to take. "None of the British ships taking
"There is no thought of negotiation. part in the action were in any way af- "Paragraph 7: Finally, failing the fected in gunpower or mobility by the and the highest strength it has yet There is no thought here I say it in attained. The German navy was never this country whose love of peace has above,
His heavy
so long-there is I have the orders of
so weak nor the British army at home been proved
thought of peace. Majesty's Government to use what- | (Cheers).
"We wish, on the contrary, to pro- "I have not yet received a report so strong as it is now.
""The Prime Minister expects all
utmost vi- on our casualties but Admiral Som-His Majesty's servants in high places
to set an example of steadiness and re-gour by all means which are open to for us until the righteous purposes solution.
""They should check and rebuke which we entered upon it have in all expressions of loose and III-digested respects been fulfilled."—Reuter.
ever force may be necessary to pre- vent your ships from falling into Ger- hands.'" (Loud
man
cheers).
Italian or
"We had hoped," Mr. Churchill continued, "that one or the other of the alternatives we had presented would have been accepted without the necessity of using the terrible force of a British battle squadron. "Such a squadron arrived before Oran two hours after Captain Holland and his destroyer.
"This battle squadron was com- manded by Vice-Admiral Somerville, the officer who distinguished himself lately in bringing off over 100,000 Frenchmen during the evacuation of Dunkirk.
"Admiral Somerville was further provided, besides his battleships, with a cruiser force and a strong flotilla of destroyers.
All-Day Parleys
"All day the parleys continued, and we hoped until the afternoon that our terms would be accepted without bloodshed.
"However, no doubt in obedience to orders dictated by the Germans at Wiesbaden, where the Franco- German armistice commission is in session, the French admiral refused to comply and announced his inten- tion of fighting.
"Admiral Somerville therefore was ordered to complete his mission be- fore darkness fell, and at 3.38 p.m. he opened fire on this powerful French fleet which was also protect- ed by shore batteries.
Melancholy Action
res- all military erville's fleet in pects is intact and ready for further action. (Cheers).
Italian Turn To Come
"The Italian navy (laughter) for whose reception we had also made ar- rangements, and which is, of course, considerably stronger numerically then' the fleet we used at Oran, kept pru- dently out of the way.
turn
"However, we trust their will come during the operations we shall pursue to secure effectual command of the Mediterranean. "A large proportion of the Fleet has therefore passed into hands or has been put out of action or otherwise withheld from the Ger- mans by yesterday's events.
French Our
"The House will not expect me to say anything about the other French ships which are at large except that it is our inflexible resolve to do every- thing that is possible in order to pre- vent them falling into the German grip. (Cheers).
leave judgment on our action with confidence to Parliament (loud and prolonged cheers). I leave it to the nation. I leave it to the United Statca, I leave it to the world and to history. (Cheers). "I turn now to the future-the im- mediate future.
"We must, of course, expect to be attacked and even invaded, if that proves to be possible-it hasn't prov- ed so yet-in our own island before very long.
Ireland's Danger
"We are making every preparation "At 6 p.m. he reported he was heavi- ly engaged. The action lasted some in our power to repel assaults by the ten minutes and was followed by enemy whether they be directed upon heavy attacks from our naval aircraft- | Great carrier, Ark Royal.
"At 7.20 p.m. Admiral Somerville forwarded a further report which the stated that a battle cruiser of
and Strasbourg class was damaged ashore, a battleship of the Bretagne class had been sunk and other of the same class heavily damaged.
Britain or Ireland (cheers), which all Irishmen without distinction of creed or party should realise is in imminent danger.
"These again are matters upon which we have clear views. "Preparations are constantly cupying our toll from morning until late into the night.
oc-
"Also that two French destroyers
"But although we have clear views and the seaplane-carrier Comman. dant Teste, were also sunk or burnt, it would not be profitable for us to "While this melancholy action was discuss these matters in public or being fought, the other battlecruiser, even so far as the Government is the Strasbourg or Dunkirk, one or the concerned except under very con- other, managed to slip out of the har-siderable reserve bour in a gallant effort to reach Tou-session..... lon or a North African port to place herself under German control in ac- cordance with the armistice terms of the Bordeaux: Government--though
even in private
"I call upon all subjects of His Majesty, on our allles and Well wishora and they are not a fow all over the world, on both sides
secute the war with the
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