Thursday!
HONGKONG TELEGRAPH
June 20, 1940...
MAGAZINE PAGE.
EMPIRE IN ARMS
SUGAR ISLAND
the Indlan ocean 500 mlies cast of Mada-- gascar, became a British possession towards the end of the Napoleonic wars. It was ceded by Franco by the Treaty of Paris in 1814, after the British had been in possession for four years.
MAURITIUS, in
The Dutch were the first Euro- pean settlers, but they abandoned Boon this volcanic island in 1710. afterwards the French occupied . named it the Ialo de France.
French influence is still traceable, particularly In religious affairs. Roman Catholles are twenty-five times as numerous as Protestants.
Mauritius
covera 720 square
miles, has a population of 420,000. Sugar is easily the most impor- Lant product of the island, which has an overscan trade worth more than
£5,000,000 a year, mainly with Britain, Canadu, Indla. South Afries and France.
MAURITIUS
DIVIDE •AND CONQUER
XXHAT are the German
Ws for the invasion of
Britain?
To answer this qucation we must realise how Nuzl soldiers and politicians think.
They are still greatly influencer by one of the mais "command- ments" of classic German milltary thinking; don't go for places, go for armles.
Therefore the first thing they want to find is some way of cut- ting our defending forces in two paris, so that one part can be mop- ped up while the other part is held quiet,
This business of culting an army into two parts is an essential pre- liminary, in the German theory of battle, in which one of the sections of the enemy army is surrounded · and destroyed.
Lulenduri, in the great battle of Tannenberg in 1914, romren- trated everything ngainst, one of two Russian armles.
General Franco's forces, in the spring of 1938, carried out on operation that was doubtless plan- ned in part by Germans, and looked now like dress-rehearsal for the job of May, 1940.
a
General Franco's army brake the Republican line in Aragon, and then and two objectives in front of it. the cities of Barcelona and Vu- lencia,
GRIN AND BEAR IT
29
By Lichty
so we quarrelled, and I returned all his gifts-all except the licorico!"
The Bank Has Lost Its Gold
ESTERDAY, said a “United Press" message, the YES
Bank of England ordered the suspension of dealings in French currency.
This is one of the few glimpses which the "Old Lady of Threadneedle-strect" permits us into her private affairs.
Who owns the Bank? What is its capital? Does it pay dividends?
The idea of the Bank of England originated in the fertile brain of a Scotsman named William Pater- son, who was in turn a pedlar, n lay preacher, a bucconeer, and the greatest financial adventurer of the seventeenth century.
William III's Government was desperately short of money. Pater- son conceived the idea of finding it for them in return for privi- leges which included the manage- ment of the National Debt.
Staff Trebled
The Bank began business in the Mercers' chapel, with a staff of nineteen, and the highest salary pald was £149.
In 1914 there were fewer than 1,000 employees. To-day-there-are more than 3,000, of whom 1,200 are women.
Beginning as a money-lending Institution will П capital ot £1:200,000, the capital.of the Bank to-day, which is held by private" stockholders, and is bought and sold in the open market, is only £14,503,000.
The average dividend of the past seventeen years has been 12 per cent, and as recent quotations for the stock range round £320 for £100 the return is under 4 per cent.
In the Dark
Onu hundred years ago, when gold coins were in circulation, the Bank issue of notes was £20,000,- 000, To-day the notes actually in circulation total £340,000,000, and there is a further reserve of £40,- 000,000,
The Bank holds only £250,000 of gold, compared with £220,000,- 600 a year ago. Nearly all its gold has been transferred to the Ex- change Equalisation Account In return for Government securities which now form the backing for the note issue,
The "Old Lady. of Thread- needio-streetstill stands as the emblem of British financial in- tegrity, but the publie would now and again. Hike to know a little more of what goes on behind the brazen doora.
ife did not push towards either. but pushed between them, reaching the sea almost exactly midway be- tween the two.
By this means he separated the Republican army in Catalonia from that holding Madrid and Valencin.
Then, a good deal later, he was able to deal with the smaller part of the army cut off in Catalonia,
After the break-through on the Meuse last month, the Germans fullowed exactly the some strategy. They had two objectives; Parts or the Channel ports.
But their real object was the cutting off of part of the Allied army.
Byrmise I knew this strategy of theirs I was able to tell readers that they were likely to head for Amiens, 00 the same day that The Times and other papers were suggesting that they were driving. straight towards Calals.
In fact they did go towards Amlens and Abbeville, breaking through to the sea almost exactly half way between their two main objectives.
How would this general scheme apply to the invasion of England?
Clearly it means that they are not likely to do the obvious thing of trying to land near Dover and
Push straight up the road to Lon- don.
They may take action near Dover or along the south coast.
But this action would be intende
to pin down there the British attles available for defence.
They may also try to distract our attention to Ireland or Scotland by landing troops from the air.
But they wish to attempt their classle manoeuvre of splitting the defenders in two paris, they must start from the cant coast and try to drive right across the country.
"
I am not predicting that either of these places are likely to be the points for German attack.
I am merely pointing out that German kleas of war would lead them to attempi such an attack if they found it possible.
·
If you look at the map of Eng- land you will see two big inden- tations on our west const, towards which they could head in order to split the country in two.
One is the Bristol Channel und the River Severn, and the other is the River Mersey near Liverpool. It will be remembered, that the German wedge driven --across France and Belgium from near Sedan to Abbeville was 140 miles
Jong-
is exactly 140 miles from the 11 River Severn.
It is considerably less from Im- mingham and Hull on the Hùmber to the Mersey.
Another reason why the blow might fall on the east coast is that there are several deep patches of water running inland which the Germans could use for convoys of ships loaded with men and tanks.
These include the Thames Es- tuary, the Rivers Crouch. Black- water and Stour, the Wash and the River Humber.
The German idea would be to at- tract the main forces of the British Navy elsewhere, and then to bring some of the German Fleet and a large number of troop and supply ships into one of these rivers.
Then they would try "to shut the gate" behind them, so that our Navy could not get in and sink their skips.
They would try to shut the gate by means of a very large number of mines and a great concentration of their air force.
To take the Humber (not because I think it the most likely, but be- cause I know the ground best), they would attempt to land at Imming- ham,
ut Hull,
at New Holland, which is just across the river from Hull, and even perhaps at Goole, which is much further up stream.
If thes
they prevented the British Navy from entering the Humber, by mining the channel there, by mining the channel there, they would probably attack Scunthorpe within two hours of landing, be- cause of the Importance of the fron works there.
Next pince on their list would be Sheffield because of its muni- tion works.
Meanwhile, the tanks would be attempting to find a way through the hilly country round the Peak or Central Derbyshire, in order to press south of Manchester across to the Mersey..
I mention this possibillly, not In order to scare my friends in North Lincolnshire and In Yorkshire, bul in order to make it clear that we cannot affordmerely to plan for the defence, of Kant. Emex and Sus-
And there are good lines of de- tence againat such a move, Includ- ing the Lincolnshite and Yorkshire Wolda.
It these hills: ganriot-bo--held,; there are two great rivers, the Trent to the south and the York- shire Ouse to the north..
Blackpool
Manchester Liverpoot
It; then probably
rious danger
Yorkshire Moors
Immingham-
Sheffield
Lincoln
• Stoke
-that will be Hitler's aim in Britain, too-
says TOM WINTRINGHAM,
well-known Military Correspondent
It the bridges on these rivera could be destroyed at the right mo- ment, the Germani tanks would never get any further.
Too many people are thinking In terms of a German movement from Boulogne to Folkestone.
Nottingham
Tambor
Ellead
"Grimsby
Certainly there is need for extra precautions near the Strails of Dover.
But the whole of the area from the Humber to Poole Harbour in Dorset is a danger area,
Therefore, let us make all our preparations quickly for the de- fence of the British Islands by means of volunteers, units of ex- Servicemen and troops in training.
Many of our trained troops have been sent across the Chunnel again to form a new B.E.F. In France, and help the French.
Let us be us ready for any alter- notive that the Germans may spring
on us.
BRITAIN'S CONVOYS
In the article Taffrail de- scribes the Atlantic convoys that day after day reach and leave Great Britain's shores under the eye of the Royal Navy.
Gale or calm, fog or clear weather, the Atlantic convoys must continue to run If, Britain is to be
fed and supplied. Brigaded into sizeable fleets, each shepherded by its attendant watchdogs, approxim- ately a thousand merchantmen of every type arrive at or sail from, the ports of the United Kingdom every seven days. That an aver- nge of only one ship in every five hundred sailing in convoy is sunk by enemy action speaks volumes for the efficacy of the system now in force.
Not many who
sit down to their regula three meals a day can realise
the in tricate organisa-
tion that rc-
at
the
Their gallant story needs # special emphasis, for an U-boat attacks unseen with her torpedoes, and in a gun duel on the surface with a single merchantman usual- ly has the advantage of superior speed and • far larger target. Moreover, having sunk a ship she makes no effort to place the sur- vivors in a place of safety. Hence the Convoy System, where the merchant ships travel in groups protected by naval vessels fitted with those deadly submarine de- tecting devices known as "Asdles." As to how they work, the less said the better.
During a recent trip in a des- troyer in the "Western Approaches" which lasted more than u week we escorted one con- voy out to a cer- tain rendezvous, and
another
by TAFFRAIL
quired British Admiralty and at the head- quarters on shore to sall the con- voys regularly out and home in the face of the submarine peril. Fewer still understand the immense strain and responsibility placed upon the personnel of the British Merchant Navy; upon the Commodores of convoys, many of whom are retir ed. Flag Omcers holding the tem- porary rank of Commodore, Royal Naval Reserve; and upon the young olcers in command of the Naval escorts who shield and protect the convoys within the area of activity of the U-boats.
The Royal Air Force, with aero- planes many times more mobile than the fastest ship, co-operate most valuably and whole-hearted- ly in the onerous taste of trade protection. But whereas the con- tinuous spell of a single aeroplane may be measured in hours, that of a ship must be counted in days and even weeks.
Some destroyers and escort ves- gels, all of themi small craft of 1,400 lons or less, have been continuous- ly at sea for thirteen days on end. and have been running, for 09 many as twenty-five days in a month. Since the beginning of the war some of them have spent 73% of their time at sea. Their spells in harbour, during which they must complote with fuel and stores, make good running defects, and compete with the masses of official returns and correspondence with which even the smallest ves- sels-of-war are burdened, have lasted on occasions no more than 30 or 48 hours.
As a general rule the worse-the weather the longer the trips, and many of the older destroyers used for escorting the Atlantic convoys are supremely wet and uncomfort- able in a heavy sea.
Moreover, they lack such ameni- ties as refrigerators and steam heating It is a case of lanbid food and biscuit after the first three days at sen, and the dismal sights on a destroyer's battened- down mess deck while plunging against the huge breaking sens of a winter gate in the North Atlantic must be seen to be belleved, “
The ships of the. Merchant Navy now go armed, for self-protection, -nait-is-lawful for them to go They may rightfully retaliate with their guns if aftneked; but may not įtake the offensive,
home.
We had vari- abic weather, including three
days of fog and the tail end of an easterly gale blowing against a heavy westerly swell.
Life was not easy. It was dis- inetly irksome; but the way the ships of our convoys responded to the orders of their Comninodores and kept station excited our ad- miration.
There were ships of varying with different nominal types speeds. Their officers were not ordinarily accustomed to steaming in close formation and without lights at night, or to being drilled more or less, by ng signals and winking morse lamps.
Yet they
might have been at it for years, If ever there was a time when the
For
two Sen Services wer Interdepen- dent and Indivisible, it is now.
obvious reasons I cannot speak, exactly of the complexities of the Convoy System, of how the merchant ships are collected into convoys, their routes chosen, and the necessary escorts provided. That must remain until the end of the war.
Through our dependence upon our Merchant Fleet, the enemy has all the targets. So during the ear- ller stages of a maritime war it is perhaps inevitable that escort craft should be overworked. Britain can never have too many of them. But already the Convoy System is an outstanding success, as it was in 1017-18. Thanks also to Bri- tain's striking forces and anti- submarine measures and appli-
ances,
Elisiry, fepress Couch,
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Freshen
WITH
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Jaspe 48 wide $1.75 yd.
Taffota 48" wide $2.50 yd.
Cotton Slub 48′′ wide'
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Repps 48" wide $2.75 yd.
Brocades 50" wide
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THERE HAS BEEN MUCH CONTROVERSY RECENTLY.
REGARDING THE BEST WAY TO HELP THE OLD "
COUNTRY IN ITS HOUR OF NEED.
ONE WAY WOULD BE TO STRENGTHEN LANCASHIRES WAR DRIVE FOR EXPORTS.
PART OF THIS DRIVE IS REPRESENTED BY THE FURNISHING FABRICS ADVERTISED. YOU WILL FIND A LARGER AND MORE INTERESTING SELECTION
THAN EVER BEFORE.
Whiteaway, Laidlaw & Co., Ltd.
HIS MASTER'S VOICE
A VARIETY PROGRAMME BY POPULAR ARTISTES
I want your heart,
1 4009
B 4050
Trees. Little brown Juŋ.
Granny old arm chair.
#
4120
No, No I don't want to. Song of-wise Oleg.-
B 8099 Sweethearts,
Woltz,
I'm falling in love with someone.
B 4022 Gypsy idylle.
BD.741
Hungarian melodies.
"Mikndo."
De Groot Trio. Frank Crumit.
Balatulka orch. & chorus (in Russian)
Allen Jones.
Vladestus gypsy orch.
A wandering minstrel 1.
Kenny Baker. The sun whose rays. BD 420 South Sea Island Medley. Intro. Twilight Serenaders.
Aloha Oc. Song of the islands etc. Romance in the Moonlight. Intro.....Compoli and his orch. Pale moon, Gipsy moon, Moonlight and roses. I love the moon. Pagan love song. Echoes of the Orient.
AD 339
BB 387
|BD5267
Intro...... Paramount Theatre orch.. Chanson hindoue. Bullet Egyptien. Warriors dance. Dervish chorus etc. Jealously. Tu sais.
Tangoes..... Waldorf Astoria orch.
Phone 24648
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ANGELES one-half the U-boats that Germany possessed at the outbreak of hostilities have probably been destroyed. They are being sunk faster than they can be built, and If there is a recrudescence of their activity during the coming spring and summer, when the Increasing daylight is all in the favour of an Increased number of hunters, their Jossca will be proportionately greater.
This war at son is different from. last Viewed as a whole, it is. the more a matter of small, single ships, commanded by comparative- ly Junior officers, than of large flects cor squadrons. It is a war of Individuals and wils, a test of Initiative, above all which has brought out the hard- hood, endurance and superb - skill. of the:men of the two Sea Services- upon which the safety and,' wel- fåre of Great Britain and the Em- pire so vitally depend.
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