1940-06-05 — Page 4

Page

30,000 OF

THE CHINA MAIL, JUNE 5, 1940.

B.E.F. KILLED

WOUNDED AND MISSING Mr. Churchill's Revelations In House Enormous Losses Of Material A Heavy Blow

London, To-day.

THE REVELATION THAT we had lost only approximately 30,000 men of the B.E.F. in killed, wounded or missing, that the son of the President of the Board of Trade had been killed in action, and the claim that the R.A.F, had achieved a notable victory in the air, were made by Mr. Winston Churchill in the statement with which he thrilled the House of Commons yesterday.

the

On the magnificent successes of the R.A.F.,'

Prime Minister said that when we consider how much greater would be our advantage in de- fending the air above the British Isles against oversea attack, "I must say I find in these facts a sure basis upon which a practical and reassuring thought may rest."

V

..

There is no reason why we should not in a few months over- that take the sudden serious loss has come upon us, without retard- ing the development of our general

programme.

Colossal Disaster Nevertheless, said Mr. Churchill, our

thankfulness at the escape of our army

and so many men whose loved ones have passed through an agonising time, must not blind us to the fact that what

STATEMENT IN

LORDS

London, To-day.

Lord Caldecote, Leader of the House of Lords, made a similar statement yesterday to Mr. Churchill's in the Commons.

the

He also recorded with regret death in action of two members of the House the Duke of Northumberland and the Earl of Erne...

Lord Strabolgi paid tribute to the gallantry of the French divisions who made possible the withdrawal of the British forces-Reuter,

of the House to enter on this sub- not ject in secret session (cheers) that the Government would necessari- ly be able to reveal any" naval or military secrets, but we like to have our discussions free without the limitations imposed by the fact that they will be read next day by the enemy.

The Government will benefit by the is a colossal milltary: disaster.

views expressed by members of all The French Army has been weak-parts of the House. ened, the Belgian Army last. A fines large part of those fortified úpōri which toʻmuch falth had been réposed is gone.

"I pay tribute to these young airmen (cheers). has happened in France and Belgium

There has never been, I suppose, in all the his- tory of war, such an opportunity for youth. The Knights of the Round Table, the Crusaders, all fall back into the past, not only distant, but prosaic.

"These men going forward every morning to guard their native land, to guard all that we stand for, these young men going forward holding in their hands these instruments of co- lossal and shattering power, for whom. It may be said that every morning brought forth a noble chance these young men deserve our gratitude and deserve to rank among the highest many of all brave men who in so ways and on so many occasions are ready and will continue to be ready to give their life and all to their native land.

Army Losses

fierce

on

"I return to the army. "In the long series of very battles, now on this front, now that, fighting on three fronts at once, battles fought by two or three divi- sions against an equal or somewhat and Jarger number of the enemy, fought very fiercely on the old ground that so many of us knew so well, our Tosses-in-men--have exceeded 30,000, killed, wounded and missing.

"I take this occasion to express the sympathy of the House with all who have sustained bereavement or who are still anxious.

The President of the Board of Trade, Sir Andrew Duncan, is not here to-day. His son was killed.

very

"We have, perhaps, lost one-third of the men we lost in the opening days

of the battle of March 21, 1918.

"But we have lost nearly as many guns. nearly a thousand guns

and our transport and all the at- moured vehicles that were with the army in the North.

"This loss will impose a further delay on the expansion of our mili- tary strength. That expansion had not been proceeding as we had hoped, The best of all we had to give had

gone to the B.E.F.

First Fruits

"Although, they had not the num- bers of tanks and some articles of equipment that were desirable, they were a very well and finely equipped army.

They had the first fruits that our industry had to give.

That has gone and now here is this further delay.

•

*

Many valuable mining districts and factories have passed into the enemy's possession.

The whole of the Channel ports. are In his hands with all the strate gle consequences that must follow

from. that.

"We must expect that another blow will be struck almost immediately at

us or at France,

these boast

“I would observe that there has never been a period in all long centuries of which we when an absolute guarantee against Invasion, less against air raids, could have been given to our peo- ple.

"In the days of Napoleon, the same wind which would have carried his transports across the Channel might have stood in the way of the blockad ing fleet. There was always a chance and it is that chance which has ex- "We are told that Hitler has a planercised and befooled the imaginations for invading the British Isles.. This of many 'Continental tyrants. has often been thought of before. The whole question of home defence against invasion is, of course, power- fully affected by the fact that we have, for the time being in this island, in- comparably more powerful military forces than we ever had at any mo- ment in this war or the last.

Not On Defensive "This will not continue.

"We shall not be content with a de- fensive war. We have our duty to our allies. We have to reconstitute and build up the B.E.F. again under their gallant commander-in-chief, General Lord Gort.""

How long will it be, how long will it last depends on the "exer- All this is in train, and in the in- tions which we make in these laterval we must put our defences in these islands into such a high state of organisation that the fewest pos- sible numbers will be required to give effective security and that the largest possible potential of offensive effort may be realised.

An effort, the like of which has never been seen in our records is now being made. Work is proceeding everywhere, night, and day, Sundays and weekdays. Capital and labour have cast aside their interests, rights and customs and put them into the common stock.

Already the flow of munitions has

forward.

Many in the House have felt private affliction in the sharpest form.gleapt

I would say this about the missing. We have a large number of wound- ed who have come back safely to this country. There may be many reported missing who will come back some day. In this way or an other, in the confusion of this fight, It was inevitable that many be left in conditions which required no further resistance from them.

Enormous Material

Losses

should

Against this loss of 80,000 men, we may set the far heavier loss certainly infilcted upon the enemy.

"Our losses in materia 'mods.

enor

Secret Session

On this we are now engaged. It will be convenient if it be the desire

The Tales Told

Many are the tales told.

We are assured that novel methods will be adopted and when we see the originality of malice and the ingenuity of aggression that our enemy displays, we must certainly prepare ourselves for every kind of novel strategy and every kind of brutal and treacherous manoeuvre.

"I think that no idea is so outlandish that it should not be considered and viewed with a watchful but steady eye, pe

3

"One, must never forget the solid assurance of sea power and those which belong to air power it it can be locally exercised,

#1 feel confident that if all do their not Is neglected and oments are made, as being made, we shall prove Tonce gain able to defend and hömd und Fide out the wirând outlive the menace

essary

necessary for years, alone (cheers).—Reu-

SECRET SESSION NEXT TUESDAY

Mr. H. B. Lees-Smith (Labour) said in the House the Prime Minister had told the nation in the plainest would be called upon to make.

T

an

don To-day.

was glad

forta

Mr. F. J. Bellenger (Labour) asked Mr. Churchill for an assurance that arly opportunity for a debata in secret session would be giv

Prime Minister replied: “I understand

XtTuesday

robably be.