1940-11-08 — Page 55

THE CHINA MAIL, NOVEMBER 8, 1940

CHINA MAIL Britain's

WINDSOR HOUSELL

BALKAN RUMOURS

A few weeks ago I returned from Morocco, regretfully leaving without having had the oppor tunity of saying Goodbye to any

Balkan rumours of like-of my long-standing friends who German intervention in return was precipitated

are also the friends of Britain. My by the he war against Greece Capitulation of the French Gov- wing-between the mass-

ernment:

Page

Friends In

Morocco

-By- Albera Fallaizė,

de.

that has been unproductive for Morocco, or, as it is called in centuries. With continued ng of troops on the Rum-Land of the Setting Sun," has been able to maintain at a high stand- Arabic, "Mogreb-Elaksa," "The velopment, the land should be hian border for a dash my home for 25 years. hrough Bulgaria into I' knew it first as 'a' land of my- hrace and the deploy-dern communications, no roads, no

stery and charm. It had no mo ent of troops for forcing A quarter of

electricity, no European amenities. passage through Yugo-fan government officials and the a century of close collaboration between the Sheri- avia into Albania and French colonising administrators

ence to Greece.

For the moment, how- er, all such rumours hould be treated with the ime reserve as it is es- ntial to maintain re- arding the exaggerated counts of brilliant reek successes against le Italian invaders.

The Greeks have had leir

ve

num-

successes. They fought. valiantly ainst superior rs. They have exploited e ground advantages to lian discomfiture. They ve held their lines at ery point, hitherto, and ere is no indication t that the Italians are pable of shaking them- ves free of the conseq-| nces of incompetent eparation for ale military operations.

large-

has resulted in a remarkable de- velopment, which in recent years had been bringing prosperity and contentment to the merchants of of

the cities and to the fellahs the countryside.

Large schemes of irrigation have breught under cultivation land

In

Enligh missionary Morocco for 25 years, and noted student of Moroccan affairs.

ard of living a population two or three times its present mumbai

chase a small piece of land in an old city of Morocco. I was received liby

2 proprietor, who was a' com- plete stranger, and was given generous terms. When the busi- ness had been satisfactorily, settled and the lawyers had written the Britjun 20 people, and progress has left un papers we were enjoying the pos- spolit their genuine-spirit of hospitality of our host-He recounted pitality and charming friend. his story. liness.

England and with all

I look back

with pleasurable

More than forty years previous-

memories to the generous hospita-, as a young man, he had suffer- lity of large homes in the cities, ed from deafness and was advised and to the simple divellers in Arab to go to England to seek medical tents who shared all they had, advice. and gave no less generously, out of their poverty to a wayfaring stranger who was to them "Dalf Allah," "the Guest of God."

Remembered Friendship

this

Some little incidents of The Muslims continue their friendship come to mind. Seven- old traditional friendship with teen years ago I wanted to pur-

Britain Builds For Air Supremacy

From a tiny biplane, pottering| along at 50 miles an hour, to a vast assemblage of swift, pow-| erful aircraft, growing in num- bers till they will represent the most formidable war machine the world has ever known.

So one might epitomise three, decades in British aircraft pro- duction.

To-day we find fact, eclipsing the wildest dreams of the pion-

By

Harry Harper

aircraft than had ever been pro- where in the world before.

fully-trained Empire pilots, the air might of Britain will indeed be something to win universal won- der.

Triumph Of

Planning

and without knowledge of your "I arrived," he said, "a stranger

language, and received so much kindness and consideration that I rezolved to return such kindness when opportunity occurred in my own land."

I was invited to a Moorish lunch by some notables of the city, my fellow guests being five officers of the Royal Navy. The chief treasure shown to us was a signed photograph of Queen Vic- toria which had been given to one of the family years ago when he government service in

was on

London.

It was surprising to us to see the knowledge and intereat these Moors displayed, in the Queen and her descendants and Empire.

A Word To Britain

་

Just before the outbreak of the present War, Muslim friends came

When you walk through one of with Arabic letters written to Mr. Britain's great' aircraft factories-Chamberlain and to Lord' Halifax. a fascinating hive of round-the: Their request was that we should clock effort-what intrigues you more than anything else all translate them into English. They that detailed, complicated plan- were spontaneous letters of grati-

which

is

planes, combined with magnifi

The brains behind Britain's

Such links as these caruidt: be

cent work in the factories are broken. achieving wonders.

But the battle has only eers of the band of enthusiasts tion though actual figures can- and workshop managers

It was a new record in produc-ning, by designers, constructors, tude and sympathy for all that st been joined. It is not who, thirty years ago this aut-main a record long. As Britain's a welter of varying processes and obtain a just and

not be quoted. But it did not re- car alone evolve order from such these two statesmen had done to er by any means yet umn, watched on Salisbury Plain vast organisation of production problems.

honourable dit would do ill service the birth of British air power.

peace. Gracious replies came, continues to gather impetus, the the Allied' cause to ex-

figures of to-day are soon eclipsed

which they brought to us, It was my privilege to be one by those of a few days hence. gerate the importance of that little group when, early on the past week.

a chilly morning in September, l'aircraft industry, mate, than doubl In one month, lately). Britain's 1910, we saw Capt. Bertram Dick-'ed an output that had been con- They have, however, son set off on the first aeroplane sidered a triumph in a correspon fficiently damaged the reconnaissance flight ever made dent month a year aga.

in British army manoeuvres. I have devoted my life to avia- that first employment of aircraft tion. Thirty years ago, just, after

estige of Il Duce's arm-

to

cause Hitler to After he had landed, I drove use before rushing to with him to make a report which lian support through gave Headquarters information as her Bulgaria or Greece. to the "enemy" which could not Prestige is one of means.

have been obtained by any other:

words cannot describe.

seen

e keys to Axis success: That flight; and others that suc ould Hitler desire to ceeded it, turned a fresh page in ffen Italian troops with war history. In the years since me of his own or to then, from being the "Cinderella"

ve discreetly to over- of the Services, wo have ul Italian Air Force tac-aviation emerge into a glory which s, which have been as- hishingly inadequate, ne display of confidence Italian conduct of the r would in normal cir- mstances be a politic elude.

Air Epic On The Ground

in Britha mangga sincer, Mn Claude Grahame-White, to write

a book called "The Aeroplane In War." It was the first to deal ex- clusively with all the potentialit- its in modern war of the heavier than-air flying, machine..

more

Muslins And The Axis

The world has seen no piece of mechanism than the mode complicated, highly-specialised

Muskirs in Morocco have ern warplane, or one more difficult closely followed the aspirations of- to produce quickly in vast quan Italy and Germany to extend their tities.

territories. Italy's.coriquest' Every ounce of weight that can and administration of Libya, with

be saved must be saved. Yet the all its cruelties, have been care final result must possess tremeri- fully, watched

dous strength.

And not only is the machine it-1:

Then came the shock of the self a miracle of lightweight en-Abyssinia campaign with its ruth- gineering, but before it can be as- less and wanton destruction: of the sembled it must be fitted with an defenceless.

Spending For Victory astonishing amount of additional

the

but essential equipment:

One of the things we urged was Apart from air-franks, wings, establishment of a pioneer engines, and air-screws, a cease- ture of aeroplanes and their en-armament, wireless, navigational British industry for the manufac- less flow must be maintained of gines.

instruments, and a host of other attings.

But those peerings of ours into the future were greeted with scepticism -- more particularly when we had the temerity to sug- skies gest, as we did, that at least a ad-million pounds should, without

delay, be devoted to the produr But;tion of military aircraft.

Italy's offers of cooperation as the friend of the Muslims" evoke in these Muslims the firm determination that no more of their brethren ahall come under the Italian yoke,

Muslims:

A "Hajj" passed through The keynote of the whole pro-Pilgrimage. He had lived during Morocco last spring before the blem-the one factor upon which the German regime in an African technicians have to keep an ever- territory, and he recounted to his To-day's dramas of the

watchful eye is that there should brethren what it meant to the make us hold our breath in

be no "bottleneck," anywhere, to check the flow of some vital piece miration and in wonder.. amazing, though they are, they do

of equipment no weak link even If Hitler were to re-establish not tell the whole story.

What a lot of money that seem-

in such a complicated chain. Far Tasty German action from it. Because down

ed then! There were, in fact,

German: power in any of these on the many who declared such an ex-bottlenecks" in production is the the end of freedom for Muslims. The sudden appearance of such territories he knew it would be remedy Mussolini's fai- ground below we have another penditure to be utterly preposter- nightmare of e to get off with the drama which is in its way just ous. But how far would that mill-Britain's aircraft output. They emigrate to British or some other those controlling He was planning to be ready, to ht foot would have the as heroic,

lion go towards defraying our watch for them vigilantly. They democratio nation's territory, and astronomical expenditure of to- are ready at a moment's notice there were many familles in his vious and immediate That drama is the great drama

day?

to pounce upon any tangle that home country anxiously awaiting ect of further damag of British aircraft production-of Apart from the gigantic sums fore production can be impaired.

may develop, smoothing it out be the verdict. Italian prestige the swift, ccuseless pouring forth we are devoting here at home, to

With the Moroccan French road and morale at of machines in numbers so enotnot forget the more than 1,000 sich a stupendous production en-

winning air supremacy, we must Never before has mankind seen officials under the orders of the Vichy Government, our Muslim pears almost incredible to any America, to say nothing of over British Empire of this colossal to stand! by and take a passive achievement ap million dollars we are spending in terprise as the creation by the allies there at present are forced one who remembers, as. I cah; our 50 million dollars worth of all-arneda of the air. difcutics; years ago in turning craft and parts we have arranged out a mere handful of 'plines. from: the first of our shops.

for Canada to supply us with.

me.

mous that the

our

position.

**

Unless he is now throw

all caution and guile

"The herver of history," as Lord Some Moorish soldiers escaped the wind, Hitler is

Beaverbrook has emphasised during the withdrawal from ely to give Mussolini anclared impossible have now been tion does this colossal air produc- they" he adds speaking as

Things which were once de The more one thinks of it, the will be our young adventurers of France, and are now. In: England

more staggering to the imagina the Royal Air Force. And it is with General de Gaulle's forces. portunity of achieving brought to pass...

tion programme of ours become. Minister of Alfcraft Production ne measure of success

Muslim French Morocco has not his own unaided efforts efforts even greater by Lord Bea- craft a month from the United their hands. It is they who will continue the struggle with Britain Just recently-encouraged to inforced by as many as 3,000 air-the weapons we are putting into eagerly await an- opportunity to When our own effort is being re "who know how to make use of changed in heart and our old allies fore intervening to verbrook our British factories States, and, with the vital train bring us a viatory that will be and äll-freedom-loving people uh- sten the proceedings: aircraft than had even been pro- us with an over-growing army of our and triumph,"

turned out in a single week more ing scheme in Canada supplying followed by our years, of splend til the tyranny of Berlin and Romo

lis crushed CEN