1941-03-08 — Page 8

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PRESIDENT LINER

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SS "President Taft"

$5 "President Cleveland"

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To NEW YORK and BOSTON

MAR 19 APE.

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Saturday,

HONGKONG TELEGRAPH

Morrison

on the

March 8, 1941.

THIS IS A

Brave New WAR OF PRISONERS

World

ERNEST BEVIN'S de

claration that his war aim was "social

by JOHN SLEE

VENTS of the past fifteen months appear to prove that the soldier of this war stands a much greater chance of being taken prisoner

security" got him into than of being wounded or killed. trouble.

that

Tory papers usually represent the views of Industrialism led the attack. In other circles there was a cer- tain restiveness..

Then what will happen after Herbert Morrison's expression of his hopes for a post-war world, heard at a great war interest lunch at the Dorchester? For he went much further.

*

* *

HE was tactful enough, apart from one playful thrust at Beaverbrook. Even that was a fab with a smile behind it.

"We have got splendid isolation at last," he said.... "I will leave the that to my noble friend, Minister of Alrcraft Production."

Beaverbrook will enjoy that, He smiled even when told that, reply- ing to Churchill's phrase, "Beaver- brook is a magician," Bevin had said, "You mean an illusionist."

* *** **

the elaborating Bevin speech to Rotarians, said that people could lose their homes because of social insecurity He as well as because of bombs. urged that the sacrifices of war- time, made willingly by the rich, should continue when peace came.

*** *

MORRISON,

TT is significant that Lord Numeld sald to Lord Nathan, the chair- man, afterwards: "I agree with every word of the speech-and I am a millionaire."

Still, Nuffield sometimes tells people he was happiest when he ran his cycle repair shop.

*

* * WHAT will be Labour's views about the strength of our armed forces after the war?

Morrison, prefacing his own ideas about that with the phrase, "They may seem strange wards from me,' sald: It is vital that at the end of the war there shall be a preponder- ant striking power in the hands of the democracies."

When he followed with the admis- sion that the lack of that had been the weakness

European of democracy since the last war, there was a "bravo!"

* * * -IIIS-instatonca-that Europe would

need an international police air force to make sovereign States be- have themselves, and to see that an air force was not, as now, "the tommy-gun of the international gangster," was applauded at the

time.

Afterwards, however, a knighted ex-Civil Servant said to me That is the old League of Nations all over again." His companion went on to denounce that old talking-shop." So we began another argu-

ment.

Then a newspaper magnate re- marked, mournfully, "I hope he the docan't mean by sacrifice same income tax,

MAR.

11

MAR.

20

APR.

12

** STILL, Morrison's pleas for a new international order, and a new national policy, both based security, were made with tact and humour.

*

on

To NEW YORK and BOSTON

Vla San Francisco, Los Angeles and Panama

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MAR.

30

APR.

18

MAY

8

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When he said that it was too late now for the negative virtues of nineteenth-century Liberalism. he hastily added, being a Minister, that ho was not criticising Liberals, or Indeed, any political group: "I can- not, because we are a mixed lot."

This is the paradoxical sequel to the employment of the greatest array of lethal weapons ever used in

any war.

Ever since the Great War military engineers and scientists have been

developing what they call "fire

power."

"Fire power" secks to equip every individual soldier not with one weapon but with many, all capable of killing the greatest number of the enem in the shortest possible time with the minimum amount of effort.

Figures Tell

But rifles, Bren guns, Lewis guns, tommy guns, trench mortars, hand grenades, artillery of all kinds, .bombs of all kinds have all contrived so far to laugh up their muzzles at their inventors,

For their tremendous killing power has resulted, not in killing hundreds of thousands of men, but in keeping

them alive.

...I am not advancing this as a final conclusion to be drawn from modern war. It is far too early to draw any sound I conclusions. But look at the following figures.

In the Arat afteen months of this war the British Army lost just over 5,000 officers and men killed, 11,000 wounded, and 14,000 missing. But it lost 44,000 officers and men as prisoners of war in the same period,

Nearly nine times as many men taken prisoner as there were men killed,

Ahi you will say, but the capture of all those Britian prisoners was not due to military causes but to the social causes which resulted in the defection of Belgium and the collapse of France.

Well, there is something in that claim and we will admit that the balties of France and Belglum are not good examples.

We will also admit that Norway was not in a position to fight effec- tively and that Denmark did not fight at all.

Yet it may be that Norway and Denmark knew it was useless to fight against such an array of "fire-power." It may be, also, that France and Belgium were over- awed by the same thought.

Tint claim, however, could not be advanced in extenuation of the Italian defeat in the Western Desert

There has been no such sinister pre- paration of the ground here for the British tanks and aeroplanes.

It has been asserted that some, of the Italians have no stomach for this fight; but accounts acclaim the fallantry of most of the Italian and native regiments there.

Sir Archibald Wavell's stroke represents mechanised warfare In its purest and most brilliant light. It is the first purely mill- Lary achievement in this form of War Brainst An enemy, hot merely of equal strength, but of much greater numbers.

And here 30,000 Italian prisoners can thank British fire power" for their lives. Perhaps many more Italians will be blessing it (also s prisoners of war) within the next few days.

Raking Them In

With "fire-power" Бос the armouring of the soldier and his vehicles. Armouring on both sides tends to reduce the number killed and wounded.

Camouflage, in a way another form of armour, may save hundreda of lives from aeroplane bombs and from artillery through aeroplane observation. Camouflage was in- spired by the increase in

power,"

Are-

All these factors, together with that of air co-operation, were co- ordinated in the Western Desert operations and the story of this Italian rout will, when it is told, give the achievement a much higher place in military history than it appears to deserve at the moment, although already it seems great enough to us,

Danger and Safety

And, speaking of air co-operation, It is probablo that, if the casualties of land warfare can be analysed, it will be found that bombs from aero- planes have been responsible for more casualties than all the artillery and machine-guns, rifies and mor tars, of the army itself.

The Greco-Italian campaign in Albania lends further support to the idea that this is a war of prisoners rather than of kliled and wounded, Here is a country all against wide-

The modern soldier is becoming spread mechanised warfare, but the Grecks go on taking prisoners every & much more dangerous man, but day out of all proportion to the the more dangerous he becomes,

the saler he appears to be, number of casualties.

Birth Rate Goes Up

has

a new high

HE Registrar-General just announced record for marriages in Eng- land and Wales-an mcrease of 75,030 over the previous year.

And that means, almost certainly. that birth-rate gutes will later jump proportionately.

Already, in fact, the war-time birth- rate is exceeding peace-time figuren-a fact which apparently supports the well- known platitude that births-particu larly of baby boys-ere always more fro- quent in war-tinte.

it in bupposed to be "Nature's way of making good the wastage of war."

Actually, there is amal support for An that belief in the official recurils. examination of 1914-18 statistics shows no increase at all.

Certainly, more boy tables arrived than girls-but the same applies, for in stance, to the year 1938. and

Turn to the German aide of the who picture. It was Germany started the war with a great pre- ponderance of fire-power" she protected it with armour in armoured columns and gave it speed through mechanisation.

Germany, has taken more than 2,000,000 prisoners.

Eleven Millions

E

(Many

In the four years of the Great War the British-lost-altogether-as- prisoners of war only just over 350,000' omcers and men out of a total of eleven million casualties suffered by both sides. officers and men twice or thrice- wounded go to make up that total) Yet in the first fifteen months of the present war Germany has lost, In all classes of casualties, no more than 800,000 officers and men.

The eleven million casualties of 1011-18 were largely the result of trench warfare; the 800,000 Ger- man casualties largely the result of open warfare.

It may be argued that treachery arid corruption, largely created in countries like France, Belgium, Nor- way and Denmark in preparation for the German tanks and dive- bombers, destroys the purely ml- tary aspect of this comparison.

Thank "Fire Power

"

Perhaps the conditions in these conquered countries threw the value of the purely military German war machine out of all proportion.

M.

It was not until 1920, the first year of real peace, that the birth-rate rocketed from 860,000 to 187.974-the highest figure ever recorded in this country.

Since then, it has been around 600,000. I gather that this year we may get near the 1020 mark,

But now, with a great war raging, the birth-rate at last goes up!

“Remember, too, that the strain-of-thi confict has fallen heavily upon the woman civilian.

Large portions of the population have becu on the move. Homes linze been broken up at a few hours' notice.

In fact, very few women to-day dare hope to give birth to their children in their own homes.

✩

explanation is that Perhaps one dependenta allowances for men in the Services have been increased.

The coldler's wife knows that wherever she may be, ste to within reach of a maternity centre.

Then there are thousands of trained interity nurses whose organlanticn covers every county with a war-time service.

Also, they never attend a case with- out their nnnigesle apparatus, whereby the patient herself administers pain-re- lleving gas. Thus, this boon is now

avaliable to the poorcat mother.

There are yet other reassuring re- forms.

Milk is made available to all mothers, and to children under Ave, at n reduced price of 2d, a pint. In some cases, it is even supplied free of cost. Knowledge such as this is giving tho wife of to-day courage and confidence in the difficult hours which 14,000 mothers every week are facing for the sake of a future generation.-P. A. &

PRIVATE LIFE OF A PRIVATE

The Man Who Lives on Gas

WICE life-size, positively Further extract from the

prehistoric in bulk, the colossal corporal takes the platform.

In gas there are only two classes

diary of a journalist turned the quick and the dead-so be quick!

soldier.

The respirator, as issued to both coldiers and civilians, is proof against all known war gases. Have faith in it! Have it always ready,

We shall never be the first to use gas But wo whatever the circumstances.

He turns towards us a face as

Meanwhile he lives on ma-rends It huge, round, and smooth as the

with his meals, goes to sleep thinking polished stone mask of Rameses about it. dreams of it, and wakes up that hangs in the British with it on his mind.

are dealing with a desperate enemy Muscum, Ho says nothing; To him ilfe trauslates itself into who will stick at nothing.

One thing will stop him-ndeguato simply looks at us. His fore terms of gas Bread is something that

The power the gas carbon dioxide causes to rise: anti-gas precautions hierC. hend is troubled.

salt is the result of a 'reaction of the of pas les in its surprize-force. Somebody whispers that he has been a professional Rugger-player who gained international celebrity, smashing through opposing teams like a tank......

He gazen gloomily down; licks his lips and opens his mouth. Expect ing a trumpeting nolso, we are half shocked to hear the polite voice of a lecturer.

efence, he says

gas chlorine with the metal sodium; the We must not be surprised. We must sun is gus aflame; gas is light; gas be prepared!

and death. The colossal And now you will fall in outside and is life.. corporal lowers his voice and glares at 111 show you a little respirmor-drill..." us like a man in a melodrama, who We fall out and fall in. Everybody akiving soldiers who came to have a is profoundly impressed. In particular rest in the back seats of the lecture on foreigner," Biberia, is full of room find themselves dragged upright admiration.

by the muscular tension in the small People." he says, "who pooh-pools the Idea of chemical warfare ought to of their backs.

la

A sergeant iap him on the shoulder. "Hey, you, Darkle!"

Ho talka of geace-tho gases that laten to that man. Nitwita! We need voir make you weep, or sneeze, or choke, a merge defence, ho says: here to tell us right arms, like a bolster, rises in a about gna.

menacing gesture: his hand, like a "Cinssasi ultera the word bunch of bannhas, closes slowly. with relial and is reluctant to let it go. He is out now to make our blood run

Ho las acquired an appetite for gas cold,'

"Sergent?" anys Siberia,

ន ។

"Where's your respirator?" There is a momert, of allence. left it in the lecture-room," saya Biberia

To him Italy is the nation that He talks on in n kind of agony :- sprayed mustard gne on the Abyssiniana Round your neck hangs an insurance in a small voice; and rishes away to ... and all ronds lend to Tomo, Ite policy, tccome eficient in the use of get before the colossal corporn), wants every rolifier to be adept in the fast reaptrator fake its use swinging his shoulders, swaggers into

the midst of us to demonstrate. →tautin«?[vw/- mysteries of pólkon""just"in" paso,"

THEIR BOMBING OF BRITAIN IS FINISHED Different types of Nazi airmen-prisoners of war-

This spectacled, studious youth and his-

-Companion both cast their

eyes to the ground,

A salute of greeting came from this one, willo-

-An unshaven chin looked "me' though long hours had been this man's fate.

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