July 16.
And now it has come to us to stand alone at the breach, and face the worst that a can do. Bearing before Goa, but "conscious ing purpose, we are ready to defend our native land against the me vasion by which it is threatened.
These words should be Jaid up in the hearts of every Briton, and, were it possible, they should be bound for a sign upon their hands and as frontlets between their eyes, They are extracted from the fighting speech which Mr. Churchill broadcast to the nation and the Empire on Sunday night. That speech was relayed to the United States and Americans throughout that country listened to the valiant words of a man who since he has assumed power has made his promises good, and has proved himself the only possible reply to Hitler that the democracies in Europe could produce. In the United States it created a most favourable impression, as must surely have done in other countries save perhaps in Germany, Yet, even in that country where there are millions of souls themselves awaiting release from their pre= sent thraldom, it may have struck out a spark of response. In a speech full of inspired phrases it is almost impossible to choose the most striking, but it can be said without fear of contradiction that Mr.
Churehilt has told the whole truth not only. of the situation but of the determination of the whole nation, the whole Empire, to fight on until the hideous fabrication of a' diseased mind shall be brought low and Europe and the world released from the nightmare which Hitler has released upon them. It_ matters not whether the ordeal be short or long. If it is short, Britain and the world will be all the more' grateful to a Divine Providence which has so ordered it; if it is long, it will be fought out all the more determinedly because when Britain entered this struggle it expected nothing else. Mr. Churchill has given the answer, if such were necessary, 10 enemy. suggestions' that Great Britain was seeking. out peace terms. She secks none, and will {tolerate no parley. A great Empire now thoroughly aroused to its peril is preparing to fight for its very existence, an existence upon which the fate of a great portion of the world ultimately depends, for Who stands if freedom fall? Who dies if England live?
There is a great deal in Mr. Churchill's suggestion that the enemy plans for the invasion of Britain may have undergone a profound change during the past two months. In the past it seems to have been predicated upon the belief that huge British forees would be held up in France, and that the British Isles would be but ill-prepared 0 meet the contemplated invasion. Such is not now the ease, and to that extent it would seem that the Hitlerian scheme has gone awry, and that present delays are due largely to the necessity for improvising fresh methods of meeting a new situation. It was one thins fo plan an invasion against Britain with he main forces overseas, but an ent problem when the islands are million-and-a-half men fully trained and equipped, and auxiliary forces disposed to meet such threats as the much extolled para~ chute troops. German successes have Jed not the dissipation of British strength but to ils concentration, first for the purpose of defence and later it is to be hoped for attack. During this month every week end will see 200,000 more men called to the colours, or 1,200,000 within the next four weeks. Thus, now, as never before in the history of the ration has there been in Britain an army comparable in quanti bers as that which now stands on guard over Britain's Tortunes. Every day, every week affords opportunity for its enhancement, while there may be a monstrous Goliath across the Channel the boy David is daily growing in stature. There will be no submission: surrender a word which has been expunged from the English inguage of today. town by town, city by city, and eventually if necessary street by street, and there is not a Briton, much as he loves his country, who would not sce much of it laid waste if that has to be the price of victory.
Mr. Churchill's summing up of the position in Great Britain. It is better now than it was at the commencement of the war. The ability to wage a long or a short war is better now than it has been at any time during the last ten-and-a-halt months since the war began, and there is a great dea) 10 be said for the remark, made by General Ironside some short while ago, that Hitler issed the bus when he failed to launch an mediate attack on the British. There is even the indication already referred to that the German plan has miscarried somewhere. If indeed that proves to be the case the chances of defeating the enemy have been improved beyond calculation, for it will be remembered that it was the' break-down of the German schemes in 1914 which led to final victory for the Allies. The official Ger= man news agency, in its summary as usual gives the traditional lying suggestive twist.
Winston Churchill, last night held (sie) a speech addressed to the Empire, which had the same optimistic keynote as all his previous speeches," it states. "He made no secret, however, of the fact that in his opinion "Britain is confronted with difficult tasks in 8 long-drawn-out war." From the very commencement of hostilities the possibility of this being a prolonged struggle has been insisted upon by British leaders. They never for one moment believed that the enemy would not achieve some successes. They probably did not believe he would be so sue~ cessful as he has up to the present on land, but never for one moment has there been any secret about the opinion that this would be a long war, much too long for Hitler's liking, Britain' is growing in. strength, with all the resources of the Empire and of the friendly world behind her. Germany and Moly stand alone, with diminishing resources, That they will endeavour to force the pace may be taken for granted, for by that means is afforded the only opportunity, and a small tone at that, of escaping the inexorable pres sure which the British Navy of a thousand armed ships can continue to exert, while Bri~ tain defends herself from anything which the malignity of the enemy may devise.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.