"Therefore, one is bound to take a serious view Because of the interests confided to our care. It would be a mistake if the House got into the habit of calling for explanations on the varying episodes of this danger-fous and widespread struggle and asked for an account to be given when any action was lost or any part of the front was beaten in.
"In the St place, no full explana~ tion could possibly be given without revealing valuable information to the enemy, not only about a parti= cular operation which is ended, but bout the general position, and' also fan the processes of thought which fare followed by our war direction ud high command. 'There is always danger that a' Minister may, in seeking to vindicate the course we have pursued, inadvertently say something which may supply: the enemy. with some essential, perhaps teemingly Jnnocent-looking, fact about which the enemy is in doubt and thus enable the enemy to con-Hfruct a comprehensive and accurate picture of the way in which we are Joking at things.
"Dictator governments ore not under any similar pressure to ex.
May Betall them. Unlike these pre-Blain or excuse any i) success that tentious formidable potentates, 1 am erly a servant of the Crown and Parliament and am always at the dit-poral of the House of Commons, Responsibility "But the House and the country have. placed very considerably re sponsibility upon me, and they would not wish any" servant. whom. they have entrusted with such duties to Be at a disadvantage against our antagonists, have not heard that Hitler hed to attend the Reichstag and tell them why he sent the Bismarck on her Aisastrous cruise when, by waiting few weeks and choosing his op: portunity when perhaps our capital Ships were dispersed on convoy duty, she might have gone out accompanied the Tirpitz, another 35,000.tons ship, and offered us battle.
leither have I heard any convineing stalement by Mussolini of the Feasons why the greater part of his African empire has been conquered end over 200,000 of his soldiers are prisoners in our hands.
"Tshould feel under a needless @isadvantage if T were obliged. in a public debate, to give account of our Sperations.....Jt would, for instance, have been a' nuisance if Parliament hiad demanded 9 debate on. the loss of the Hood before we had been in position to explain what measures Wwe had taken to secure the destruc+ tion of the Bismarck, always take the very greatest pains to serve the House and always Yo associate the Houre in the fullest possible manner with the conduct of The war, but it would be better if I'were permitted, on behalf of the Government, to choose the occasion for making statements about the war, which T am most anxious to do. select one particular sector of our widely extended front for a debate a lop-sided, misleading method of examining conduct of the war. The tr. Churehit Vast scene an. om whole and ought not to be debated lecemeal. especially at a time when operations. which are all related 10 one another. are wholly incomplete Into 'a general survey. of the war come all sorts of considerations about gain and loss of time and its effect Upon the future, as well as the entire distribution of our available resources fo meet any calls made upon them:
In this' connection, the Prime Minister referred {o criticism by Sir John Wardlaw-Milne, Conservative member for the Kidderminster divi-son. of Worcestershire, who. had shed why it was. when. the British had Crete in their possession for more than six months. that they did of construct numerous airfields and place them in the highest state of Everyone will admit that it would have been a mistake to make a great number of airfields in Crete unless we could find anti-aircraft guns, both a high and low ceiling, and aircraft to defend those aiields, sor that would simply have facilitated the descent of enemy alr-borne troops upon the island.
Wider Sphere answer the question why not enough guns were provided for the we serviceable airfields ju Crete. one would have to consider whether we gould spare them for tha,—purpose. 'That lends us to a wider sphere. All this time, the Battle of the Atlantic has been' going on. and a very great number of guns which might usefully have been employed in Crete have been, and are being. mounted merchant vessels to beat off attacks of Focke-Wulf and Heinkel aircraft whose depredation have been lessened thereby.
"Again we must consider whether our airfields at home, our alr factories, our ports and cities, which Jare under heavy and dangerous: attacks, should have been further Genuded or stinted of gans in the Inst six or seven months for the sake of the war in the Middle East beyond what we have done. "Furthermore, everything We send 10 the Middle East jg out of action the best part of three months as it has to go' round the Cape.
Great Risks "We have run very great risks order to sustain the war in. the Mediterranean and nobody can be the fudge whether we should have run more risks or exposed ourselves to heavier punishment at home for the sake of "fortifying and multiply: ng the Cretan airfields. without having full and intimate knowledge of all ur resources and making a complete survey of the various "cairns "upon "We did, however, from the moment the Greek Government in vited us into Crete. take steps defend the anchorage of Suda Bay a an important naval base, to deve-Top the aerodrome nearby and provide both base and aerodrome with the largest quantity of high and Jow-celling "guns which we thought Ht At to divert from other strategic Points in the Mediterranean. We pro-Nided, in fact, a deterrent to. an enemy attack sufMcient to require a major effort on his part. But there are many fe lands and strategic points the sea, and to attempt to be safe everywhere is to make sure of being "Therefore, if the House were able. to go in detail into these matter: they might feel that a reasonable and right disposition of our forces was made. But without going. into the facts and figures, whicn nobody would wish me 10 do. it is quite Impossible for the House or even for Rewspapers to arrive at 2 justly pro portioned judgment on this affair.
"Another general" reason why 1 should have deprecated a debate the fighting in Crete is that it is only one part of a very important and complicated campaign which Is bei fought In the Middle East end can only be reviewed as one part. To "But a man must be a perfect fool who thinks we have large quantities of anti-aircraft guns and. sireraft, lying' about unused at the present time. So for as anti-aircraft guns are concerned. large and expanding as. Is our present production. every ingle gun loin ection. at come Aeces
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.