Listeners to the B.B.C. news broadcast on Thursday evening were given two real treats. The first was a recording of the arrival in England of the Australians and New Zealanders, which included the messages sent over the microphone by some of the men to their relatives in the Antipodes, and a stirring chant by a transport-load of Maoris as they approached the wharf. If anyone had felt inclined to get his tail down over the gravity of the general news, the cheery greetings from these Australians and New Zealanders, coupled with the fact that their presence in the British Isles is the most powerful testimony to the unity of the Empire's purpose, must have been most reassuring. There were no heroics in the broadcast, just comradeship and goodwill, the tone being set by the announcer who described the arrival of an "All Black" who will be remembered for a long while as a splendid Rugby half-back. "We all remember him as an opponent last time," said the announcer. "And we thank goodness that he is on our side this time." The second cheering broadcast was made by an American who had joined up with the Canadian forces, and he told why he was fighting for the Allies. He had been a radio announcer in San Francisco, he said, and the news he had had to handle daily in preparing his broadcasts had convinced him that his duty was to fight on the side of Democracy. He admitted that he had never cared much for Englishmen, The impression he had received when meeting them had been that everything and everyone not English was considered slightly barbarian. Since meeting many Englishmen and serving with them, his opinion had been completely changed, and he voiced his pride in being able to fight side by side with Britons in defence of the whole world's cause, These two broadcasts, however, came on either side of another which struck a grim note. Air Marshal Sir Cyril Newall, without mincing his words, told the British public what they might expect when the Nazis began their air raids in force. Though the defences of the British Isles were strong, he said, there could be no hope that the Nazis would not penetrate them—at first. He warned that loss of life and material damage was to be expected as a result of Nazi raids, but emphasized that these raids would cost the Nazis heavily. He recalled that German raids over Britain in the last war proved so severe on the German pilots that, towards the end of the war they preferred to dump their bombs into the sea rather than face British fighters. Without glossing over possibilities, he drew a stern picture of what is probably to come, confident in the heart of the British people who, he said, must face the Nazi bombs as soldiers in the front line faced enemy shells, There can be no doubt that they will.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.