June 26.
With the signing of the Franco-Italian'
armistice fighting in France has ceased, Herr Hitler has given thanks to that Almighty who his cult refuses to accept, flags are to be flown for ten days and the church bells to be rung for seven. Perhaps, too, solemn rejoicings in Italy will mark this further success of the forces of evil, To war torn France will come 4 cessation of the sufferings to which she was]
subjected, and while most Frenchmen stand dismayed' at the manner in which this armistice has been negotiated, and the enor~ mous sacrifices which have been demanded, and agreed to, their fellows in other parts of the world are not only anxious to continue the struggle but are making a splendid response to General de Gaulle's appeal for loyalty to the Allied cause. The terms of the Franco-Italian armistice have not yet been divulged. It is stated that they will not be for another two days, but it is inconceivable that they are any lighter than those which were imposed by Germany, with the probability that Italy has already made territorial demands, which so far as Germany is concerned have been allowed to be kept in abeyance until peace comes to be negotiated. That is, perhaps, after all the wisest cours for, were they to be announced now before! the war is ended, the peace, which the Allies]
determined shall be dictated by them, might make present ambitions appear in a somewhat peculiar light., Fighting on the continent of Europe from a purely military point of view has thus for the moment ter~ minated, and it Is already announced that Italy will combine with Germany for an attack on the British Isles, Admiral von Racder is reported to have inspected the Ger man naval and shipping units at the Ger man, Netherlands, Belgian and French Channel ports preparatory to the onslaught upon the British Isles, and to all intents and purposes it would now seem that the scheme: which the enemy has in mind is extensive: air-raids by the German and Mahan air forces, and an attempt to land an expeditionary force somewhere on the British coast. To these endeavours it is expected that large numbers of men will be landed in Britain cither from transport planes or by means of parachutes, probable that the enemy will attempt the last named on a scale hitherto unknown in this present war, but the British Government has made dispositions best. calculated to deal with that particular menace without malting any very great demands upon the regular armies which are ready to meet the invaders: in numbers far superior to anything which they can hope to throw across the ses The investigations, arrests and internments, which the British authorities have made dur= ing the past few weeks, should yo a long way to ensuring that the danger from fifth column activities has been reduced to 9 minimum, and it is unlikely that they will play so important a part in the British Isles as they did in Holland, and Belgium, and latterly in France, where it appears that such activities kept the German air force continually apprised of the whereabouts of the British "headquarters which was frequently bombed. Air Marshal Sir Cyril Newall last week told the British over the radio exactly what they had to expect in the way of ait raids from the enemy. 'The Germans in their own propaganda service, in which they claim that the British have' been bombing) non-military objectives;—as if the Germans had not been doing it ever since the outbreak of hostilities, have clearly indicated that in their conception of totalitarian war wholesale, indiscriminate bombing of Britain is contemplated by them. Tt may be that Britons will have a somewhat grim time until supl ferity in the air has been secured by. thei air force, but there is no reason whatever to believe that their air force will not be able to give a good account of itself ov Britain, and also by way of retaliation over Germany. With the warnings which the Germans by their announcements have given as to their intentions it should be the fixed determination of the British Government that what the people of Britain may have to suffer: shall be repaid in precisely the same manner, that if the enemy cannot, or will not observe the common decencies of war, there shall be no restraint placed upon those who otherwise would behave quite differently.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.