By September it is announced that Great Britain will have between 7,000,000 and 8,000,000 armed and uniformed troops under the plan to expedite the expansion of its armed forces. Thus will have been mobilized the greatest domestic army in British history and at a speed wholly surpassing that of the last war when during the years 1914-1918 the whole of the Empire mobilized no more than 8,904,000. It is the formation of this huge army, and the severe blows which have been struck at Italy which will undoubtedly spur "Hitler on to make his attempt to invade the British Isles, for it must be apparent to him that unless he can snatch a victory this spring he will face the prospect of Great Britain assuming the offensive with armies trained and equipped in sufficient numbers to administer him the defeat which alone can save Europe. That is why Ministers of the Crown are talking so openly to the world of the believed close approach of Hitler's contemplated fling. It is a good thing that they are, for the inhabitants of Great Britain are living in no fool's paradise, but are being fully informed of what may be ahead.
There must naturally be much speculation as to how Hitler will go about his invasion. But of only one thing is there complete certainty. That is that it will probably be on a gigantic scale in which thousands of German lives will be lost in an attempt to effect a landing. "The main factor will undoubtedly be command of the air over the approaches to the British Isles, and that Hitler has not yet got, nor is it believed that he will be able to secure it. It will be remembered that the British withdrawal from Dunkirk was only made possible by the manner in which the R.A.F. secured and maintained local command of the air, for had it not been for their efforts the large assemblies of men on Dunkirk beaches would have been slaughtered by machine-gunning from the air and by bombing. The first signs of the coming attempt, then will undoubtedly be an attempt to destroy the R.A.F., but as Hitler's attempts to do that have not been particularly successful, and as the R.A.F. has shown fighting, if not numerical superiority the chances are that the Germans will not be able to secure such an advantage as would enable them to transport the men across the sea unhampered.
When he does strike Hitler may be expected to do so with everything which he possesses. Groups of parachutists and others conveyed in gliders will, it is believed be sent to Britain, in the hope that they will be able to disorganize the system of defence behind the coastline. Against that millions of men are now equipped and trained, and while it is believed these enemy troops may be able to do some damage, it is expected that these British forces will be able to keep the situation under control long enough for other troops to deal with them. Lord Halifax expresses the view that the German invasion will be attempted at six or seven ports rather than at Dover, a possibility which the High Command has doubtless not overlooked, but in this connection it has to be remembered that no other port is as close to the European Continent as Dover, and that the towing of barges and the like over longer distances renders them and their cargoes all the more vulnerable to aeroplanes and surface craít.
French speculation as to when the blow will come is interesting. Basing their opinion on the occurrence of the lowest tides of the winter, comparatively smooth seas and visibility combined with the absence of the moon, giving greater obscurity and lengthy dark nights, they are reported to believe that the invasion may be attempted this month. The favourable period is expected to last from a week to twelve days, but there is no real certainty that all these factors will coincide favourably on any cf'those nights, while rather more than one will be necessary to make the attempt and follow it up. It is interesting to note that if the attempt comes towards the end of the month the Germans will have approximately eleven hours in which to make their crossing and effect their landing, and, as it has been suggested than anything up to ten hours are necessary for towed strings of barges, etc., to effect the crossing, they will certainly not have much leeway with regard to time. After the end of the month the nights shorten rapidly and this fact supports the belief that the attempt to invade Britain will indeed be made shortly, Damage To Kiel Photographs taken of Kiel after R.A.F. raids have disclosed that work in the dockyards at that port has been seriously disrupted. Photographs taken early in December showed a nineteen thousand tons aircraft carrier under construction, a submarine being built, and a tanker and a destroyer on the stocks. Another reconnaissance flight shortly afterwards revealed that all these vessels had disappeared apparently removed to some other dockyards which were thought a little safer. The photographs also showed that the Germans are building an eight thousand tons cruiser of a new design. This had apparently not progressed sufficiently to be removed, and was still in the dock to be a target for subsequent raiders. The pictures showed that the pocket-battleship Lutzow (formerly the Deutschland) had been severely damaged when hit by a torpedo from the Submarine Spearfish. The stern of the vessel had been stripped to the keel. The 26,000-ton Scharnhorst was seen to be in a floating dock, undergoing repairs after having been hit by an aerial torpedo off Trondheim. All this supports.the contention that the Nazis are having by no means a happy time even in the limited waters in which their navy can operate. Their principal ship-building yards are within easy range of British bombers and are receiving the repeated attention of the RAF, The Nazis know well that without a strong naval diversion to draw away the main force of the Bri fleet, all their plans for invasion of the British Isles are purely visionary. The diversion may take place in the Mediterranean, but for invasion purposes it is more likely to be attempted in waters close to Britain. R.A.F. attacks on Nazi naval bases and yards, therefore, may prove a major deterrent to Hitler's plans.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.