11/7/;p MINISTRY OF INFORMATION N E W S B U L L E T I N N 0. 28 .APPEAL FOR ALUMINIUM. I:nfornn.tion has been received at the Ministry of Aircraft Production that unauthorised persons n.re collecting alULl:inium pots and pans. Pots and pons presented to the Ministry should be handed to the local office of the Woraen1 s Voluntary Services. If you are in o.ny doubt please enquire at the nearest town hall or police station. Do not give your pot::: and pans to any caller at the door. -Ministry of Aircraft Production. M.O.I. 4. MORE NDY ZEALAND AIRI\ifEN HERE. A further large draft at young New Zealand ainnen) officers and othet r.inks, arrived in England yesterday for service with the Royal Air Force. All have had some months of training in New Zealand, but will receive further ......... instruotion in this country before being appointed to units. The raajority are pilots, but the draft includes a number of observers and air gunners. -Dominions and Colonial Offices Press Seotion. 111.0.r. 1. WAR GIFTS OF THE EMPmE. Further Helf from Bahamas. In view of the appointnent of the Duke of Windsor as Governor of the Bahruna Islands, interest attaches to the following statement of their war activities. In addition to gifts of £25,000 the Legislature is considering further donations. A sum of £1) 1000 has been raised by private subscriptions for the Lord Mayor's Fund, King George's Sailors Fund arrl St. Dunstan's, Further contributions will be collected for the purchase of planes and ambulances. The War li!aterial Oommittee organised by the''Nassau Daily Tribune" has oolleoted a quantity of scrap metal and is planning a food-crop campaign to reduoe importations and save exchange. It is also canning fruit and vegetables as gifts to Englani, while the Red Cross Branch has sent 13 1000 articles and £500 to the British Red Cross. Citizens will give 000 gallons of preserves and 750 gallons of lime juice to the United Kingdom. Lord Lloyd has expressed his thanks. from Ankole, Uganda. At the spontaneous request of the Omugabe (Native ruler), the Chiefs and the people of Ankole, Uganda, the Governor has sanc~ned the withdrawal of £11000 from the Native administration surplus to assist in buying an aeroplane which will represent Uganda in the Royal Air Force. Lord Beaverbrook has thanked the Government of the StrDits Settlements for a gift of money to purchase a modern and powerful fighter which will be named as the Federated Malay States War Fund may suggest. In a message to the Editor of the ri Times of Ceylon", Lord Beaverbrook expresses appreciation of a third munificent offering ·which will make possible the purchase of a third modern fighter aeroplane. This will bear a distinctive name, and will display ~ Ceylon1 s fighting spirit in the forefront of the battle, Kenya1s £10 ,000. Lord Lloyd has sent a message to the Governor of Kenya expressing gratituc1e for the first contribution of £10 ,OOO from the Kenya Central War Fund. Patriotism of CYJ?rus. Cyprus has extended the age limits for volunteers to cover all between 18 and 42. Over S-,ooo.Cypriots have applied for enlistn¥;)nt, and more than 2,500 are serving in the Cyprus Reg:iment. A vol'Wlteer force will assist the mHitary and police in the derenoe of the island. A f ·.ma. for purchasing a fighter plane for the Royal Air Force, opened by the Editor of the "Cyprus Post" has alruady 'yielded £1,000. A casualty hospital is beil:ig established-in Nicosia. Domifiions & Colonial Offices, J?ress Se_cti~!h. M. o.;n 2. AID FOR THE LONDON PHIIHARMONIC ORCHESTRA. All possible assistance to save the London Philharmonic Orchostra is being given by the Co'Wloil for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts. The Council, from funds provided. by the Pilgrim Trust and the Government, has guaranteed grants for ten concerts in the provinces. Six have already been given and a further series in the Binningham di~triot is now being arranged. It is hoped that by working from a provincial centre instead of from London it will be possible to give more th.an the four remaining concerts, and that such towns as N\m.eaton, Walsall, West Bromwich, Kiddem.inster, Stourbridge and Dudley will be covered. --Board of Education .M.~.c?.~I.3. MORE TRACTOR DRIVE...T-\S W.ANTIID FOR THE LAND So that all possible progress may be made before the •linter with pre1,arations for the 1941 crops, many additional tractor drivers will be needed for land work during the next two or three months. Arrangements for training recruits, and for placing them later on in suitable employment, are in the hands of the County War Agricultural Executive Committees. Persons wishing to offer their services for this work of national importance should connnunicate as soon as possible with the Zxecutive Committee for their county ---Minis}iry of Agriculture. M.o.I.5. LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION The Minister of Agriculture announced in his broadcast on 29th June the in­ tention to set up an expert Committee to consider war-time livestock production problems. The Committee held its first meeting on 11th July. The membera of the Conmtlttee are : - Jpint Parliamentary Secretary to The Right Honourl.}ble Lord)Meyne, D.s.o. lChairman tile Ministry of Agrlculture Prof. A.W• Ashby, M.A. Professor of Agricultural Economics University College of Wales, Aberystwyth. Mr. A.I. Eastwood. London Wholesale Meat Trade Supervisor of the Ministry of Food. Mr. G. Gibbard Chainnan of the Livestook Conunittee, National Fanners' Union of England and Wales Mr. W. Graham President, National Fanners' Union and Chamber of Agriculture for Scotland Mr. John Hai!IIIlond, Animal Nutrition Research Institute M.A. D.Sc., F.R.S. Caril1)ridge University. N Mr. J. Mackintosh, O.B.E. National Institute for Research in 0 D.A., N.D.D. Dairying, Reading University. Principal W.G.R. Paterson, Principal, West of Scotland O.B.E., B0 Sc., N.D.A, Agricultural College. Mr. T. Peacock, J.P. President of the National Fanners' Union of' England and Wales. 1..fr. vr.J. Reid. Member of the Scottish Agricultural Advisory Council. The Secretary of the Committee is :Mr. H. Garaner of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. ~stri of ~riculture M.o.I.6. THIS ITEM IS Nor TO BE PUBLISHED OR BROADCAST IN .ANY WAY BEFORE FRIDAY 12th JULY. HELP FOR FIELD DR..l\mAGE As foreshaddlwed in his 1Jroadcast on June 2, the Minister of Agriculture has now MoooI. News Bulletin No.28 -Page3. announced. a,new scheme of financial assistance for field drainage to be administered by County 'flar Agricultural Executive Committees in England and Wales. " Grants for mc:ile drainage are already available, and the new scheme has been launched to assist owners and occupiers of agricultural land to recondition or carry out other recognised and approved forms of field drainage, with the object of bringing land into effective cultivation for the 1%..1 harvest at the latest. The rate of grant will be 50 per cent~ of the net cost, with a maximum grant of £7.10. per acre benefited by the worko This overriding maximum may be \vaived by the Minister when the Wa.= Agricultural Executive Committee concerned certifies that the circumstances are exceptional, e.g. because of the heavy nature of the land the number of drains required. is above the average; or that the land i s inherently above the average for food production when properly drained.. Ministry of Agriculture. M~o.I.7. The Controller of the Anglo-Italian Clearing Office announces that on the 10th June, 1940, when distribution by the Clearing Office ceased, payments had been made to United Kingdom creditors in respect of lire deposits made on the following dates:­ Sterling Arrears Account "A" 18th May, 1 940. Sterling Coal Sub-Account 22nd March, 1940. Sterling Sub-Account "D" 1st April, 1940. (Goods) Board of Trade. M.o.I.8. COMPANIES ACT. 1939: LIQUIDATORS ON WAR SERVICE. (1) A Defence Regulation has been made on behalf of the Board of Trade providing that the functions of a liquidator of a company appointed under the Companies Act, 1939, may at any time while he is engaged in war service be exercised by any person authorised. by him by power of attorneyo The following requirements must, however, be complied with:­ (a) the consent of the Board of Trade in vrriting must be given in each case. (b) there must be filed with the Registrar of Companies ­ (i) the instrument creating the power of attorney authorising the deputy or a copy verified by an affidavit sworn by the liquidator or the deputy, amd. (ii) the document signifying the consent of the Board of Trade; .) (c) .where the liquidator was appointed by the court in England, the deputy must have given security to the satisfaction of the Board of Trade. (d) Where the liquidator was appointed by the court in Scotland, the deputy must have made application to the court on the question of security and either have given security in accordance with the court's determination or court has dispensed with the giving of security. (2) By another Regulation, designed to save paper and clerical labour, it becomes unnecessary for the annual return of a company to be contained in the register of members, as hitherto required by Section 110 of the Act, but the return will still have to be forwarded to the Registrar of Companies as provided in that Section. Board of Trade.~ ANTI-RUMOUR CAMPAIGN Tomorrow, Friday, tTuly 12th, the Ministry of Information, on behalf of the Government, is eoins to launch an ureent and intensive campaign to organise every man, woman and child of this country into a Silent Column -a column pledged to kill rumour, st indiscreet talk and to mobilise itself against depressi ng and defeatist conversation. It is ho~ed by using every weapon of ­modern publicity5 to succee0. quickly in all these objectives with the full co-operation of everyone. The advertisement columns of the newsr1a9ers and periodicals , posters of every sort, BoB.C~ Talks and dramatised proe;rammes and broadcasts to the schools, will all ··)e used to the maximum; i;chatt er boxes 11 wi1'1 be 2.'ut up in Clubs, hotels, homes, etc" and into them people who offend will be invited to ·put contributions t o charity. The three enemies the Silent Column is e:oinr;: to fir ht are: -­ 1. Rumour, -information which may be completely faJ.se or only partly true, which tends to cause coi.1fus ion in the minds of the civilian Donul ation. Surh rumour may be -and often is -stai--.ted. 1;y the enemy and :Ln the event of invas ion could add very greatly to the difficulties of the militaryu 2., Gossip -which is usually i1111(_,cent "but at the so.me time passes into circulation military informatio~ which may reach the encmyo 3. Depressing and defeatist talk, some of v1hj_ ch is probably inspiredo These three are the deadliest propar;anda weapons in the enomy's hands, They can !:d3 ma6e useless onl y .by the full co·-operation of the l)Ublic. The Government is certain thnt this co-oucration will gladl~r be given once the }mblic is airrare of v1lrn.t it has to do~ It is hoped that the puolic will malrn a fresh r'csolution --nlthou9."h a difficult resolution -to become Silent Soldiers, MINISTRY OF INFORMATION , 11/7/40 No. 5. PRISONERS OF WAR. Following is the l atest list of British prisoners of viar in German hands, as broadcast by GerE1an radio: ­ David AJ.....LEN, born 7th April, 1914, 2, Llartin Terrace, Haddon Place, Leeds, 4. John CURREY, born 20th November , 1914; 50, Pollokshields Road, Glasgow.Arthur Charles ~UillD, born 13th December; 1900. Kirkee, The Avenue, Camberley, Surrey.William.HANSON, born 20th April, 1918, Gondove Avenue, Moss Lane, Orwell Parl{, Liverpool. Frederick Jarnes HARDING, born 2nd November, 1917, 118, Corryhurst (?) Street, 11anchester, John. Robert TYREl't1J-\N, born 30th October, 1918, · 9, Maglin Street, North Ormsby, Middlesbrough.Frederick PIERPOINT, born 22nd June, 1918, 26, The Whard, Ironbridge, Snlop. Herbert Ellis JACKSON, born 8th October, 1918, 8, \!aldcar Roac~ , Hull , Yorlrn. No. 7. The Ministry of Home Security announces:- Durine: the ni:--:ht bombs were dropped in a number of' scattered points in the eastern and south-eastern counties and in the Midlands. No casualties were reported except a small number in t wo East Coast tov:ns, of which ·a few were fatal. Slici.·ht damae;e of no military im9ortance was caused. MINISTRY OF HOME SECURITY 11/7/40 ... No •.a. REF: Air Ministry Bulletin No.1082 (Casualty Communique No.-38;-IssueNo.4 of toaay). ­ Please note the following oorJ?ection: ~1aer·heading "Missing". Delete: McPherson 581188 sergt.. B •. n •. Morley 40412 Pilot Officer S.B. Reavell-~ter 76017 Pilot Offioer L. AIR MINISTRY ll_1~lf.·40. -No. 12. CHAUFFEURS AND CHAUFFEUR-MECHANICS. The Minister of Lc.bour and National Service appeals .to private employers to consider whether they could not release their chauffeurs or chauffeur-mechanics for vital war work in a!'Illrunent factories. These men should be able readily to adapt themselves to such work~ especially after a period o~ training in.a:· Government training centre or "on the.job" in an employer's works. ·· Employers are asked to discuss the matter with their chauf'feurs and chauffeur-mechanics. Such men UD are willing and can be released should be advised to register at their nearest Employment Exchange where they will be considered either for direct emplo~nent if suitable, or for a course of training. It is the desire of the l.Iinister that the men should remain in their present jobs until the Exchange is ready to place them on Government work or in training. MINISTRY OF LABOUR .AND NATION.AL SERVICE, S. V/. l. -~~-I 11/7L4o. -. ~o. 1~ ~--.]"OTICE The arrangements announced on the 22nd June, 1940 whereby persons coming from France were given facilities to produce and a.eclare to banks authorised to deal in foreign exchange all the French bank notes· in their possession, viith a view to their exchange for sterling, will shortly be withdrawn. On and after the 18th Jul;'.l, exchange facilities will only be granted for holdings re?isterod with a bank on or before that date, vdth a limit of £10 ~say francs 1765) per :person per week. T:::.s concession applies only to the French bank notes held b;y private individuals, and does not extend to business funds, TREASURY CHAMBERS, s.w•"J..,!__ 11/7/40. ·-No~-· 14.­ P RE·S S N 0 T ·I 0 E On the invitation of Mr• . Morgenthau the Sec!'etary of the United States Treasury, Sir Frederiek Phillips, an · Under Secretary of the British Treasury, will shortly arrive in Washington for a visit. This meeting will provide .occasion for a discussion of technical and other questions between the 1-unerican and .British Treasuries. It will be recalled that Sir Frederick Phillips visited Mr~ Morgenthau in Washington du~ing the autumri bf 1937. TREASURY Ei[ ht~r-tvvo Shi:ns Sho.:0in:; in thG Doclcyo.rds. The buildinc of ci:,hty-two shi:9s for the Ro:ro.l Canadian Navy is movina at sixteen shi~yards in Canada. The vessels are pqrt of a £10,000, 000 two year proc:ranune to construct a hundred shipo. V!hile it can be said. that three r;eneral ty};es of vcssola are beinc; built, their classificB.tion and dates of commissioninz must remain secret. One J;)rol::>lem in follovlinc; the s:?eci:fications of the British Admiralty has been to find allowable substitutes for some of the indicated material. A comi)letely new line of electrical fittinc:s, for example, has been develo1;ied with the hel}_) of Canadian manufac­turer•s, while steel ]/late s::;ecifications have been altcred to suit manufacturinc ylants. Canadi an industr~r anc..1 l al)our, skilled and unskilled, is risinc to the emerc:ency. Usinr.: Em:9ire material throuchout, the workers are makinc: strenuous efforts to corn2:il et e thG shi}_')S in record time. Commander A.C.tl. Davy-, n.o:-o.l Cano.dian Navy, the Director of Shi11buildinc in Canacla ~ V:!ho i s su2:iervisin2 the !JuilclinB of this new fleet, joined the Service in 1917, and has ser ved in the Mediterranean and with the Home Fleet o He was for a :?erioc1 in the "Ramillies" and in destro~rers of the Royal Navy. DOtlI NI ONS AND COI.ONiii.L OFFICES. r.1~:rrfi:s):9.:ffolf:--------------------~ 11/U4o -Ro, 19.. MINISTRY OF FOOD ANNOUNCEMENT. Tea Rationing. Information has reached the Ministry of Food that in some partecf the country retailers are selling tea in quantities above the ration of two ounces per week and without extracting the neces5ary coupons from the ration books. It is pointed out that the rationing of tea is governed by the Tea (Rationing) Order, 1940, which came into force on 9th July and byDirections under the Rationing Order which came into force on 8th July. It is accordingly now an offence "to obtain or supply" tea in quantities in excess of the ration. It is also an offence to obtain tea from the retailer except in exchange for the appropriate coµponfrom the ration book. Both the retailer and the customer are liable to prosecution for such offences. MINISTRY OF FOOD, _11/7/40 -' No.21. MINISTRY OF HONIE SEC)JRITY CON!i'tlUNIQUE Eriemy aircraft this morning dropped bombs on the east coast. A railway siding was hit and several persons were killed. SoTie damage vms also done in a sraall tovm in the Midlands where casualties i;;rere caused to children by flying glass and a few persons were kil].ed. MTIUSTRY OF HOME SECURITY 11/U4Q• .. No• 22. P R E 8 S N 0 T I C E. The following communication has been made by General Weygand on behalf of the French Ministry of Finance, to the French Delegation on the Armistice Commission in Wiesbaden: German Control of Foreign Exchange in France. The Ministry of Finance draws the attention of the French Uelegation to the following text of a circular dated June 14th from ihe Devisenschutzkommando in France: "To the Societe Generale, 29 Boulevard Haussmann, Paris. The Devisenschutzkorrnnando in France will take over in that part of France occupied by German troops the control of foreign exchange, and all Banks including branches and agencies in Paris and in the department of the Seine will be required to submit a statement of their position on the 14th June, 1940, as follows:­ (a) Foreign exchange excluding Reichsrnarks, Dutch crowns, Belgian francs, Danish and Norwegian crowns, zloty. (b) Gold, currency of all kinds, scrap and bar gold. (c) Securities, shares and foreign bonds. (d) French securities payable in foreign cuITency. Such securities not to include those payable in Reiohsmarks, Dutch crowns, Belgian francs, Danish and l:lorwegian crowns, zloty, in the form of foreign assets in foreign banks and credit establishments. (f) Securities in the form of foreign assets, with the exception of those mentioned in paragraph (a). (g) Precious stones, rough or unset diamonds. (h) Bank notes in Reichsmarks. Until further instructions it is forbidden to dispose of all securities mentioned in paragraph 'I • Private safes in banks belonging to all clients are to be closed and are not to be opened. except in the presence of the Devisenschutzkormnando ~France, The date on which these safes are to be opened will be decided by the ~ohutzkommartlo 'by arrangement with the Bank in question, which is to submit to the former a statement in triplicate of the securities mentioned by name,. in francs, up to the 5th July, 1940, together with a list in triplicate up to the same date of all clients having a safe either at the Head Office of the Bank or at any branches or offices. This list is to contain:­ The name of the client His address where known to the Bank, and the date on which he last paid a visit to it. Any infringement of this regulation will be punished. (Signed) HARTMANN" ...... The Ministry of Finance maintains that this text is contrary to the clause of the armistice which stipulates that the French Government is to retain the administration of the occupied territories. It is necessary therefore to ascertain whether the above instructions have been rescinded since the 25th June. If this is not so, it will be necessary to ask for them to be rescinded at the earliest possible moment. Please note that since the departure of the Government from Bordeaux, the attached circular will presumably have been comnrunicated to the Banks from the date of the occupation. Signed: WEYGAND WREIGN OFFICE NEWS DEPARTMENT. l _l/7/4-0 -NO. 23 PRESS NOTICE A Pan-American Conference has been called by the UoS• Government to meet at Havana on July 2Gtho This Conference will deal among other things with the economic problem concerning surplus production in the American States. This problem existed before the warp but has been accentuated by the effects of' the wa:r. Similar problems have arisen for similar reasons in British and other colonial territorieso The proceedings of the Havana Conference on this subject will therefore be of interest to the British Empire; and we are anxious to see whether we can co-operate in the study of any possible solutions of these problems. H.M~ Ambassador at Washington has accordingly enquired of the U.S. Government as convener of the Conferencep regarding the scope of their proposals on this subjecto Our interest in the Conferences is primarily economic, but we are also interested from the point of view of the blockade in preventing supplies finding their way directly or indirectly to Germany or Italyp or to countries in German occu.pationc Reports have sometimes bracketed Japan with Germany and Italy in connection vrith our blockade v but such reports are erroneous, since Japan is a neutral country,, and so long as she remains neutral we have no intention of interfering wiT.;h her legitimate trade. The Havana Conference , of course, is in no way concerned wi.th any of these blockade questions r but will presumably take into account the facts of the war situation~ Shipments from the .Americans if 'destined for enemy or enemy-occupied countries will be interoepted by our contraband control; or if destined for a harmless neutral consignee can be facilitated by adoption of the nav:tcert system, In the face of the ruthless German blockade of the United Kingdom~ it will not be ;'...;'.'.' us to relax any of our biockade measures v but rather to persevere vrith them to the utmost, believing that any r e}.axation would serve to l engthen the waro MINISTRY OF ECONOMIC WARF.ARE --~------..---~ To be, checked against~_,ive~.!. 11/7/40 No.24. Not for publication before 9.15 p.m.this ,(T,hursday) eveni,n.g_o --·~"­ Broadcast speech, as a Postscript to the Nevra 1 by the M"inister of Infoiination, the Rt. Hon. A. Duf'f 0ooper at approximately 9,15 p.mo, 11th July, 1940. ' RUMOUR -~ Evetjrb~yvrants to help to win the vvar and lots of people are asking every day ·what more they can do for the great cause. '>,/ I am going to tell you tonight of something you can do; of away in which you can definitely_reJ;lO.er important service to your country, and I am afraid you will be disappointed when you have heard what it is, because it is nothing brave, nothing heroic, nothing dangerous, and it is negative rather than positive. You won't ~ave to -.,~ear u:iiform, you won't have to carry a weapon, you won't have to get up at inconvenient hours; you won't have to be trained, or perhaps I should say, you will have to train yourselves. What I want you to do is to watch your words to be careful what you say, and to encourage others to be careful._ ' The first time that I spoke on the Radio after taking up my present office, I warned you about rumour, and told you that rumour was one of the enemies we had got to fight, a:r:id I want you now to join an :imaginary regd.ment, the Silent Column, ­composed of men and women who are resolved to say nothing that can help the enemy. There· are three different kinds of dangerous talk: first of a:ll, there is the_ ­·talk that is depressing; those who spread gloom and despondency clo definite harm; they o.re hurting the cause; they are delaying the victory; they are enemies ­unintentional enemies probably, but enemies of our side. Do not be one of them, and when you meet one of them, stop him, cheer him up. If you cannot cheer him · up, tell him what you think of him and don"t mind being· rude. Gloom is one of our enemies -fight against it. The other two kinds of dangerous talk are those that give infonnation -true infonnation or false. True information may help the enemy, false information may hiz:ider ourselves. It is not .an easy task I am asking you to perfonn~ .After a long day's work, or in the intervals of it, when we get together for a moment of relaxation or refreshment, we all want to talk, and naturally, and we cannot talk about muoh except the war, If we have got a piece of information, we love to give it, even though it may only be that one of our friends or relations who is serving in a certain ship in the Navy, or in a certain regiment in the Anny, or in a certain sqµadron of the Air Force, has recently been moved from one locality to another. It really does not seem a matter of much importance to anybody, but there may be ears listening which are not friendly ears, or the information that you have just given may be repeated with the best intentions by one of your hearers on another occasion and eventually reach those whose business it is to carry infonnation to the .enenw, and it is out of little scraps of information of this sort,__carefully pieced together that a whole picture is constructed by those who are engaged in nothing el~~ but in finding out just how our resources are distributed, where is our strength, and where our weakness. It is a vast jig­saw puzzle that they arc engaged in putting together and the smallest piece of it may prove invaluable to buil..iling up -~he whole. (Over) ... .. " .... :~.:'-·~ · · ··­ ,. _, .......-.... -2 ­ In the last war, raids ·were frequently made on the enemy's trenches with the sole object of finding out what regiment was holding them. l:Ien1s lives were risked to get these little items of information which are sometimes so carelessly throvm away. The some is true about information concerning air .raids. I think"s'ome people are ~isappo~nted 'that ::ruller accotmts ?,re not given in.the Press as to where bor,ibs have'fa:llen and how many people wcr~ hiirt, but unfortunately the enemy read our Press, the enemy listen to our broadcasts an.a_ nothing that is printed or said escapes the eyes and the ears of the enemy. . The enemy airn10.n on· his retu:rn qan be uncertain as· to ·whether he dropped his bombs on Barchester or ·ni:: Cranfbrd, If we tell him which it was, he will know· for another time and if.we ·tel1 },,j_;~: how r;filny people' were hurt, we may be sure he ·will .be delighted tp hen!r it. We do . noc Y/:_ :~.' : . i;o J::ielp·hir.1. and we do not want ~o give him pleasure. " That is why these things are not stated in the Press and that is.v1hy you should try.to: avoid stating the1n in conversation, especially in conversation on t.he telephone, to which thousands of· · people may be li$t.eni:r:ig.. ·.... ··· So muc~· for the danger of spreading true reports., but spreadi·:ri.g fals·e reports may be equally d<;lngerous and. it is a weapon of vrhich. the ·Germa.ns have made ' great use in the present war. Here is an example during the fight:ing in Frande. On one · oefoas!ion vrhen ci~r troops were i1~ _a strong position to ·n'leet the enemy advance, a parachutist was dropped, b ~hi!ld :the lines and;. spreo.d the .rumoui' that the British were s\irroUnd.'.ea·. · He: was peli~ved, .arid in a few hours the roads were so blocked with . refugees that military supplies and reinforcements c,ould not reach our advanced post, .and our r,1en weire cut off because they were surrounded, not by the enemy, but by the unfortunate refugees who had been driven from their horaes by a false rumour. If the Germans invo.de this country you rnay be sure they will make every use of this particular method .o.nd we must make up our ninds not to believe anything that we are 'told on·::rtlere hearsay; to keep calr.l and resolute and to do what we know to be our duty, or else to await instructions from those in authority. Join ·with me the ranks of the Silent Column, imposing discretion on ourselves and on all the people whom we meet. Be silent rather than say anything dcpressinr:;; 'he silent rather than say anything which could give infort,1ation to the enemy; be silent rather than spread a rumour which you do not ·knew· to be true, ·but otherwise talk as you vvill ~. talk of vict_ory. -. talk of the grand :