Fri~.i.2~e_13L. i 941 _ MI N ISTRY OF INFORMATION NEWS BULLETIN N0.)+.1.J_ RATIONS IN BELGIUM The following extract of a letter dated :tvfay 13, from occupied Belgium gives an idea of the conditions in that country. "•••••• I have received a parcel of coffee, which gave me .great pleasure. I had had no coffee since October, the price of this product is 150 frs. per Kii.J.o~., We are not yet starving, but in certain regions of the country, the situation is really very serious. "Chocolates are at "f/,O to 80 frs. per Kgrs. coffee 150 frs,, tea 675, butter and cocoa 100, these are the black-market prices. The butter ration is 250 grammes per person, per month; at 35 frs. per Kilo. Coffee, tea and cocoa are only available on the black-market. The meat ration is 400 grs. per fortnight, fer two people, at 14 frs. per Kilo. On the black-market, the price of meat is 75 frs. per Kilo. Oatmeal and semolina 30 to 34 frso on the black-market, the official ration is 100 grammes per person per month, at 8 frs. per Ki:}.o. 11You can well realise that with these rations alone we would have to tighten our belts, and yet some people have nothing else~ last month, we had no potatoes and have had. none this month up to now. In Brussels and Charleroi, the price of butter is 140 frs. per Kilo1 potatoes 15 ftl'.'s." Ministry of Information M~o.I. 1. UNWANTED ORNAMENTS Several Norvvegian hospitals and schools which are occupied by German troops have been fined by the German Security Police because they refused to decorate their walls with pictures of Hitler or had damaged or destroyed pictures of Hitler already there. At the last meeting of the Bergen Town Council it was stated that Haukaland Hospital had been fined 1000 kroner because a protrait of Hitler was damaged ·in the German section of the Hospita],. -FromnDie Zeitung", the anti-Nazi newspaper published in London. Ministry of Infonnation M.o.I. 2. MUSIC IN TEE PARKS. H.M.OaJ.dstream Guard.st Band will play in Hyde Park (7.30-9.30 porn.) H.M.Scots Guards' Band in Green Park (5.30-7.30 p.m.), and the Hanwell Silver Band in Regent's Park (6.30-8.30 p.m.) on Sunday, J\me 15. During the week the Enfield Central Band (June 16-18) vvill share the evening Hyde Park programme -7.30-9.30 -with the Wood Green Excelsior Silver Prize Band (.June 19-21). 1Vfinistry of Works. Moo.I.3. THE KING'S BIRTHDAY MESSAGES FROM TEE COLONIES. Messages of loyalty and congratulation on the King's Birthday have been received from the following Colonial Dependencies: The Governor of Hong Kong: 11 GraJceful if you will convey to His Majesty King George loyal and hearty congratulations and goad wishes of all communities at Honk Kong on· the occasion of his birthday." The Acting British Resident, Zanzibar: 11 0n behalf of myself, the Officers of the Zanzibar Government and t~ British Community, please convey with humble duty an heartfe:~-expression of steadfast loyalty and deep devotion to His :tvfajesty on the occasion of the celebrations of his birthday.-A The Acting British Resident, Zanzibar: 11The British Indian Community in Zanzibar presents with humble duty their heartfelt con~ratulations to His Majesty on the occasion of the celebration of his birthday and express /their ' ' ~ · ··-.-....---~ -~ ~!.,.,~.--......-~~ ,,r;._,.... _.~ ~··..· · ~ ~"""""'"·--· ..Jo"··-......._..,, ..... ........ Jl.1.. o. Io Nevvs Bulletin No.4-11 --------------~ Page 2. loyal and deep devotion to their I\/Tajosties 1 persons an9-throne. 11 The Governor of the Windward Islands: "V\Ti th my humble duty to the King and c:;n behalf of the Colonies of the V'iindward Islands, I beg to sub¢t i;iost sincere good wishes on tho occasion of Your 11/!D.jesty' s birthday. 11 The Ex-Servicemen's Association of British Honduras: "As firm as a rock is our faith in His i\'fajesty and the throne and we send greetings on the anniversary of His Ma.jesty's birthday and pray for his long life to reign over us. We are united and consolidated in the effort to preserve democracy from the tyranny of the en&rrw. ff The Governor of the Straits Settlements: 11 0n behalf of the Rulers of the '1Ta.lay States and of the people of ~,Ta.laya, I ask you to convey to His Ma. jesty the King our hearty congratulations on his birthday. We watch with pride the heroic achievements of the people of Britaina We shall continue to do all in our riower to contribute to the cornmon cause and to perfect our own defences. we assure His Ma.jesty of our steadfast loyalty and unity of purpose and h&ctrt for fighting until victory is achieved." The Acting British Resident, Zanzibar: "His Highness the Aga Khan's Ismailia Khoja community on the occasion of His Majesty's birthday tender their most sincere congrat11lations and an e:iq:iression of uriswerving loyalty and their prayers for his long life and prosperity." Colonial Offi0e I'"J;ARS Sect.ion. -M. o_.f.~ ~ ­ OTTAWA WOMEN GIVE C.ANTEEN FOR ---~ciTTAWA--TRbOP~f IN BRI1'J,."J:N ----------·--------­ The Ottawa Women's Canadian Club has presented a mobile canteen to the Canadian Y.M.C.A. to be used in the area in this country where Ottawa troops arc stationed. Tho canteen has been handed over to the Y.M.C.A. by the Canadian Womenrs Clnh in London. Ministry of Information W~ o.I; 5. 13/6/41, No& AIR MI NISTRY & MINISTRY OJ,1 HOME SECURITY COMM~"NIQUE. -·e-__,.,...­ During the night, a small number of enemy aircraft flew inland, mostly over parts of eastern England. A few bombs vve re dropped but no damage or casualties have been reported. One enemy air-craft wz,_s destroyed during the night. The destruction of an enemy bomber during the night 10/11 June (Tuesd~y/\IVednesday) has now been confirmed, 13.6.41.· -No. 3. .Air Ministry News Service. Air Ministry Bulletin No. 4133a VOLUNTEERS FOR DEFENCE OF AERODROMES. Several thousand volunteers are required :immediately for the defence of new R.A.F.. stations, aerodromes and establishments now. being bro.ught into ~se in all parts of the country. Their duties are the garrison defence of the aerod.romeor establishment involving training for active military operations in an environment of many interests. They will be trained in a variety of weapons, including light anti­aircraft weapons, machine-guns and rifles. Enlistment ages are from 18 to 38, but ex-service men will be accepted up to 50 years of age. Pay is at the rate of 2/6 per day. In the case of ex-service men the pay is 3/3 per day for those with one year1 s experience and 3/6 per day for those having two or more years1 experience• All food, acconunodation, clothing and equipment is provided and there are good opportunities for promotion. Applications should in the first instance be made .to a combined recruiting centre, the address of which may be obtained from any employment exchange. _.:U...._.i....... __ ~ ~_4l No. The number of American special correspondents in Germany has now been reduced to tvvo. Following the exam9le of the New York "Herald Tribune",. whose r epr esentatives, Russell Hill and the late Ralph Barnes, were orclered to leave Germany last year, the Chicago 11Daily News" has closed its Berlin.office. . · Its correspondent, David M. Nicholl, departed for Berne a few· days ago. He was accompanied by the former Berlin correspondents for the American magazines nTime" and 11Life11 , Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Laird. They were entrusted by its author 1vith the manuscript of P.G. Wodehouse 1s nevv book 11Money in the Bank". 'r.he Lairds met IV.Ir•. Y!odehouse recently in the German internment camp of vrhich h.e has for some time been an inmate~ and he asked them to take his manuscript to a publis¥ng house in New· York. The only special correspondent of American n~wspapers now left in Berlin is the representative of the "NeYr York Times~ / Practically every leading newspaper and all the new·s agencies have staffs and special correspondents in London. J!I;INISTRY OF I_NF..QRMATION. _13......./_6/~4_1,__ __ N o. __§_. MINISTRY OF.JiOMI8 Sl~9URITY COMMmnn,UE Later reports state that at a town in East Anglia there were a small number of casu alties, some of which were fatal. ---000---MilHSTRY OF HOME SECURITY ) The follovving ·air raid casualty figures for the month of May are issued today: Killed, 5,394;irrjured and detained in hospital, 5,181 Of the killed, 2, 512 vvere men, 1994 vvomen, 753 children under sixteen and 135 unclassified. Of the injured, 2,930 were men, 1,835 women and 416 children under the age of sixteen. In addition, 75 persons (31 men 25 women and 1 9 children) are missing and believed killed. MINISTRY OF HONIE SECURITY. The Army Commands throughout the country have reported to the Controller General of Economy at the Viar Office that a survey of iron railings, gates, wind.ow bars 9 boundary chains, etc., shows that several hundred. tons of this valuable raw material are available for scrapjing. This will in d.ue course be passed. to the consuming works through the Iron and Steel Control. Thus, more than 1 ,200 yards of fencing at one depot, 600 yards at another, 800 at a third, and 20 tcms of railings at a fourth, have been scheduled. for scrapping. 13. 6.41. -No. ~. CIDTHJNG FOR PRISONERS OF WAR..• Sufficient uniforms, other clothing and boots, have been despatched from this count:r:y to ensure that our prisoners of vvar are properly clothed, and it is gratifying to note that already receipts for the following have been acknowledged by various camps in Gennany:­ 716 cases of boots. 2,162 bales of undervvear. 1,157 k 1.les of uniforms. A case of boots contains 20 to 25 pairs; a bale of undervrear, ·100 vests or 100 pants; and a bale of uniforms, 50 blouses or 50 trousers. The above receipts do not incltlde next-of-kin parcels, . WAR OFFICE. ·.,_,. 13/6/U -No. 19. MR, ATrLEE AT CHESTERFIELD. The following is the text of a speech to be delivered this eveni~ at Chesterfield by the Lord Privy Seal, (TuTr. C.R. Attlee);­ Yesterday I was pres~nt at a gathering of the representatives of the European States whose countries have been overrun by Hitler, but whose people continue wherever and however possible to resist the enemy. vre, with the representatives of the Dominions, of India and of the Colonies, there pledged ourselves to continue to fight until the evil forces have been overthrovm, and then to establish conditions in Europe which will give freedom and security to all its :r;'3oples. There were present men of various races, who spoke different languages, and held different religious opinions. There were Conseryatives and Liberals and Socialists. Tnere were soldiers and civilians. But all alike were united in a common cause. !t was to me 2 very moving spectacle. These men, ourguests here, our corn=ades in the struggle, have all of them suffered. I was talking with one vvho told me of his home now occupied by Nazis. Another told me of a letter he had just received from a niece uho had manag'3d to buy at an auction some of his household gocds which the Nazis bad plundered. They have been witnesses of the cruelty and destruction wrought in their countries, They have seen their friends killed. Remember, no one of these countries had given aYJ.y cause for attack. Each had been assailed without warning, as a man walking in aj.mgle might be suddenly pulled a_ovm by a tiger. That is what the wor~d has been made by the Nazis -a jungle where no man is safe -a p1ace where no law of God or man prevails, but only brute force and greed. These little countries had done nothing ami~s. Their only fault lay in this; th.at they lived within reach of the enemy. They had not failed in courage or devotion, but only in military strength. But for our island position, we might already have shared their fate. But for the courage and devotion of our airmen, our sailors, our soldiers, our merchant seamen -yes -and of our citizens, we might now be subjected to Nazi tyranny. vre might, like them, find the only gleam of hope in our lives in a word on the radio from overseas, which vrn should listen to with the menace of death or at best imprisonment han~;n~ over us. I felt, as I listened to the speeches, how great a responsibility lies on all of us; for it is to us that they look for salvation. We have to save not ourselves alone, but others. We have to see to it that the lamps of freedom and civilisation are not extinguished here, but also that they are rekindled throughout Europe. + + + + + + + + + It is now just over a yea.,,. since, in a moment of great peril, Labour and Liberal joined with Cr,nservative under the inspiring leadership of \i!inston Churchill to ·form a G-overnment which should bring together all the elements of our national life, 1.'!hy did vrn do it? Because the country was in danger, certainly; but also because, despite the differences of view which we held, we had in common those fundamental things which unite us, which indeed enable us to differ and live and work together as citizens of the same country. /I would ·.! .. _·,_·, ,. - ~ . ' .'· ' ~ I 'Would: like you to ibink of this for a moment •.. · Hitler 1s .success. ha-$,largely been due to the disunity of others.. With damnable cleverness, the Nazis have exploited differences of race, language, politics a."ld creed in those ~cm,i.ntries which had not had a long traditJo;n of unity, such as· Jugo..:s1avia and. Rumania. i They have tried to do it but failed~ in those countries Yvhere th~' democratic tradition vras strong. Quisling has becane the name for a ·traitor, just becfl.use h~ '·w0s so exceptional in Norway. .The Nazis failed,•to find Quislings ii1 Holland~ · The one had a Labour Government, the other a Conservative;· but in both, the practfoe of qernocracy and the tradition of ·.freedom kept the nation united :in its w:i.11 to resist• ._1 < •• . . I stress thi-s point tO you this evening, not because I fear any aj.;sun±ty in this. country, 'but to remind you that real national unity springs from the. things ~Yhi_ch 'I-Ye. have in: common; and that the greater that common interest, the stronger the nation in peace as well as in war. It is just because in this country all enjoy freedan of speech, freedom of conscience and :the right to choose and chf).nge our Governments, . that 1-..re are unit.ed.. · · ' · ...:~ ;j' ·1 : -J . i~ :.~ 1.1 .. We-are far stronger than we were a hundred yea-rs ago, because through extended education our national heritage of culture has been throvm open tp th$. many. Our social services; which have raised the standard of .life• of bur people and i_nc;r-eased social security, have strengthened this nation to meet and overcome th~ ord61al· r th,rotigh which we are passing~ : The· sharing ..of adversity may bring about a . . .. teinp<:=>rary unity, bµt it is the shasing of prosperity vihich really;.um~es a peopl·e. ·.If what I have said about the foundations of unity is true abo,ut a nation, it is also true of the civilisation of. which. nations form .a ·part ~ The continent: of Europe has .falle~ before Hit·ler beca:use qf its disunity; · By 'playing on the· .·· rivaldes and j.eal9usies of the natic;ms, he .has d~vided tii:em and devoured them in detail. 'l:here vv'Cl.S not enough r ealisation of the common interest, o:f. all in OUr civilisation, to overcome these sectional .1:1mbitionsand f©§rs. ·. Had Europe been united in spirit, ,the Nazi monster would have been strangled 8:t birt.h. . A..sense of conunon cTu.ngermight have united .all, but it was not real,~sed.. · There 1'vas lacking that unity which comes f;om ;_ .·sharing o{ prospe~:i-ty.-: N~z,ism arose out of .the hunger and poverty of Europe. , The evil crop·whicl:l. ripeneQ.Und signifia·ance~ ·t ·o the yvprld. ,-.}::·. ·In the. f:i,rst place1 they mhke crystal clear the iss~e betwe.en us and. the Nazis. The·. aim of.. the ·Nn.ziS ·is to errsln.ve all the peoples. of' Europe, who ·are to be the me:t'e in.struments of the Gcrm·inis, the-Herrenfolk, the mn.ster clD.ss. Just as everyone in Gorr,1any r:mst servo the ambition of the FUhrer; ·so all other peoples ,in the world are to he Dere· he-rrcrs of ·wood and drn.wers of' .i.vn.ter for· the Ge.n:1mns. This is an ir.-:rperialisE1 beyond n.nything ever drenmed of before. It is the·madness of megn.lomania. · · · To this we oppose the democrn.tic ideal, \vhereby we see the i.;rorld as a .cornmunity of nations, differing in their g_ualities but mi.itcd in a cor1ity of nations, like the citizens of a tovm, but recognizing each' other's right_s and :,>'.l.Jii.itirig· for co:rxm~on purposes. . . ,¥.: :tn the $econd place, these decla:b:i.tions set out-the n.ir!l of the 'new wor1r., which we seek to build, to be the so.fet:V and secUrity not of one person; one Class or one nation, bi.it of all. A security not only from fear of Violenc<,';, .but. from .fear of vmn-:;. The shepherd must sec r.nt. only that the flbck is .protected from the wolves, bti,t thn.t every lamb is fed and cared ~or... · · .',. In the third place, the.se a.eclarations _link tog~ther. th~. economic h13n.lth_ of nations with the economic health of individuals in en.ch nation"' If we wish. to · :t'ealise our ideal for the world,. ~vemust sec to it that we realise it at hprne. ' \T::; may differ as -00 ·the exact way ih vm.ich this ls t9 ,be achieved. It is not possible here 8.nd how to lay down in detail. an exact plan of the nevv world which v-re desire. ·Its achievement does riot d.epend on ourselves alone. It : is no.t for U,s> tp imitate the Nazis o.rid seek to impose upon others a strait ja.cket of oi.ir. own devising. But I believe that unity of aim and principle will lead to--unity of action. . ' ~ ~ .. Vie a:.re, even in the "midst of vmX.., tryi:n.g·tci build.. up ~ocial, seci.tjty for all our people. The provision made for the sufferers from war casualties arid wn.r drunage, the changes in rates of benefits in the various vategories of social insurance, and the abolition of the household meo.ns test1 are .all devi~ed to thi.s end. The stcibilisation of the price of the principal foodstuffs ·is another 1nE':3thod we have employed. We are at vyqrk nqw planning .for the future peace, even while we are orgariising the country for war. · · I have spoken to you of the effort which v~ll be needed to attain victory. No ~ less effort vdll be needed to s·ecure an enduring peace. It will require the work and co.:.operation of. all, and a resolute determination to see ·to it that the · sectional inter:ests shall 'not l)e allovred tQ., defeat .the national .will. Ab.ove all, it will need vision. We must not en.st our' eyes back to a worldt that has passed . away, ._but forvmrd to a future in which the best of the ,old shall t.ake its place in the .new and peaceful civ'ilisation, .which wi~l Wipe ;mvay all traces of the filthy Nazi barbarism which aff'licts the world toda:y.. ' · l\