12.8.41. - Air Ministry No. 4734 AIR MINISTRY AND MINISTRY OF HOME SECURITY COMMUNIQUE Oneenemy aircraft flew for a short distance over the south west coast last night. No bombs were dropped. .1 o N 12/8/41 - No. 3 FIRST-AID REPAIRS TO DAMAGED HOUSES, MINISTER CONGRATULATES LOCAL AUTHORITIES "When the full story can he told, the work of local authorities in carrying out first-aid repairs damaged houses will he comparable with to the finest efforts that have been made during the war”, says the Minister of Health (Mr. Ernest Brown) in the circular to all local authorities. The circular explains the provisions of two amending Acts which have recently received the Royal Assent. first, Repair The Damage the of War Act, regularises the action taken by local authorities, in the national interest, in the speedy execution of first-aid repairs. The second, the Landlord and Tenant (War Damage) Amendment Act, places on local authorities the duty of certifying whether a damaged house has been made fit to such an extent that the full rent becomes payable. The Minister asks local authorities to continue to make allpossible improvements in their schemes, in readiness for a renewal of heavy air raids. He stresses particularly the importance of extending and perfecting the mutual plans,assistance worked out in details with neighbouring councils, which have already been made by most local authorities. If still further reinforcements are needed, they can he obtained through the special repair service of the Ministry of Works and Buildings. Mr. Brown adds that it has not yet been possible to sanction more permanent repairs to damaged houses save in exceptional cases; but as the arrears of first-aid repair work have been overtaken in most cases, he hopes that it will he possible to undertake an increasing amount of permanent repairs. Landlord and Tenant Act The local authority’s decision whether a certificate should he issued that a house is fit under the new Landlord and Tenant Act will usually he taken hy comparison with the standard of repairs which the authority have been able reach throughout their area. to That standard must, however, he improved in every way as circumstances permit. MINISTRY OF HEALTH 12.8.41 - No.11, NOT FOR PUBLICATION BEFORE 3.30 P.M. TUESDAY, AUGUST 12, 1941 The Cheltenham Local Education Authority were congratulated on a record of progress and progressiveness by Mr. Butler, President of the Board of Education, when he opened the new Waddon Senior School to-day (Tuesday). Mr. Butler said that in war-time education was sometimes regarded as one of the Cinderellas of the public services: that was no cause for depression: indeed, Cinderella’s transformation might be taken as a happy omen for the future of education. There were already great opportunities for service and reform, and the future must hold out still more. At the moment, the immediate task to win the and he proposed, far was war, so as his work allowed, to go about the country and study the problems of the schools for himself, with a view to seeing what best service could be rendered to education, and what services education, in its turn, could render to the country at the present time. Referring to the Senior School building, Mr. Butler contrasted its semi-permanent construction, adaptable to meeting changing future needs, with the old solid buildings of bygone days, which had so often proved a legacy of handicap. Damage to school buildings due to enemy action and the need for increased accommodation would involve a considerable building programme after the war. It would be necessary to find economical methods of construction, provided always that economy did not become parsimony. Adequate provision must be made for the practical in education; indeed, the practical note, Mr. Butler suggested, should be the keynote in education. At the present time the schools could contribute in a number of positive ways to the war effort. The extension of school meals, which he hoped would become more and more a normal feature of school life, and the expansion of the Milk in Schools scheme, might go far to maintain a proper standard of nutrition for children. Again, children could be encouraged, as they were so effectively in Cheltenham, to make their contribu- tion to the nation’s needs, through school savings, salvage work, and the service of School Service Squads. Turning to the future, Mr. Butler said that when victory had been achieved and we turned to the task of making good the peace he was sure the country would feel that all our assets must be turned to the best account, and not least - perhaps first - the greatest of our national assets - the children and young people. He hoped that the problems of education would be looked at in the broadest manner; there was no departmental monopoly in education; nowhere was this more realised than at the Board itself. We must not get unduly involved in the mechanism of education: machinery there must be, but we must not allow the business of administration to impose a business rather than a spiritual attitude towards our problems. In the earning months every effort would be made to consult L.E.As., teachers and other partners of the Board, and from such consultation the main lines of future progress would emerge. Important portions of the Fisher Act still remained unimplemented. In particular, we appeared to tolerate the turning of children into the field of life and the industrial arena at the most impressionable age, without proper care or attention. There must be continuity in our educational development: at the same time, we must provide for diversity - diversity of opportunity to meet different tastes and different capacities - but all linked up in one organic whole. There were questions demanding consideration many problems connected with the - raising of the school leaving age, decided by Parliament in the Act of 1936: the recommendation made over 20 years ago to establish Day Continuation Schools, and the relation of these to industry and commerce. Attention, too, must be given to the needs of rural areas. These, and many other possibilities, offered a wide field for review in determining the lines of future progress -progress that must always be related to the preservation of individual liberty and the life of the individual. BOARD OF EDUCATION 12/8/41 - ITo. 13 12/8/41 -N 13o. COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE MIDDLE EAST The Postmaster-General announces that Mr. Allen Chapman, M.P., Assistant Postmaster-General, will shortly visit the Middle East and will discuss war-time problems with the authorities on the spot. Brigadier V.R. Kenny, Director of Army Postal Services, with the approval of the Secretary of State forWar, will accompany the Assistant Postmaster-General. GENERAL POST OFFICE 12.8.41 - No. 15 A BRETON SERMON The Breton clergy, which has received instructions to collaborate, refuses to take any account of this order. The following sermon delivered from the pulpit by a Breton parish-priest recently, gives a true picture of the feelings of the clergy in the occupied zone:- "Dearly beloved brethren: It is my duty as a priest to remind the faithful of what their attitude must be with regard to the authorities and the troops which now occupy the country. Our own interests, as well as the Christian charity which is due to all men, even our enemies, forbid us acts of hostility, insults, provocations or infrac- tions of the police and administrative regulations. The greatest drawback of all these things is that they expose innocent people to serious reprisals, just as much as -or even more than - the people responsible for them. National pride itself commands us to avoid, with regard to and in the presence of the Germans, anything which, brought back to Germany, would tend to give a rather unflattering idea of us to the good people of that country. Let us be Christians and French- men; that is to say, humane, dignified and loyal. That being said, we remark that if we are forced by the armistice conditions- I do not say obliged by conscience - to provide for the maintenance of the troops of occupation billeted in our homes, nothing obliges us to procure luxuries for them. On the contrary, indeed, everything forbids such a procedure, which would be softening for soldiers and dishonourable for men, while little children may go in need of milk, butter and sugar. Still less must we consent to contribute towards the supply of food and clothing for the civilian population of the other country. Tradesmen are indeed in conscience bound to produce as keep our own for as possible for our own needs. They must not empty the country of its sub- stance in order to hoop up piles of paper-money which, moreover, is drawn from our national coffers, and which will soon, if they arc not careful, be of no value at all, either to them or to anyone else. The enemy do not, and should not, ask us to forget, any more than they themselves forget, that they are the enemy, that they got here by shedding the blood of our kith and kin, just as we shed the blood of the Germans, and that if they stay here it is in order to impose upon us by force a peace treaty which we may fear will wound and mutilate us cruelly. That is why I refuse to admit that, while loyally respecting the armistice conditions and devoting all that is best in our hearts and activities to the return of peace and to our internal revival, we should "be forbidden to lend the support of sympathy, prayers our merits to the instruments which Providence and has "been pleased to send, in order to arrive at the establishment of a New Order which will enable our erstwhile enemies to satisfy their legitimate ambitions, but which will respect the sacred frontiers of France and her Empire and ensure to all nations, great and small especially those who - are now suffering so cruelly and unjustly - that independence without which there is no more peace or harmony, but only tyranny, hatred and revolt. Now, more than ever, the watchword is: COURAGE, HOPE, FIDELITY". At the end of this priest turned sermon, before leaving the pulpit, the once more towards the faithful, and said: - "If anyone among you chooses to go and denounce me, I should like you to knew that I am now going to the presbytery, where I shall wait for the Germans." The good priest was not visited by the German police. FREE FRENCH HEADQUARTERS INFORMATION SERVICE 12/8/41. - No. 16 MIDDLE EAST WAR COMMUNIQUE The following official communique was issued by British G H Q Cairo today: LIBYA No change in the situation. MINISTRY OF INFORMATION (MILITARY AFFAIRS) 12/8/41 - No. 18 DISTRIBUTION OF COOKING EGGS IN LONDON The Ministry of Food wishes to correct certain mis-statements which have been made in connection with the distribution of cooking eggs in the London area. At the time of the original release of these eggs, instructions were given to wholesalers and multiple firms in London that the eggs were for consumption in the Metropolitan Police Area only. This instruction was observed by the majority of firms, but certain multiples despatched the eggs to their branches outside the Metropolitan Area and even in rural districts. The Ministry of Food, if only in fairness to those traders who had carried out the instruction, insisted on the return of the eggs to the London area. The waste of transport thus was due entirely to the action caused of those firms which deliberately disregarded the Ministry’s clear instruction. MINISTRY OF FOOD 12.8.41 - No. 22 Air Ministry No. 4739 MIDDLE EAST COMMUNIQUE H.Q,, R.A.F,., Middle East, Tuesday August 12, 1941 Extensive raids were carried out by aircraft of the Royal Air Force and Fleet Air Arm on enemy positions and aerodromes in Libya during the night of August 10/11. particularly heavy attack was made on Benghazi. A Many tons of bombs, all of which fell in the target area, were dropped on motor transport and repair sections as well as on railway sidings, yards and dock installations. Four violent explosions and many fires were caused. Our bombers also machine gunned an aerodrome south of Benghazi and motor transport which was dispersed on the Tobruk- Bardia road. Aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm attacked the motor transport workshops at Bardia. Several large bombs which were dropped on the workshop buildings and in the compound started fires and destroyed many mechanised vehicles. The harbour at Tripoli was again bombed. One hit on the power station caused a violent explosion which was seen 100 miles away. One of our attacking aircraft came down to a low level and machine-gunned searchlight posts. Other aircraft of the Royal Air Force raided the landing ground at Gazala South, where fires were seen to break out. Some of the bombs burst close to aircraft and a large column of black smoke was observed. The target was also machine-gunned from a low level. During the same night Swordfish aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm attacked a ship of thirteen hundred tons in Syracuse Harbour and two direct hits with torpedoes are believed to have been scored. One caused an explosion amidships. They also dropped bombs on the Gerbini (Sicily) aerodrome. During yesterday Tomahawks of the South African Air Force shot down one of four Me.ll0’s which were encountered off the Egyptian coast. Royal Air Force Hurricane fighters shot down a Henschel 126. On the 10th of August aircraft of the Royal Air Force bombed a collier at Lampedusa and left it sinking and down by the stern. Patches of oil were all that could be seen near the position on the following day. A Sunderland shot down a Dornier 24 over the Mediterranean. From all those operations our aircraft returned safely. 12/8/41 - No. 28. GENERAL DE GAULLE IN NORTH SYRIA General de Gaulle’s visit to the North of Syria gave the people in partthat country of the an opportunity of brilliantly demonstrating their attachment to Free France. Having left Beirut on the morning of Friday, August 8, the General, accompanied by Colonel Collet, made his first stop at Homs. He left this town, on Saturday morning for Hama, where he was joined by General Catroux, who had come to meet him. A last stage of 200 kilometres, frequently interrupted by spontaneous demonstrations on the part of the rural population, brought the General to Aleppo. Between two solid human walls massed all along the houses entirely covered with flags and garlands, the open car transporting General de Gaulle and General Catroux made its entry into the capital of Northern Syria. The crowd cheered unceasingly, while flowers were thrown from the windows as the procession passed by. At the end of the the marched ceremony, garrison past. The General received the French colony at the Residency during the afternoon. On Sunday morning, the mass celebrated in theCathedral, at which General de Gaulle was present, provided an opportunity for fresh demonstrations of friendship on the part of the At the end of the the General population. religious ceremony, paid a visit to the Municipality. In the course of the afternoon, he received the public bodies, and in the evening he gave a dinner at the Residency in honour of the local authorities, at which he made a speech. FREE FRANCE INFORMATION SERVICE 12.8.41 - No. 32 IMPORTED ONIONS The Ministry of Food announces that it can no longer recommend the grant of licences for the importation of onions from any source. Where, however, it can he proved that shipments of onions have already been made, Ministry will consider the formal applications for licences, but they will only be granted to pre-war importers of onions. Until further notice all importations of onions will he made or specially arranged by the Ministry. ------ MINISTRY OF FOOD 12/8/41 - No. 34. MINISTRY OF HOME SECURITY COMMUNIQUE There is nothing to report. 12.8.41 - No. 35. Air Ministry No. 4741 AIR MINISTRY COMMUNIQUE Six squadrons of Blenheims of Bomber Command penetrated into the Rhineland this morning to attack the great Cologne power stations at Quadrath and Knapsack. Fighters accompanied the bombers as far as Antwerp. The bombers went on alone, often flying at less than 100 feet, on their 150 miles penetration of the German defence system. Both power stations were attacked at 11.30 a.m. at point blank range. A great number of bombs scored direct hits and the targets were left in flames. Fighters met the returning bombers near Antwerp, covering their withdrawal across the North Sea, whilst another strong force of fighters patrolled the Dutch coast in support. About the same time Hampden bombers, with fighter escort, attacked railways near St. Omer and the power station at Gosnay in the Pas de Calais. Three enemy fighters were destroyed by the escort. Fortress aircraft attacked the aerodrome at De Kooy and objectives at Cologne and the port of Emden, Our losses in all these operations are 12 Blenheims and 8 fighters missing. 12.8.41. No. 36 Air Ministry News Service Air Ministry Bulletin No. 4742 FIGHTER COMMAND’S BIG OFFENSIVE. In a series of operations which began in the early morning and lasted until late into the day Royal Air Force fighters escorted bombers on raids against targets in occupied territory and swept inland over France on independent offensives. In another operation this morning in which bombers made a day- light attack on Cologne strong force of long-range fighters, a including the twin-engined Whirlwind, provided the escort as far as Antwerp. During the morning’s offensive two fighter-bomber attacks were launched against targets in Northern France within an hour of each other. Later in the day other fighter-bomber attacks were made, while strong fighter forces swept inland from the French coast. Two Me. 109 s were destroyed by the same pilot. "It was quite a simple thing, actually," he said afterwards. "The two Me.s foolishly stooged into our formation from up above and tried to get through to the bombers. "My section attacked them as they came through and it happened that my cannon caught them both - one after the other. "A short burst at each of them was sufficient. They went down towards a thick cloud layer and burst into flames as they fell. "That was about all my squadron saw of enemy opposition". A third Me. 109 was also destroyed on this operation and several more severely damaged. 12/8/41 - No. 39 Air Ministry Bulletin No. 4743 Air Ministry News Service A GREAT DAYLIGHT FORCE OVER GERMANY This morning, By brilliantly planned and boldly executed attacks, Blenheims of the Bomber Command, in greater numbers than have ever yet visited-Germany in daylight, struck a blow at two strategic centres of German industry. Hampdens and Fortresses were attacking as well, baffling the defenders By the multiciplity of the assault. German fighters were sent scurrying hither and thither, between Emden and Cologne, between Gosnay in France and De Kooy in Holland, by conflicting messages from observation posts and headquarters. Some met the bombers; more did not. The crew of one Fortress, and of one only, saw condensation trails thousands of feet below where enemy fighters were searching the upper air for the unseen attackers. The bombers guarded were as far as bythe Dutch coast strong a force of our fighters which was again there to meet them when they withdrew. The fighter escort went all the way with the bombers over France. The main targets, which were given to the fast Blenheims to attack, were two power stations in open country and arid between Cologne and Aachen the Knapsack and Quadrath power stations. - They are the two most important of a newly developed type of power station which burns soft peaty brown coal or lignite. Only in recent years and after intensive research have the Germans discovered how to convert their deposits of brown coal into electripower. The plants are built immediately beside the open workings, huge and conspiciously dark cuttings as seen from the air, where the brown coal just below the surface ground is mined. They are the highly vulnerable of the parts of whole industrial districts which depend largely on them for power. The Goldenberg plant at Knapsack is the largest steampower plant in Europe with nearly twice the capacity of the Battersea power station, and it supplies power to a huge grid and transformer system. The Fortuna power station at Quadrath is rather smaller, though it was being enlarged even before the war. It supplies many industrial plants in Cologne, the district of Bergheim, and the Troisdorf explosives factory. /At -2- At Antwerp the Blenheims left their esport of Whirlwinds behind them and flew on over the Dutch fields. Most of them went very low, as low as the portresses were high. The pilot of one Blenheim said that he know at once when he had crossed from Holland to Germany. In Holland everyone in field or street waved and seemed to be cheering the Bombers on, but in Germany, as he said, "some ran like mad and some fell on their faces in the ditches." This pilot was captain of the last flight to bomb the Knapsack power station and had a very good view of all the destruction that had already been done. "Over Germany," he went on, "we flew below the level of the trees. My observer called me up when we were seven minutes from the target, and at that moment another squadron of Blenheims crossed our paths. They were on their way to the other power station. The air seemed alive with British bombers. We were nearly there then my cried ’tallyho, fighter to por I felt the aircraft jar t'. twice and saw cannon shells hitting the port wingflight to take evasive action. Then the flak became intense, I could see it bursting among bombers in front of me and I looked on the ground to sow where it came from. I saw flashes from a gun emplacement and went straight for it. We passed about three feet over the gun and I saw soldiers in a trench hit by a stream of bullets. The gun ceased fire "You could dismiss target. the "There were the twelve chimneys - a row of-four and a parallel row of eight - standing dark against the sky. The sun was to our port bow. There were smoke and flames corning from the plant, so we climbed to attack. The flames were 50 feet high and the smoke too-thick to let us bomb accurately from any lower. Inside the buildings we could see the sudden red glow of explosions under the smoke. I flew straight between the chimneys. I was watching my observer's elbow as he pulled back the release lever, and then I heard him call 'bombs gone'. I did a steep turn over a belt of trees down into a sandstone quarry to get away from the "flak" I should think we went about thirty feet below the level of the ground. As we came up there was a groat deal of crackling in the earphones and I couldn't quite catch something my rear gunner said. But then I heard him repeat it. It was 'fighter again', and at the same moment a piece of my port wing fell away, I heard no more from my rear gunner, and it must have been then that he was wounded. I tried more evasive action. A bullet came in behind my head and another smacked the armour plating at my back. My observer said that he could see a stream of bullets coming between his logs. I turned to the right to give the fighter a more difficult angle of fire and this seemed to work. He sprayed the air above us. While we twisted about I hit the of telegraph post and chipped one air tap a screw. I could see that the yellow tips wore uneven as they turned and the note of the airscrews' roar was a little different. But this didn't seem to affect our flying. There was a film of oil over my perspex. I didn't see a church spire and my observer told me of it just in time to let mo miss it. I banked sharply and caught the tip of my wing in a tree. Once more, we were lucky and we managed to catch up with the others. The/ 3 "The worst of the attack was over then, but I have never known anything so welcome as the squadrons of British fighters which came out to meet us. They staved off the attacks of more Messerschmitts and then I had time to think of gunner. I tried to call him up and then he passed my rear me a note he had written on his kneepad. ’Please get here quickly. Bleeding badly, ’ it said. I gave the observer a bandage and he crept through to the gunner. We flew on back in an interval between two storms and I made straight for base. Our undercarriage had been damaged and would not go down. The observer had to hold the rear gunner while we made a belly landing." One Blenheims had for of the captain a man who had worked before the war as engineer for the County of London Electricity Supply. an When he saw the damage to the Knapsackpower plant he said that he was sure it was ’out of action’. It had been hit again and again by a great weight of bombs. Bombs had fallen on the turbine and boiler houses, vital parts of the plant, both at Knapsack and at Quadrath. B th were in o great part gutted. These were the main objectives, attacked by the main force and without any protection except the surprise of sudden assault, skimming the ground, or coming up from behind and below trees. But Fortresses too high to be quickly reached by the enemy fighter and Hampdens within a strong wall of Hurricanes and Spitfires made another quarry for the defenders in France, Holland, and in Germany itself. in TheFortresses were over Emden and Cologne and De Kooy dropping their bombs through the clear air from an immense height. They were bombing railways aerodromes, and industrial buildings with their heaviest and most powerful bombs. The Hampdens with their strong escort penetrated deep into the Pas De Calais while the Mes. rose in hundreds to meet the Invasion. The power plant at Gosnay and railways near St. Omer were reached and bombed. It was a major operation, in which daring matched organisation, and strength achieved surprise. 12/8/41 - No. 40. ANGLO-SOVIET DECLARATIONS TO THE TURKISH GOVERNMENT On August 10 the British and. Soviet Ambassadors called at the Turkish Foreign Office and presented Declarations in identical terms. The text of the British Declaration is as follows:- "His Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom confirm their fidelity to the Montreux Convention and assure the Turkish Government that they have no aggressive intentions or claims whatever with regard to the Straits. His Majesty’s Government as also Soviet Government, are prepared, scrupulously to observe the territorial integrity of the Turkish Republic. While fully appreciating the desire of the Turkish Government not to be involved in war. His Majesty’s Government, as also the Soviet Government, would nevertheless be prepared to render Turkey every help and assistance in the event of her being attacked by a European power.” Before presenting their written Declarations, each Ambassador explained orally the views of his Government. The Soviet Ambassador stated that "As late as March 1941, that is to say during the period of well known treaty relations between the Soviet Union and Germany, the Soviet Government exchanged assurances with the Government of the Turkish Republic in connection with reports that were then being spread to the effect that if Turkey were compelled to enter the war the Soviet Union would take advantage of Turkey’s difficulties to attack her. It will be recalled, that the Soviet Government for their part considered it necessary at that time to declare that such reports in no way corresponded to the attitude of the Soviet Union, and that, if Turkey were in fact attacked and compelled to enter the war for the defence of her territory she could count on full understanding and neutrality of the Soviet Union on the basis of the non-aggression pact between the two countries. ”It is known that after the treacherous attack of Nazi Germany on the Soviet Union the Germans conducted and are still conducting a malicious propaganda against the Soviet Union intended inter alia to bring about discord between the Soviet Union and Turkey. "In view of the fact that this propaganda, which is being intensively conducted by the German Government, has become even stronger at present, and considering that in the present international situation it is opportune that an exchange of views should take place between the Soviet Government and the Turkish Government on the subject of relations between the Soviet Union, Turkey and Great Britain, the Soviet Government have instructed me, Monsieur le Ministre, to make to your Excellency this declaration.” His Majesty’s Ambassador stated "That in view of anti-Russian propaganda by the Germans, His Majesty’s Government and the Soviet Government have considered it right to reaffirm categorically their attitude towards Turkey in order that the Turkish Government may be under no delusion in the formation of their own policies towards Great Britain and the Soviet Union.” Both Declarations were most warmly received. FOREIGN OFFICE NEWS . N M T R A P E D 12/8/41 - No. 41. Air Ministry News Service Air Ministry Bulletin No.4744 WHIRLWINDS IN ACTION Long range fighters of the R.A.F. including the new twin engine Whirlwind single seater escorted our bombers as far as Antwerp on their great daylight raid on Cologne today. The escorts were waiting for the bombers when they approached the English Coast on their outward journey. They fell into position in formations alongside and went out across the part seagreat cavalcade of British as of a air power. The cavalcade headed straight for the Dutch coast and took the enemy so much by surprise that hardly any opposition was encountered before the time came for the bombers and the fighters to part company over Holland. As the bombers disappeared into the distance heading in closely packed, formations straight for Cologne, the fighters turned back for England, still without finding anything with which to scrap. The leader of the Whirlwinds then took his squadron down to shoot up barges just off the coast. One was seen to sink after being riddled by bullets and another was badly damaged. Then the squadron came home, and half way back across the North Sea met a force of long range Spitfires going out to wait above Antwerp for the returning bombers. By the time the Spitfires reached the place where they were to meet the Ju. 88 1 the Germans had put opposition into the air. Mes. and bombers, some even 's hoping to intercept aircraft after the raid. were flying round, our Spitfires chased them away and claimed afterwards that several The were they did not have time to see the final fate of their probably destroyed. But victims. As they scrapped they saw first one great formation of British bombers coming out from the Dutch Hinterland, then a second flying back still as if on parade. They fell in beside them and the cavalcade came back. "On the homeward journey combats developed with various Mes. waiting out at sea,” one of the leaders of the fighter escort laconically reported. "They were inconclusive though one of our pilots damaged one. We acted as escort until the coast was reached. Two Ju. 88's were probably destroyed." 12.8.41 No. 43. Air Ministry News Service Air Ministry No. 4745 FLIGHT LIEUTENANT LOCK MISSING Flight Lieutenant E.S. Lock D.S.O., D.F.C and Bar is posted as daylight offensive operation over France. "missing" after a He was flying at the time in company with a Canadian pilot. Some miles inland over France the two became separated and when last seen Lock was diving down to attack soldiers cycling along a road. Lock, who is aged 22, was one of Fighter Command's most successful pilots. He had destroyed 25 German aircraft. A member of the R.A.F.V.R. before the War, he was commissioned as a pilot officer in June 1940 and at to flying squadron, By the end of the posted once an operational 22 enemy aircraft. That his contribution to year he had shot down was the Battle of Britain. Eight of his victims were shot down in one week and over a period of 19 days he destroyed 15. Lock’s three decorations were all awarded within three months. He received his D.F.C. at the end of last September when his "bag" was nine. "He has displayed great vigour and determination in pressing home his attacks," the official citation said of him. Next month he won his Bar to the D.F.C. in increasing his total to 15, and in December he gained the D.S.O, It was said of him that "his magnificent fighting spirit and personal example have in the highest traditions of the service". But in his last combat in the Battle of Britain Dock was wounded. He did not fly operationally again for six months, but in July 1941 he was back in the front of Fighter Command's offensive, This time - like so many other "veterans" of the Battle of Britain - as a Flight Commander. He destroyed three Me. 109's in offensive sweeps over France before the operation from which he did not return. Look had many adventures while flying against the Luftwaffe. On one occasion when he had become separated from his squadron over Britain he joined up with another fighter from a different squadron. Together they formed a little "team" and "beat up" six German raiders. They knew they destroyed three of them and they did net think the others had much chance of getting back. Look was one of the few British pilots to shoot down a Heinkel 113, a type the Germans designed which became a first class fighter. He wason patrol over the Dover area when he sighted three of them. He immediately attacked, shot one down into the sea and then sent a Henschel 126 which they were escorting, to follow it. Tuesday, August 1 2, 1941 MINISTRY OP INFORMATION NEWS BULLETIN NO. 463 CANADIAN ARMY GROWS IN STRENGTH The Canadian Army will shortly have the greatest divisional strength in its history. Already its total strength, including troops both at home and overseas, is about 220,000 men, and further volunteers are being recruited at the rate of about 7,000 a month. The 1st and 2nd Canadian Divisions have been in Britain for some time, and part of the 3rd Division and other troops arrived recently in Britain in the largest convoy yet to leave Canada. The rest of the 3rd Division and the 5th Armoured Division are due to arrive during the next few months. The 4th Division is stationed in Canada and the 6th Division is now being mobilised, as Col. J.L. Ralston, Canadian Minister of National Defence, announced recently. It will be composed of three complete Brigades, each of which will have its full complement of technical and other troops, such as Artillery, Signals, Engineers and Army Service Corps. During the last war Canada raised five divisions, but the 5th Division was broken up for reinforcements. Canada House(Through the Dominions Office Press Section). M.o.I. 1. DOWNY MILDEW OF ONIONS Downy Mildew disease of onions has appeared in several places, and if the weather remains damp and humid it may cause much trouble. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to control. It is most important not to plant onions near shallots, tree onions or over-wintered onions, for the disease often spreads from these crops. At this time of year, however, little can be done about onions already planted. The crop can be sprayed, but unfortunately the results are very variable. Summer strength lime-sulphur, with a suitable spreader to wet the leaves, is probably the best spray, and spraying must be repeated sufficiently often to keep all new growth covered. No guarantee of success can be given, however, and if there is already a fair amount of mildew about, spraying is almost useless. Care should be taken to burn the diseased leaves from a crop attacked by mil dew, for the disease may remain in the soil. Autumn-sown onions should not he sown near established onion beds. Ministry of Agriculture M.o.I. 2 HARVEST GUIDE New Leaflet Tells How and When to Cut, How To Stock Tens of thousands of acres of corn will be harvested this year on farms where no corn had previously been grown for a generation. There are districts that turned to the even never plough in the last war but now have corn to gather. The Ministry of Agriculture has produced a new leaflet, Growmore No.74, "Harvesting Corn”, for the benefit of those who have grown up on farms where there was no need to this art. The learn simple leaflet informative, dealing with is and when and how to cut, how to stock, threshing, dealing with laid corn, and so on. It is obtainable free on application to the Ministry at Hotel Lindum, St. Annes- on-Sea, Lancs.- Ministry of Agriculture. M.o.I. 3.