10.7.41 No. 2* AIR MINISTRY AND JOTISTRfOF Hol< SECURITY COMIUNIQUE, Enemy activity during last night was almost entirely confined to coastal areas and very few aircraft came inland. Pour enemy aurcraft were destroyed. Bombs were dropped at points in south-east Scotland, on a farm in the north of England, and near a village in Bast Anglia. The damage done was very slight and no casualties have been reported. 10.7.41 - No. 9. AUSTRALIAN MAN’-POV/ER MULTIPLIED £70,000,000 KORE FOR DIFENCE The personnel of the Royal Australian Navy has trebled since the outbreak of the war, the Australian Anny is ten times greater than it was three years ago and the Royal Australian Air Force is eleven times greater than in 1935; said I/]r. A*W» Fadden, Australian Treasurer, in a speech at Sydney recently. He added that the Australian Government had. to find =£250,000,000 for defence this year, which was £70,000,000 more than last year. DOnNIONS OFFICE PRESS SECTIQI. (On behalf of' ii a House) 10/7/41 No. 13. Air Ministry No, AIR MINISTRY,.CmiUNIQHE The German frontier town of Aachen, which lies in an industrial area rich in coal and minerals, was heavily attacked last night by aircraft of Bomber Command* The weather was good and much damage to industrial buildings plainly visible. Another force attacked was large industries and communications in Osnabruck, Lighter forces bombed objectives at Bielefeld and Munster and the docks at Ostend. Four of our aircraft are missing* The crew of one aircraft re- ported missing from operations the night on June JO/july 1 have been picked up at sea and are safe in this country. 10/7/41 - No .16, MIDDLE .EAST WAR COI.IBNIQUR The following official communique was issued today from British G.H.Q., in Cairo LIBYA AND ABYSSINIA No change in the situation. SYRIA - Vichy troops holding outlying areas covering ALEPPO and HOUS are continuing their v/ithdravra.l in face of our pressure., In the central sector local advances have again been made. On the coastal sector the advance of Australian troops toward BEIRUT is progressing. With the capture of the town of DAMOUR, many hundreds of Vichy troops were taken, together with 17 guns, 3 tanks and 5 armoured cars. IvENISTO OF INFORMATION (MILITARY AFFAIRS) 10.7.41 No.lB. NOT FOR PUBLICATION, BROADCAST, OR USE ON CLUB TAPES BEFORE 0030 DBST ON FRIDAY JULY 11. ARMY FIGHT WASTE "The Battle of the Atlantic is Being fought in vain if the determination and resourcefulness of the Royal Navy and the Merchant Service on the high is not also applied in kitchens, garages, stores, ‘buildings, and on roads in this country." This is part of a new Instruction the Amy Council has just issued to all Army Commands in the United Kingdom, threatening severe disciplinary action against anyone who occasions waste or Every ton of material reaching these shores and converted into army stores and equipment, must, it is stressed, be employed and conserved with scrupulous economy. "It must be realised. Jby all ranks that waste of any description is our war effort", goes on this latest decree by the Army Council, who are intensifying their war against waste. Offenders, it is pointed out, can be made to pay for waste or damage they cause through negligence or non-compliance with instructions,. WAR OFFICE 10.7.41 N0.20. Air Ministry N0.A445 MIDDLE EAST COMMUNIQUE Royal Air Force Headquarters Middle'East, Thursday 10th July LIBYA In Cyrenaica yesterday, Royal Air Force bombers attacked enemy aerodromes at Martuba and Gazala starting fires in both places. During the night of the eight/ninth of July heavy bombers carried out further attacks on Benghazi causing large fires on the quays near the Cathedral Mole. Night attacks were also made on the landing grounds at Derna, Martuba, Eltmimi and Gazala, MALTA. Unidentified enemy aircraft which raided Malta during the night of the eighth/ninth of July were intercepted by our fighters and one, believed to be a Fiat BR2O, was shot down in flames into the sea. SICILY. Royal Air Force aircraft attacked Italian floatplanes (probably Cant Z.506) on the water at Syracuse yesterday. Three of the floatplanes were burned out and several others were badly damaged while numerous casualties were caused among crews on the slipways by machine-gun attacks. Enemy aircraft were engaged over the Sicilian coast and a number of them, including a Macchi 0,200 and a seaplane were badly damaged. SYRIA* In Syria yesterday, Royal Air Force aircraft attacked Vichy aircraft on the ground at Aleppo, destroying two and damaging about ten others. Aircraft of a Royal Australian Air Force squadron attacked and damaged armoured cars near Beirut and in the Damour area. Royal Air Force bombers blew up ammunition stocks at Beirut and bombed a railway siding at Rayak, From all the above operations one of our aircraft is missing. 12/7/21-X.JINO/2A’.. ’ THE QUEEN AND THE WOMEN S LAND ARMY Her Majesty the Queen has been graciously 1 pleased to give her name as Patron of the Women s Land Army. The Women’s Land Army now numbers 1U,500 in England and Wales and 1,300 in Scotland. MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE 10,7.41. No» 2k, Air Ministry Bulletin N0.4446 Air Ministry News Service AACHEN’S SECOND GREAT FIRE Aircraft of Bomber Command did great damage in Aachen last night. This town on the frontier between Belgium and Germany, better known as Aix-la-Chapelle, was cleared for modern industry and development by a huge conflagration in 1856 which destroyed 90 per cent of its buildings. It lies in a district rich in mineral wealth, has many industries, and is an important railway town. It has been attacked before by the R.A.F. but not very often, and certainly never on such a scale as last night. As the attackers, undeterred by incessant artillery or patrolling fighters, passed through the defences, the town was brightly lit, first by the moon, then by drifting flares and last by great fires. The attack was all over in about an hour, and by that time the railway junctions had been hit and factories set alight. There were parallel lines of fire across the town, and towards the end it was often difficult, in the confusion of fire and smoke, to see how much more damage each new bomb had done. After one aircraft had showered its incendiaries across the railway, there were twelve violent explosions. 10,7.4-1. No. 2$ Following is tho text of the address to be broadcast this at 6.15 evening p»m, as the War Commentary in the 8.8.C. Empire Service by the Hon. C.G. Power, Canadian Minister of National Defence for Air. jbKITISH COMMONWEALTH AIR TRAINING PLAN This Plan was originally conceived and proposed by the Government of the United Kingdom, Its broad principles Were accepted by the Governments of Australia, New Zealand and Canada in the early days of the war; in September 1939. The details were set forth in a Memorandum of Agreement signed at Ottawa on December 17? 1939* The purpose of the plan was to gain that supremacy in the air without which ultimate victory will be impossible. To that end it was decided to produce in a continuous flow, the greatest possible number of pilots, gunners and observers. A Supervisory Board was set up with representation of all the parties thereon and the Government of Canada was appointed ManagerAdministrator and of the Plan. Canada was to supply approximately 80/ of the pupils and to train them in initial, elementary and advanced stages. The United Kingdom, Australia and Nev/ Zealand were to Send elementarily trained pupils for completion of their training in the Dominion of Canada, This; of course, was in addition to the very large number of aircrew trained and being trained in Australia; Nev/ Zealahd, Groat Britain, as well as in Rhodesia and South Africa, so that the plan; stupendous as it is in itself, does not by any moans represent the total air-training effort of the Empire, though it is the most striking instance of successful co-operative and co-ordinated effort as yet attempted and developed by allied nations in any war. This co-ordination was achieved by the loan to the Royal Canadian Air Porce of United Kingdom expert personnel, the use of Canadian training facilities, and the establishment of United Kingdom, Australian, and Nev/ Z e aland Air Liaison Missions at the Headquarters of the Plan Administration in Ottawa. There weredays of trials and tribulations. Many new Units had to be constituted; schools to be opened; aerodromes to be built; equipment to be supplied and instructors provided. To add to the confusion and turmoil there came the fall of Prance, Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain, and the consequent feverish desire to accelerate output of pilots and other aircrew. The whole Training Plan was, under the original agreement, to have been in operation in April of 194-2. It was decided to disregard the original set-up and to aim.at capacity operation inSeptember of 194-1 full Today, with approximately • 85/ of all the Units going full blast, we are in a position to state that this latter objective will be reached approximately six months ahead of schedule. In May of last year we started training with 168 pupils. Today, in pupils and graduates, we have one hundredfold that amd many more. More in numbers than a division of infantry in the last v war and And what a A division such has been known before in this other country. Young men coming as never oiy from every Province of the. Dominion of Canada; from the United Kingdom; from from the Straits Settlements; from British Residents of South Newfoundland; America; from Australia; from New Zealand; aye. and many hundreds speaking in the accents of California, of Virginia, Pennsylvania and of New York, And no either but the of the youth of the liberty-loving countries ordinary young men cream of the world. High School and College graduates, selected for their qualities of mind and body and character. Picked for their health, their strength, their education* /it has ■2' It has been said somewhere by someone that the bottleneck in the struggle for air supremacy was in aircrew. Let me assure you that that bottleneck is now un- corked and. that there is flowing forth a steady, continuous and ever increasing stream from the new fountain of youth which will go on endlessly, inexorably and remorselessly until such time as the enemy territory will be darkened by the shadow of the wings controlled and manipulated by the intrepid young men of the Empire. To train these young men we require and have obtained the services of twice their number and more, as instructors, administrators, groundcrew and maintenance men. be have found it necessary and have met the necessity of establishing flying schools and constructing flying fields and aerodromes in every ??rovince of the Dominion of Canada. One year ago our greatest anxiety, and it was a real one, lay in the lack of supply of training aircraft. The number on hand was infinitesmal compared, to the task required of us. Then we counted them in hundreds, now we coun; them in thousands. And we will get more until the children in the most remote hamlet of Canada will recognise each type of aircraft by the shape of its wings, the whirr of its propeller and the roar of its engine. These planes are coming in ever in- creasing numbers from the United. States of America, from Canada, and from beleaguered Britain, and may I pause here to say, that in spite of bombing, destruction and devastation, the British workman has stuck to his job, and turned out machines, not only for his own. fighting forces, but f>r Training Schools of Empire, and. the British Navy and the Empire Navies have provided for their safe conduct across the seven seas. For nearly emphasis and. training alone. The a year was placed on training, tine has now come when it can be said that the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan is training, and training in ever increasing numbers, but its men are fighting too. The graduates of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan are Overseas today in their hundreds, nay, in their thousands. They have taken their place alongside their Royal Air Force comrades as wireless operators, as air gunners, as observers and. navigators, and as fighter pilots. They are playing their part in bringing home to the the Nazis reality and ruthlessness of night bombings; they are ’’delivering the tools" by navigating those mighty bombers which form a winged bridge across the Atlantic Ocean and in the Fighter Squadrons they are clawing the Hun out of the skies of Britain and France. Press reports tell us that there is an ever increasing flow of aircraft being produced in the United States of America for British account. The task of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan is and will continue to be put in these aircraft the crew to man them, to navigate them, to fight them. We are doing more than that now, and will whether the to be manned be single- we continue, aeroplane a seater fighter, or a multiple-crew bomber. Since coming to this country about a week ago I have had an opportunity of observing here in London, in the City, in the East in Coventry and in other sections of this Island, the evidences of the brutality, the ferocity and the utterly futile ruthlessness with which our enemy has carried on his murderous campaign against the civilian population. The only attitude to take and the only course to follow is to firmly resolve that you cannot tame a tiger; you cannot gentle a mad-dog; - you must wipe him out of existence.’ And so I close with a word, of hope and. injunction to all our pupil graduates - "May the wind, of victory be in your wings; let the finger of retribution be in your armamentJ” ERITISimOAPGASTING CORPORATION 10.7. M No f 27* HERMITS FOR PHOTOGRAPHY AND SKETCHING A large number of applications for photography and sketching permits which have been received by the military authorities appear to show that there is uncertainty among the general public as to the purposes for which these permits will be granted and to whom applications for them should be addressed. It is in consequence thought desirable to publish this resume of the regulations which are in force. There are certain objects which, for reasons of national security, may not be sketched or permit. They photographed without a include buildings used by H.M. Forces, defence works, docks, aircraft and other munitions by enemy action and a variety of war, damage caused of other items. given in ’’The Control of Photography The full list is Order (Ho, 1) 1939”, a copy of which may be obtained from H.M. Stationery Office, or through any bookseller, price id. The Ministry of Information issues permits to certain specially accredited artists and Press photographers, and some other public bodies are authorised to issue them for strictly official or business purposes. Members of the general public must apply to the Headquarters of the i'lilitary Command or District in which the object to be photographed, or sketched, is situated. Letters should be addressed to the respective Headquarters ”C/o G.P.O. London”. An exception to this is that, in the case of premises which have been declared to be ’’Protected Places” under the Defence Regulations, the application must be made to the officer or official who is in charge of the particular place. permits will only be considered if they show that Applications for the photographs are required for some business or legal reasons, e.g. to provide technical records, to support claims for compensation and for legal proceedings. Commercial photographers the staffs of photographers, or on engineering or other constructional firms, may be granted general is permits for a period of months, but in other cases a permit some for each separate occasion on which a photograph, or sketch necessary is required. As sketching of prohibited objects are forbidden photography and in the interest of national security permits cannot be granted to private individuals, though their integrity and loyalty are even above suspicion, for the reason of making personal records or the pursuit of private interests. WAft OFFICE. WAR OFFICE ORDERS No. 28 issued on 10th July, 1941 PART HI HOME GUARD The undermentioned members of the Home Guard to be appointed as follows : To be Lt.-Col. and Second in Comd. to Zone Comdrs., ist Feb. 1941 : Thomas Campbell, 0.8.E., (Capt., late R.E.). To be Lt.-Cols, and Second in Comd. to Group Comdrs. : ist Feb. 1941 : Walter Davies. Winstan Gordon. George William Handforth, T.D., t.a., (Col., T.A.) To be Lt.-Cols, and Bn. Comdrs. : Ist Feb. 1941 : Gilbert Joseph Stephen Little, B.Sc., M.I.E.E. Frederick Edwin Alfred Manning, M.C., T.D., B.Sc. (Eng.), A.M.LMech.E., M.1.E.E., (Lt.-Col., T.A. Res.). Albert Edward Squirrell. Maj. A. Wilson, from Second in Comd. Bn., 23rd Apr. 1941. Maj. C. B. Fowlie, from Second in Comd. Bn., 12th June 1941. Lt.-Col. and Bn. Comdr. E. M. Wilkinson, resigns his commn., 12th June 1941. A. N. FLOYER-ACLAND, Lieutenant-General, Military Secretary. EGs 2500 10/7/41 C.P.C.1217 10/7/41 ~ No. 30. NOT FOR PUBLICATION, BROADCAST, OR USE ON CLUB TAPES BEFORE 0030 D.B.S.T. ON FRIDAY, JULY 11. Extra Supplies of Childrens and Cheap Adults* Clothing to be released this Autumn. Special arrangements to ensure that extra supplies of cheap, essential clothing will be available in all parts of the country during the winter for sale at normal coupon rates have been made by the Board of Trade. Children’s clothes and low priced adults’ clothingamong the goods are which the Board of Trade announce will be manufactured and distributed to shops without restriction, other than the prescribed coupon requiremnts, up to August 31 for sale in the autumn and winter months. V/hile most articles of clothing can be released under the Limitation of Supplies Orders only in quantities limited by quotas, makers and wholesalers of the following goods have been temporarily freed from these restrictions - children’s clothes exempted from Purchase Tax, lower-priced men’s and youths’ suits, sports coats, trousers, and shirts, and lower-priced men’s and women’s underwear. granted by the Board of Trade to secure the steady Every facility will be flow of these goods to the shops* Manufacturers and wholesalers can proceed immediately with this scheme, without further authority, provided they furnish certain particulars to the Board of Trade. BOARD OP TRADE. Note: This notice should be read in conjunction with M*o>l. issue N0.12 circulated to-day. Please amend items 2> 3, 4 and 6 on the second page of issue No. 12 to read as follows: Types of clothing covered by the general licence< prices given are maximum wholesale selling prices (per dozen except where othervd.se stated), excluding Purchase Tax. !• All children’s garments of sizes excluded from Purchase Tax. 2. Men’s and youths* suits up to £2.55. each. 3. Men’s and youths sports coats up to 15/6 each. 4* Men’s and youths* 8/- trousers up to pair. a 5* Woollen cloth up to 6/6d. per linear yard 54" wide 6* Men’s and youths’ shirts up to 55/- a dozen. 10.7.41. N0.31. NOTICE TO IMPORTERS NO. 133 LIVE POULTRY FROM EIRE In Notice to Importers No. 123 it was announced that applications for the importation of live poultry should be addressed to the Ministry of Food, School, Colwyn Bay. Applications for licences to import live poultry not for food should in future be addressed as follows: Importcrs who are domiciled in:- a) England and Wales to:- Import Licensing Department, Board of Trade, 1-6 Tavistock Square, London, W.C.I. b) Scotland to:- Ministry of Agriculture, St. Andrew’s House, Edinburgh, 1 * &) N. Ireland to:~ Ministry of Agriculture, Stormont, Belfast, N. Ireland. A single copy of the application will suffice* IMPORT LICENSING- DEPARTMENT BOARD OF TRADE IQ/7/U - M 0,32. JOINT FIRE PATCHING CONFERENCE The Lord President of the Council, the Minister of Labour, the Home Secretary and the Secretary of State for Scotland today met representatives of the British Employers Confederation, the Federation of British Industries, the Association of British Chambers of Commerce and the General Council of the Trades Union Congress. . * Ministers explained that the Government had come to the conclusion that existing Fire Prevention arrangements whilst greatly improved, were still inadequate for the protection of the country and that a new approach was called for to the whole question In their view Fire Prevention must involve an obligation of citizenship com- parable to that involved in other part-time civil defence services. It would still be necessary for fire prevention duties in factories and business premises to be carried out by the management and the workers at those premises 5 and the Government would insist on full and prompt consultation between employers and work people, while in the event disagreement of the matter would be referred to the appropriate authority for decision. The Government recognised that this approach involved the assumption by the State in some form of financial obligation in relation to the expenses incurred. In these circumstances the Government took i.i s view, that the standard of individual allowances should be broadly equivalent to that adopted for other civil defence services and as applied to industrial conditions this would appear normally to be 3/~ for a day or night of duty, with possible adjustments upwards or down- wards for unusually long or short periods of attendance. The Government wished however to avoid any unnecessary interference with existing agreements. The Trades Union Congress representatives stated that as the basis of negotiation had been entirely altered by the Government’s announcement of policy they were without authority to continue discussions at the present stage and must consult their constituents. The employers’ representatives intimated their readiness to accept the new "basis in principle. MINISTRY OF HOME SECURITY 10.7.41. N0 .33. GIFTS FOR AIRCRAFT The Minister of Aircraft Production acknowledges with gratitude the following gifts towards the purchase of aircraft A Doctor in the Midlands has sent a cheque for £2.2.0d« This donation represents fees received forattending a Sergeant Pilot and he •wishes them to be placed towards the cost of a Spitfire. The pupils at Loretto College have sent a cheque for £7O as a donation towards a bomber. 8 young girls have sent a postal order for the sum of 13/3d towards the cost of a Spitfire, This money was earned by the girls, who spent two afternoons cutting hemlock for a chemical factory. 10 Scottish schoolgirls have sent £l5 towards the cost of a Spitfire. This amount was raised when they hired the village hall and gave a concert. 7/- From the Grove School Approved Home, Limp ley Stoke, collected in their "Grumbling Hurricane Box”. Any member of the staff caught grumbling is fined a penny. £1.1.0. From Mothers in the Wypbury Maternity Home, Woking, In the worths of the Matron, "Mostly all those mothers have been bombed out of theirhomes, and arc a little anxious to return the compliment”. £10.7,6. Proceeds of an entertainment given by 28 cripple girls of the" School of Stitchcry and Lace”, Bookham, to bpy a bomb. £367*3.10. From Ruislip North Wood S.F.. making £3,868.19.7. in all. £516.17.0. From Sabi, Eastern Transvaal, South Africa,(£2l,l7.o. of this camo from Pilgrims Rest, a small mining village). £1400.0.0. From the of Cardiff, towards Cardiff S, F. which Mayor now totals £17,200. - MINISTRY OF AIRCRAFT PRODUCTION 10.7.41 N 0.35. Air Ministry News Service Ar Ministry Bullet in No. 444’ PILOT RESCUED AFTER 80 MINUTES SV/TM A YiTelsh Sergeant Pilot, who swam for 1 hour 20 minutes before being rescued, has now been credited with an Me. 109 which he shot down before baling out. Y/hile escorting a bombing raid on Northern France recently, he saw two Me.lo9*s below him and dived to attack. He fired at one and saw it hit the ground but was himself almost immediately at tanked, and his aircraft ’hit, by the second Me, Turning quickly, he caught his opponent with a short burst of cannon and machine gun fire which sent the He. over on to its back and into a spin. He than turned his damaged fighter for home and had reached the French coast when his engine began to fail. He had neared the English Coast when his stopped and he forced to engine was bale out. The dinghy atta.ched to his para.chute pack was damaged and useless, so abandoning it, he set out to swim for the shore. An hour and 20 minutes later, still swimming strongly, he was picked up hy an air/sea rescue service launch and taken to hospital. On his recovery he made his report to the intelli- gence officer and a.dded another to his squadron’s list of confirmed victories which is already well into its second century. 10,7,4-1 No, Air Ministry N0»4450 AIR MINISTRY COMMUNIQUE Early this afternoon, formations of Blenheim aircraft of the Bomber Command, escorted by fighters, attacked enemy shipping in the ports of Cherbourg and Le Havre, Si:c ships, totalling over 20,000 tons, were hit by bombs, and it'is considered that each of the vessels is a total loss. Quays, dockside buildings and gun emplacements were also bombed. Heavy bombers, with a fighter escort, attacked a chemical works and adjoining railway sidings at Chocques, near Bethune, In the course of those operations the escorting fighters had fierce with unable to engagements enemy fighters which were prevent our bombers from hitting their targets. Twelve enemy fighters were destroyed in these combats. Ten of our fighters and two bombers are missing. 10.7.41 N0.37. Air Ministry N0.LA.51 AIR MINISTRY AND MINISTRY OF HOI® SECURITY COMMUNIQUE? Up to eight o’clock this evening no reports have been received of any activity over this country today* The of down crew an enemy bomber shot during the night of July 7/8 have been picked up at sea* This bx*ings the total of enemy bombers destroyed during the raids on this country on that night to six* Please check against delivery 10.7.41. No. 38 WAR COIvWNTARY Following is the text of tonight’s War Commentary by Air Commodore R.V. Goddard, C.8.E., in the 8.8.C. Home Service at 9«20 p.m. :- It’s rather hot for Geography, but please just follow me round a map. I want to describe an area. I’ll promise to go slowly. We'll start at Iceland, then Murmansk (you know, north-west corner of Russia), Baghdad, Khartoum, Nigeria, Newfoundland, and back to Iceland. Nov/ that’s the main area of operations. In that vast the there’s been in about 20 different area, during past month, war countries besides the vaster spaces of the sea. I'd have liked to start at the top, with Iceland and the strategical significance of American this in the Forces at key point European war zone. I’d have liked to go on round the map down the battling Russian front; then through Syria, where joy now jostles for sorrow's place; the Middle East, where the 3 services are earning under blazing skies; success and then on to of Abyssinia, where a magnificent and campaign is now at its closing stage vast victory and liberation. After that I f d have liked to visit France, Germany, the Atlantic and then Home, to take note of encouraging progress in the Air War. But time’s short - so I’ve chosen Just two of the governing aspects of the war which influence the whole trend of events. L*m going say something about to weapons of Air Power and then something about the Nazi plans for conquest. In 1937 I was a member of the Air Staff Mission that went to see the German Air Force. Everything of the best was put into the shop •window for us. We saw all but 3 of the Nazi aeroplane types whose numbers are so well known to now. you The types we saw then, some of them already formed in squadrons are still today first-line equipment of the Luftwaffe, although of course improved in various ways. later that same year, 1937, a German Air Staff Mission, headed hy General Milch, paid a return visit to the Royal Air Force, and saw our latest types. The interesting fact is that, except for one squadron of early Blenheims, now superseded, none of the squadrons in Great Britain new is still equipped with the types we had in our squadron then., All the other 1937 types have heen superseded hy radically different and better types. Luftwaffe, on the other hand, not In the a single squadron yet encountered has heen re-equipped with any new type which was not already in the service in some form or other when the war began; improved versions, yes - but no radically new design. Perhaps next week, or next month, we'll see some new enemy in the shy - hut that won’t alter the fact that we planned to lead in technical development and we've done it. I think you know we'd taken the lead, not yet in total numbers, but in flying equipment. What's true of flying equipment is true also of many other developments in our Air Force. You probably heard what Lord Beaverbrook said about one of these developments - Radio When gossip was rife in 1937 about some marvellous Location. but quite imaginary magnetic Death Ray, for bringing down aeroplanes German the - Air Staff was going ahead on its great plan forßadio Location a cardinal factor - in air defence. One of my reasons for mentioning these technical developments is to sound a note of -warning. Please don't suppose that the technical lead we’ve achieved in various directions is going to the dangers which threaten us. remove Wonderful as these achievements are, nothing except sun can turn night into day; the God alone can move clouds and the ocean of darkness that is called night. So while we can he thankful that our dangers are lessened we must remember that those dangers can't he removed except by the utter defeat of the Luftwaffe, a slew process in which Russia is now aiding us. /It 2 It may not have occurred to you that I’ve been talking about an aspect of strategy. How did we obtain, this strategical technical ascendacy? Partly by taking hard and courageous decisions boldly, years ago, to go for certain developments. Those were decisions of strategy, involving wide and far-seeing planning on a great scale. The Germans have no monopoly in technical strategy - like the Japanese they are better copyists than originators* The Russians, as always, have gone for great numbers, and the cost of keeping great numbers up to the latest standards is, of course, prohibitive. So, although they’ve certainly got fighters in the Hurricane class, much of their Air Force is not of the most modern design* But they have proved themselves pioneers in certain directions and courageous in all* I wonder, by the way, if Dr* Goebbels knows by now how many of those Russian aircraft, blitzed on the ground at the start, were dummiesB The Russians knew the ’drill* for the standard Blitzkrieg* In Britain we’ve got to retain cur technical lead. In collaboration with America, I feel sure we shall. It means unremitting effort in thought and in design. And if you’re working for us on the factory front, then you know fellow air*-warrior with the airmen and airwomen of tae Royal you’re a Air Force. It’s up to us - we're partners - may your brains and fingers fly and fight in tune with ours. This allusion to the vital personal side of the problem reminds me that I’ve been among and of the Air Force, far away from here. recently men women Many of the men I met in a hospital have given more than I can tell you. Do they grudge their wounds? Not a bit! All they grouse about is not being ■' allowed to go back into the fight* And he comradeship of united service, where women more and more are taking the place of men, is an aspect of war which seems really good to me* While away, I saw, too- something of one of the great training organisations where our future air crews get ready to grow their wings. That’s one of the places where pride of countin’ glows in the eyes. Air crews in the making - you should see them! The evolution of scientific equipment , the manufacture of it, and the training of men and women to use it, are all bound up in the words "Weapon Ascendacy". It has to bo planned* Ir. this connection I remember a striking painting in an ante-room at Crpnuell., where we used to train our officers. When the German Air Mission was at Crsnv.-ell I caught them unawares deriving sardonic amusement from the symbolism of that pictuv e. It showed a lion, eyes half open, contemplating, and five lion cubs sprawling beside it, seemingly asleep, basking in the sun - nothing else in sight! Nov; I don’t suppose those Nazi officers detected anything like a sphinx in the Trafalgar Square attitude of that Lion. But they must know now that we owe our success in the air very largely to decisions made years before about equipment, organisation and training. Now let me give you another picture to consider •• this time a newspaper diagram* It relates to the other thing I want to talk about - the Nazi pland for it after Munich time it conquest. Maybe you saw sone years ago - soon - made a deep impression on me, and I think it must have done so on you, if you studied it* It was published in a London daily paper, apparently having been smuggled out of the Nazi Headquarters in Suletonland when the Germans grabbed that borderland of Czechoslovakia* The picture was a sequence of maps showing what purported, to be the Nasi plans □ It showed, the successive Nazi invasions. The invasion of Austria and. Czechoslovakia, was to be completed, in 191Ct Hungary and Poland - the whole of Poland. - were to fall in 1939. Yugoslavia, Roumania and Bulgaria were br’lled for 1940. Denmark, the Low Countries and the northern half of France were to go in the Spring of 19+1 (note that - 1941) the Ukraine and the Caucasus (north of the Black Sea) were to be conquered, in the Autumn of 1941. But only the Ukraine# and the Caucasus, not the whole of European Russia. Well/ ■3 that’s the of and it’s quite like what has Well, top half the picture - happened, except that Russia is fighting for the Ukraine and the Caucasus. The British Isles don't appear in the series of maps. Britain’s supposed to be lookiing on all this time - getting impressed. In the lower half of the picture there was just one map of Gross Deutschland - Greater Germany -to be realised by 1948. This map showed the whole of Burope, under Nazi including the British Isles, Western Russia from Archangel to domination, the Caspian Sea, Persia, Turkey and Arabia. The borders of the Mediterranean were very decently awarded to the Akxis partner Mussolini. That was the Nazi picture - of their plans for conquest. And I surmise that those conquests were to be achieved in the same style as the seizure of Austria, Czechoslovakia and Denmark - Hungary, Roumania,and Bulgaria - that is to say, by the menace of overwhelming force on the frontiers and Quislings ,so conquest within that should be swift and easy. Like Jericho, the trumpet would sound and. the walls collapse. Well, it hasn’t happened like that chiefly because of the staggering fact that - Great Britain was at all costs determined to fight. That fact was not included in the German strategic plans. According to them, the Lion was to remain dignified and dozing. Well, British strategy, in a nutshell, I'd say, was the choice to do the right and courageous thing - to fight, and by fighting, to induce others to fight on the side of right and freedom, with their weapons, their hands and their hearts. And. what the results of the strategy of choosing the are courageous right thing? You know as well as I do. One is America. Another is that we're hitting harder and Germany's beginning to see the writing on the wall and. to hear the 'V* - for Victory insistently tapping out the doom of Nazidom in the oppressed countries they’ve had to accelerate their plans. But a most important result of our strategy is that instead, of Germany deliberately confronting Russia with the whole of her armed might, she has been thrust into a Titanic struggle, both agianst Russia and against Time a struggle - far beyond her expectations. Instead of concentrating what might have been -if wo had not chosen to fight - a greatly expanded air force against Russian Ukraine - instead of that, a depleted. Luftwaffe, dispersed along a 1,000-mile front, is strung-out against an air force which, though less experienced and developed, may well double the Gorman numbers. Those vital facts emerge chiefly from the central fact that we adopted the strategy of right action, fighting action, in 1959* The central fact is a cameo of British genius. Long views are trumps. However the Battle of Russia goes, one thing is certain, it’s not going as the Germans intended it should. Will Germany emerge stronger or weaker, to turn again on us? We shall see. Meanwhile, I hope you won’t imagine that we might now do fantastic things while the enemy’s back is turned. We're doing great work in the common cause, and. in helping Russia now. Butthe local and temporary air ascendancy we can carry across the Channel into the fringe of the Continent within the range of our fighter sweeps is by no means the same thing as the air dominance we'd need, for land and. sea operations. There’s long to go yet. The splended fact to seize that -upon is a way the process has begun. Taking everything into consideration - that is, everything you really know about do you think we could have done much better than we have done since we went to war, in reaching the situation? I doubt it. present Do you know I’m corning to the conclusion that the British process known as ’’muddling through” will appear to future historians as a genius for picking the path of right action amid the fog and dust of controversy* How we suffer, and cause suffering, in our strivings for right actin,' But we do find more right answers - than the others, in the end. BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION 10.7.41 N 0.39. Air Ministry News Service Air Ministry Bulletin No.AWB WEN TIE CLOCKS STRUCK The timing of three large scale raids on Northern Franco today was so perfect tha.t, as the clocks in the three market each target began to strike halfpast the squares near twelve, fighters led the way over and the bombs began to fall. The targets were a chemical works near Bethune, and shipping in the docks at Cherbourg and Le Havre. From each operation the fighter pilots returned full of praise for the accuracy of the bombing and with stories of great damage caused. ! They shot down and destroyed at least twelve Me.lo9 s - some of the latest F types - with a loss of ten British fighters missing. One pilot who destroyed an Me. was one of Fighter Command top scorers last year. "We saw two Mes, right in front of the squadron", he said, "The C.O, took one; I took the other. The dived down and we closed straight in behind them and got enemy in pretty good bursts. The one I was attacking began to smoke. A second later it was on fire and I last saw the aircraft diving down vertically with the tail blazing. ’’The Germans were obviously waiting for but we did not us, meet as much opposition as we expected, docks were amazing an sight. One moment they were normal and then - bang, bang, bang - and they were blazing from ond to end, Die bombers certainly did their stuff.” 10.7.41. No.AO. Air Ministry News Service Ministry Bulletin Ajr.Ministry Air Bulletin N0.2i4A9» N0.A149. GEW SHIPS BOMBED IN FRENCH HARBCtf!T~ In twenty five seconds, Blenheim aircraft of Bomber Command hit with their bombs four German ships in the port of Le Havre today. With a strong fighter escort as a protective screen, the Blenheims swooped, out of the clear Blue sky and. came very low over the harbour. One merchant vessel of 6,000 tons had. a direct hit in the stern; a tanker of about 2,000 tons and.heavily laden was struck amidships and bombs were seen to enter the hull; a ship of about 3,000 tons was set on fire and smoke; and a vessel of emitted clouds of black about 7,000 tons had two direct hits. A ship of about 1,500 tons moored alongside a wharf was hit by incendiaries and probably by high explosives. Eveiything possible was machine-gunned and one air-gunner out over enemy country for the first time machine-gunned the crew of an A.A, post in the harbour. They did not reply. Coming away, a rear-gunner saw a pile of smoke drifting slowly inland. Over the Channel, a solitary Me. 109 slipped past the fighters and attacked one of the Blenheims which dived almost to sea level. The Me. made three stem attacks at about 30 feet above the water and then broke away. The only damage to the Blenheim was one bullet hole in the tail. Another force of escorted Blenheims made an attack on enemy shipping in Cherbourg harbour. Immediately after a tanker of about 7,000 tons had been hit there was an explosion with clouds of black smoke, and when a merchant vessel was hit debris and smoke shot into the air. On land, warehouses were set alight and emplacements, gun bombed. While these two attacks were in progress heavy bombers, also in the company of'fighters, were making their way to the chemical works at Chocques, near Bethune. Sticks of very heavy bombs wore dropped, right across the works and also on adjoining railway buildings and sidings* There was much opposition from A. A. guns round the. target and also while our bombers were crossing the coast. 10.7.41 No.. 42. A ir_Ministry. N0.4453.* AIR MINISTRY 001MJNIC-uE r It is now known, that in today s offensive operations, 13 One of our enemy fighters were destroyed by our fighters, fighters, previously reported missing, has returned and the pilot of another lias been rescued. Our losses are therefore 9 fighters, the pilot of one being safe* 10/7/41 No. 43 Air Ministry News Service Air Ministry Bulletin No. 1452 13 ENjSMI AIRCRAFT DOW Latest reports naw show that 13 enemy aircraft were destroyed when bombers, escorted by fighters, made three raids on Northern France today. We lost 9 fighters, but one pilot was picked up uninjured on the sea. While over France today, a Czech sergeant pilot became separated from his squadron as he was chasing an Me. 109. The Me. eluded him and shortly afterwards he found himself over an aerodrome with enemy aircraft parked round the landing ground. He determined that if he could not get Me. in the air he would at least get the he a one on ground, so dived down on the aerodrome and sprayed the parked aircraft with his guns Another pilot attacked an army lorry near Dunkirk and saw it go up in flames. Two of today’s 13 were shot down by an Australian Pilot Officer. A Squadron Leadei, returning alone after being separated from his squadron in a dog-fight, was attacked from above by four Mes. He turned on them, shot one down. and damaged another. The remaining two made off quickly. Later in the day a Free French pilot came down to 50 feet over a French aerodrome and fired his cannon at a German plane in the middle of the landing ground. He saw the undercarriage collapse and the aircraft fall ever on one wing. Another pilot or. patrol dived, down to 50 feet on four yellow-nosed Men. Parked on an aerodrome near the French coast and gave two of them a long hurst with his cannon.