Factors Ensuring Victory
Page 13
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THAT we shall win this war we have no shadow of doubt, but the time that will be taken in doing so depends very largely upon how wholeheartedly we develop our full strength.
Writing last June to Hitler's chief adviser on transport, we remarked to him that, because we had accepted rebuffs in the past, it would be a grave mistake on the part of the German people to consider this as a permanent sign of weakness, and each occasion merely made our national feeling stronger, and united all classes of political opinion. We added that whilst the British are sometimes slow to act or retaliate, like the proverbial British bulldog, once they bite, they do not let go until the task is finished.
There must be no spirit of complacency. Every one of us must do his bit to the best of his ability. We have enormous resources, both in men and material, but, with a far-flung Empire such as ours, it takes time to gather strength. We may have invasion in one form or another, we may be bombed, or even machine-gunned in our streets, but if we hold tight Hitler and his satellites are bound to fail.
The institution of the blitzkrieg is really a confession of weakness. It means staking all in a throw, or, possibly, more than one throw. If the lightning war fails to achieve its objective, it will materially reduce the resources of those who have launched it and who have expended man power, machinery and vital material at a prodigal rate.
Material Reserves Will Force Decision It is impossible accurately to compute the losses or gains on either side. The mere fact that a particular tract of country has been gained really means little, except that the war is brought closer to our shores. The really important factor is the extent of the resources still left to those who are fighting. Germany is said by neutral experts to have expended something like 50 per cent, of its mechanized forces in achieving its present objectives. It might even have paid .us to have given them these at such a cost.
We also have had losses in men and material, but not on the same scale, and whereas we can build up from world-wide supply points, those of the enemy are strictly limited. Take the matter of fuel alone ; it is computed that, at the present rate of consumption, Germany is using at least twice as much as she is able to replace. Admittedly, the country may have large stocks, but, eventually, the basic weakness is bound to tell.
It is obvious to us that Hitler has in his mind the domination of the entire world, and if the Allies were beaten that would almost automatically result. Distance now loses its value as a safeguard, the 22 miles from Calais to Dover being practically as safe as are the thousands of miles between Europe and America.
Enemy Six Per Cent. of World It is, however, inconceivable that nations of some 120,000,000, all of whom are by no means adherents of the Nazi policy, should dominate the hundreds of millions comprising the remainder of the population of the world. Between them, France and Britain have, without taking into account their Colonial interests, a population equal to that of Germany, and this is multiplied many times if we include all those who vow allegiance to the British or French flags. We have the resources of the whole world, with the exception of German-dominated countries, at our call, and, if we hold, as we shall, there can be no possible prospect of defeat, for our strength is cumulative, whereas that of the enemy must deteriorate.
We are not amongst those who express themselves as being tremendously surprised at the progress which the enemy has made so far. We have visited Germany on many occasions since 1925, and have been able to follow fairly closely the manner in which the whole nation has been co-ordinated and regimented into a machine with one purpose in view.
Years past we knew that the Germans were building underground aerodromes, an acquaintance having stumbled across one of these during a walking tour, whilst, at least four years ago, an English friend, who had been resident in Berlin ever since our troops marched into Germany, warned us of the way things were going and said that if Britain did not wake up soon, it would he too late. Britain has awakened, and we believe, although somewhat late, not too much so as to prevent ultimate victory.