8/2/2019 War Reviewed 1939

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~ War Reviexvedforce, and l o s t only a half-dozen

By W R PLEWMAN freighters . I f that could be accom-

The report from Copenhagen, pu s he d , t h er e i s no t e l l i n g what they .

that a nava l b a t t l e was i n p ro gr es s . ( n i g h t achieve by a de t e rmined and

j u s t -nor th o f . t h e Grea t B e l t , the resourcefule f f o r t now The amaz -

main ent rance t o the B a l t i c , has ~ii ng Increasem airplane range and

be en wi t hd ra wn , a s l ackin g co n- pv'ermakes i t doubtful, t o s ay the

f i rmat ion . But naval and a i r force l e a s t ,that such e f f e c t i v e convoy-

opera t ions necessari ly a re g oi ng on i ng lose t o German territory andin that v i c i n i t y. None o f t h e c h a n -

wa ters ca n be provided now .

nels connec t ing t he Balt ic wi th the Thechief Dan i s h p o r t s , unfor-

tunately, ar e loca ted on t he e a s tNorth s ea are more than ? 5 f e e t . Iside o f that count ry . The sh ips of ,

Denmark could not get t o a Nor-v~egian rendezvous t o obtain con-voy t o Eng l a n d wi thout c ro s si ng t h e ~60-mile wide 5kage r r ak northward

f in ed w at e rs and close - t o merman The dai ly reports o fgunf i re i n al l ,

the waters around Denmark ando f f the coast of Norway p rove t h eintensi ty o f t h e clash o f wills i nt ha t r eg io n .

deep and they a re s tud ded wi this lands . They l en d t he ms el ve s t omining and are suitable fo r sub-m i n ac t ' t As the a re con-r e Ivl y, y

ai r and nava l b a s e s , Brit ish war-s h i p s , which ar e t ry ing t o preventGermany from s topping t rade be -tween Sweden and Britain and be -tween Denmark and B r i t a i n , f a c egrea t d i f f i c u l t i e s. Danish watersconstitute a na tura i t rap

fo r Brit ish ' Murmansk, and t h e Germans o f f i -war sh ip s which , however, ar e no t dai ly report that it has l e f t f o r ade te r red thereby from using them t o ,German port . German statementshamper Germany ' s designs . abou t the movements of th e vesselGermany has "picked an" Swed i sh must be regarded c r i t i c a l l y . Thet r ade . Sweden has l o s t more v e s - freighter l e f t Tromso , Norway, l a t es e t s t h a n ha s any other n e u t r a l , l a s t Saturday and reached Mur-r r o r e t r i a n 2U of her ships having '~been sunk . Hit ler wishes t o 'makeSweden do business wi th 'Germany,exclusively, He e ou ld n at . carry onhe war beyond a y e a r , , probably ;wi t h ou t i ron ore from Swed-en.Fi gu res a re n ot available but ,heres some reason fo r bel ieving that 'weden i s sending l e s s i ron ore t oGermany t o d a y than she was i n a

imilar per iod i n the worldwar

Germany's at tacks on Swed i sh ship-ing h a ve a ng er ed the Swedes . Ger-

many cannot pay cash fo r hermpor t s .

Convoying Neut ra l s

Britain, no doubt, has been t r y -ng to establ ish a convoy sys temo r Swedish ships carrying supplieso Bri ta in . She i s compe t i ng wi thGermany fo r Sweden ' s t radingavors and can e a s i l y o ut bi d Ge r-many provid ing t h a t she can pro-ide s a f e conduct en route . Oneould th ink that t h i s was a hope-es s t a sk , i f t r a f f i c has t o go t h roughhe Great Belt and Kat tega t ; and

o ~probably i t i s a t t h i s stage o fhe war when the A l l i e s have not .stabl ished mas t e r y of the a i r . Butwedish t r a d i x l g vessels might beble t o get out t o the North Seay k e e p i n g t o their c o a s t a l watersnti l t he y r ea ch ed a point o f f theorwegian coas t where convoysould be provided . I n coastal watersey might be p ro te ct ed by Swed- I,h armed t rawlers .The Brit ish performed marve l sa i t h t he convoy sy s t em 2 5 yearsgo . They convoyed near ly 2 , 0 0 0utch ships from the Hook o fo l l a n d t o Harwich r ight under theoses o f t he German navy and a i r

Ci ty of Flint Moves OnThe U S . s t e amer City o f Flint

ha s b ee n o rd e re d by Russ ia t o leave

mansk on Monday . IVeariy L,uvU( m i l e s separate Murmansk f rom t h eneares t German port . That distancecould not be covered by the City~ f Flint i n l e s s than f i v e days . Con-; ra ry t o many r e p o r t s , s he may have: e f t Murmansk under a German

' p r i z e crew, bu t possibly f lying theUn i t e d States f l a g , on Tuesday. Atthe e a r l i e s t s he could r e ach a Ger-

man por t by Sunday o r Monday .She might be able t o s l i p t h rought h e Brit ish naval p a t r o l , pe rhapswi th the he lp o f - t h e Deutsch land ,but we may be s ur e the Brit ish navywill make an e f f o r t t o ga ther i t i n .

War Has Gone Well~Leaving au t o f considerat ion theGerman conques t o f Poland , thewar, s o f a r has gone extraordinarlywell f o r the A l l i e s on both the m i l i -tary front and t he diplomatic front :When the war began Germany hada mili tary a l l i a n c e wi th I t a l y , acon sul t at i ve pa ct wi th Rus si a t h a tappea r ed t o contempla te joint m i l i -t a ry act ion i n support o f a se-

appo r t i onmen t o f Europe and aloose und er s t a n d i ng m i t h . Japan . To -day the Ber l i n -Rome axis appearsto be a t hi ng o f t he past . Underpresen t conditions, I t a l y refuses t omake war on the s id e o f Germany .

IThe mili tary a l l i a n c e between Ger-many and I ta ly ha s no t been form-a l l y ended bu t i t seems t o be im-probable that i t ever wi l l l ea d t hetwo na t ions t o make common causeagainst Bri ta in and France . Russ iaha s blocked Germany on the e a s t

and sou thea~ and -ai tnougri she- f i n s

bef r iended Germany m a number

o f minor r e s p e c t s , she appears t obe

gett ing r e ady fo r a possible con-

f l i c t with Germany . Hit ler ha s

placed himself more and more a t

t he mercy o f S t a l i n , who today

holds the f a t e o f Germany i n the+hol low o f h i s hand . I f H i t l e r , un-IIs c ru p ul o us o p po rt u ni s t a s he i s ,would make Germany Commun i s t ,Stalin might give inva luab le ai d .Were H i t l e r , i n desperat ion, t o a t -tempt any th i ng o f the s o r t a t t h i ss t a g e , he would b e - ove r t h rownby hi s generals, _who then mightmake terms with Brita in andFr nce

A Steady ImprovementAs f o r Japan , s he ha s been

morta l ly offended by Germany andwishes s h e c ou ld make friends withBritain and France wi thou t givingup her conques t o f China. Spain,Hunga ry, Yugos lavia and even Bu i -g a r i a , a l l have become l e s s cordialt o

Germany . Turkey, a key power,has a l igned herself defini tely withthe A l l i e s and t o some extent ha sbrought a l l o f I s l am along wi th herShe ha s bolstered up the Ba l k a nfront f o r t h e A l l i e s , with some he lpfrom I t a l y. Germany may no t daret o t ry t o smash t h r o u gh t h e Bal-kans t o get war material t h a t Ise s s e n t i a l t o h e r , wi thou t t he s ay s oo f Russia, which persistently with-holds t he s i g n a l. A similar con-~d i t i o n e x i s t s wi th respect t o Scan-dinavia, a l th ou gh R us s ia appears t obe aggressive I n that quarter fo rreasons o f her own t h a t a re omin -ous fo r Germany

One cannot f o r e t e l l what s t rangeturn t he war may t ake . The onlysound policy fo r the A l l i e s on thedip lomat ic front i s t o do what i sethically and moral ly r i g h t , rathert h a n what may appear t o be smar tand expedien t . The ultra-clever,playing-safe policy has involved thewor ld i n e nough t r a g i c conse-quences: Oh t he mi li ta ry f r o n t , apolicy o f maste r ly I n ac t i v i t y o f f er sthe b e s t results for the present .Britain and France have been giventwo months o f r e l at iv e , quiet i nwhich t o strengthen their defencesand i t i s Inconceivable that theGerman war mac hi n e, f ormi da bl ea s i t i s , can smash a way t h rought o v i c t o ry ,. e i t h e r now or i n thespr ing . The longer t h e enemy de -lays a grand o f f e n s i v e , the l e s s w i l lbe hi s chances o f success .

Anx i e t y LesseningBy t h i s t ime t h e A ll i e s f e e l than

they h ave t ak en t he measure o f theGerman a i r force . I t s quali ty i simpress ive and when i t s ' bombersget t o work i n earnest it s powermay s t a r t l e the wor ld . But theAllied a i r force s hou ld be a match

nearly a l l anxie ty abi n the a i r shou ld st he spring, i f not a tt e, the A l l i e s shouldsuperior i n the a i r .

hnt i t i s the German he~ - b ~ i gguns and mortars-L f y the most uneasincause we know i t i s v

1 5 t Tack precise in formao i l s I; s t r e n t h i n relation t o

34 .1 4 .- g34,~4 l i e s . Bri ta in and Fras4.ls ou t guns . at a r k , es4 .s 7 ; g34 .39 and have the "capaci ty30 .1445 .G0 g Germany Wheth'1 .0 7 now ar e o f a caiibre5o .s525 .77 ~ s e o f Germany we doX4 . 1 ". h in format ion a s : is .. as .5s

i s4 4~ourag ing. The subma

^ o .s o nought unde r control1 _ 4 ~ i~ n pocket batt leshipsi 4 . s s ~ appear t o be : at s l a

scored heavily a sders . Bri ta in s t i l l ri; and i s app ly ing a

Ut i l .26 .2126 . ::12G . ` ' 012 6.3 ]26 .35G, : 3G

2G .262s .1127 .1s o . 7,^ 5 .19i5 .1 .437 .541.9 .6 516 .6 344 . f i 1

54 .9145 .0352 .03

yEnemy's i n i t i a t i v eNt i v e m the war belbecause,tlie A l l i e s ,

ding inevi tably f ort t o l e t t h e enemy invfurther Trouble . F i efrom the deadly cll i e s have on hi s tht i c k i n g neut ra l coun+ gfr ightfulness i n the

turn the . ,world ag~S e h i s enemie s andRaus ~Aany i n . t e r r i f i c pun43 .6

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8/2/2019 War Reviewed 1939

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The War R_evie t ,~edf o r c e , and l o s t only a Half-dozen

By . W R PLEWMAN freighters . I f that could be accom-

The report from Copenhagen, pu s he d , t h er e i s no t e l l i n g what they

that a naval b a t t l e was i n p r og r es s might achieve by a de t e rminedand

j u s t nor th o f . t h e Great B e l t , t h e resourceful e f f o r tnow . The amaz -

main ent rance t o t h e B a l t i c , has ing increasem airplane range and

be en wi t hd ra wn , a s l ack ing con- pwer makesi t doubtful, t o say the

f o r i t and near ly a l l anxie ty abl e a s t , that such e f f e c t i v e convoy- Ijs c ru p ul o us o p po rt u ni s t a s he

f i rmat ion . But naval and a i r forcethe war i n the a i r shou ld s

i ng close t o German territory and ~ ouid make Germany Communoperat ions necessari ly a re g oi ng on ~ pass . By the s p r i n g , i f not a ti n that vicinity . None o f t h e t h a n -

v'aters can be p rov ided now . Stalin might g i ve i nv al ua bl e a ! e a r l i e r d a t e , t h e Allies shouldThe cluef Dan i s h p o r t s , unfor- Were H i t l e r , i n desperation, t o a marked ly superior i n t he a i r .nels c on n ec t in g t h e Balt ic wi th t h e tunately, are located on the e a s t tem t any th i ng o f the s o r t a t t k the moment i t i s the German heNorth s ea a re more than 7 5 f e e t, side o f that count ry . The sh ips o f ~

p

Denmark cou ld n ot get t o a Nor-s t a g e , he would be overthrow art i l lery-big guns and mortars

weg i a n rendezvous t o obtain con-by h'is generals , ,who then mig t ha t j u s t if y t h e most uneasin

voy t o England wi thou t crossing the +make t e rms with Britain aWnain ly because we know i t i s v

60-mile wide 5kage r r ak no r thward. ( France . .strong yet l ack precise i n fo rma

A Steady Improvement about i t s strength i n relation t oAs fo r Japan, she l a a s b e i of t h e Allies . Britain and Fra

morta l ly offended by Germany m re turn ing out guns . a t wa i l enrashes s he c ou ld make friends w mous r a t e and have t h e ' c a p a c i t i

Bri ta in and France without g i v i ~outs t r ipp ing Germany"Whethe

up her conquest o f China. Spa ; t h e i r guns now are o ' a calibre

Hunga ry, Yugos lav ia and even Bt match t hos e o f Germany we do

g a r i a , a l l have become l e s s cordi know . Such in format ion a s : i s aable i s encouraging . The submat o Germany . Turkey, a key pows i s being b rough t unde r controlha s a l igned herself defini tely wi t he German pocket bat t leships ;the Allies and t o some extent h ,brought a l l o f I s l am along wi th h e

f which appear t o be : a t lhave not scored heavily a s ~

She ha s bolstered up the Balka coerce raiders . Britain s t i l l rfront f o r t he A l l i e s , with some he t h e waves and i s app ly ing a cfrom I t a l y. Germany may not da blockade .t o t ry t o smash t h r o u gh the Ba The Enemy's I n i t i a t i v ekans t o get war material t h a t The i n i t i a t i v e m the war bele s s e n t i a l t o h e r , without t he s ay t o Germany because .t h e A l l i e s ,o f Russia, which persistently wi t ime working inevitably fo r tholds the s i g n a l. A similar c o s i d e , choose t o l et the enemy invd i t io n e xi s t swi th respec t t o Sca himself i n f u rt h e r t r oubl e . He~dinavia, a l t ho u gh Rus s i a appears not escape from the deadly clbe aggressive i n that quaPter f that t he A l l i e s have on hi s threasons o f her own t h a t ar e omi without a t t a ck i ng neu tr a l counous fo r Germany, or beg inn ing fr ightfulness i n the

One cannot f o r e t e l l what s t ran tha t will tu rn t h e _ ,wor ld agt u rn the war may take . The on him, i n cr ea s e h i s enemies andsound policy f o r th e A l l i e s on t

volve Germany in . t e r r i f i c pun

diplomatic front i s t o do what ~anent .

ethically and moral ly r i g h t , ratherthan what may appear t o be sma r tand expedien t . The u l t r a - c l e v e r ,playing-safe policy ha s involved theworld i n e nough t r a g i c conse-quences. Oh t he mili tary f r o n t , apolicy o f maste r ly inactivity o f f e r st he best r e s u l t s for the presen t .Britain and France h av e be en giventwo months o f relative quie t mwhich t o strengthen t h e i r defencesand i t i s inconceivable t h a t t h e

German war machine , formidablea s i t is , ca n smash a way t h rought o victory . .either now or i n t h espring . The longer the enemy de -lays a g r a n d o f f e n s i v e , the l e s s w i l lbe h i s chances of success .

Anx i e t y Les sen ingBy t h i s t ime t h e Allies f e e l than

they have t a k e n t h e measure o f theGerman a i r force . I t s quali ty i simpress ive and when i t s bombersget t o work i n earnest i t s powermay s t a r t l e t h e world But theAll ied a i r force s ho ul d be a .match

hol low o f h i s hand . I f Hitler t

deep and they a re s tud ded wi this lands . They l en d t he ms el ve s t omining and a re suitable fo r sub-marine activity . As they ar e con-

The dai ly reports o f gunfire i n a l l '{f ined waters and close to ~efman the waters a round Denmark ando f f the coast o f Norway prove t hes h i p s , which ar e t ry ing t o prevent intensi ty o f t h e clash o f wills i n

Germany from s topping trade be - that reg ion .tween Sweden and Britain and be - Ci ty of Flint Moves On-tween Denmark and Britain, f a c e The U S . s t e amer City o f Flintgrea t d i f f i c u l t i e s. Danish waters has been o rde r ed by Russ ia t o leaveconst i tute a

na tura l t rap f o r B r i t i s h Murmansk, and t h e Germans o f f i -warsh ips which , however, ar e not c i a l l y r ep or t t ha t i t ha s l e f t fo r ade te r red thereby from us ing them t o ,German port . German statementshamper Germany ' s des igns . about the movements o f the vesselGermany ha s "picked on" Swedish must be regarded c r i t i c a l l y . Thet rade . Sweden ha s l o s t more ves- freighter l e f t Tromso , Norway . l a t es e t s t h a n has any other neutral, l a s t Sa tu rday and reached Mur-

ai r and nava l b a s e s , Brit ish war-

more than ~ l ) of her ships havingeen sunk . $ i t ler wi sh es t o make

Sweden do business with 'Germany,xclusively ; He could not carry onh e war beyond a y e a r , , probably .;

wi t h ou f - i ron or e from Swed-en.i g u r e s a re not available but heres some reason f or b el i ev in g t h a t ' ' p r i z e c re w, b ut possibly f lying theweden i s sending l e s s iron or e t o Un i t e d States f l a g , on Tuesday. AtGermany today t h a n . s h e was m a

imilar per iod i n the wor ld warGermany's at tacks on Swed i sh ship-in g h ave a ng er ed the Swedes . Ger-

many cannot pay cash fo r hermpor t s .

Convoying Neutrals

B r i t a i n , no doubt, has been t r y -ng t o establish a convoy sys temo r Swedish ships carrying supplieso Bri ta in . She i s compe t i ng wi thermany fo r Sweden ' s t r ad ingavors and can e a s i l y outbid Ger-many provid ing that s he can pro-ide s a f e conduct en route . Oneould th ink that t h i s was a hope -e s s t a s k , i f t r a f f i c has t o go t h r o u ghhe Great Bel t and Kattegat , ando ' probably i t i s a t t h i s s tage o fhe war when t he A l l i e s have no t .tabl ished mas t e r y o f the a i r . Butwed i s h t rad ing vessels might beble t o get out t o t h e North Seay k e e p i n g t o their coastal watersnti l they reached a poin t o f f theorwegian coast where convoysould b e p ro vi d ed . In coastal waters 'ey might be protected by Swed-h armed t rawlers .The Brit ish performed marvelsa i t h t h e convoy sy s t em 2 5 yearso . They convoyed near ly 2 , 0 0 0utch sh ips f rom the Hook o fo l l a n d t o Harwich r ight unde r theses o f the German navy and a i r

in ansk on Monday . Near ly 2 , 0 0 0(miles separate Murmansk f rom theneares t German p o r t . That distancecould not be covered by the C i t y~f Flint i n l e s s t h a n f i v e days . Con-: r a r y t o many r e p o r t s , she . ma y h avee f t Murmansk unde r a Germnm

t he e a r l i e s t she could reach a Ger-

man port by Sunday or Monday .She might be able t o s l i p - t h r o u ght he Brit ish naval p a t r o l , pe rhapswi th the help o f - th e Deutsch iand ,but we may be s ure t he Brit ish navyw i l l make an e f f o r t t o ga ther i t in .

War Has Gone Well

I

Leav ing ou t o f considerat ion t h eGerman conquest o f Poland , thewar, s o fa r ha s gone extraordinarlywell f o r t h e Allies on both the m i l i -tary front and t h e d i pl omat i c front .When the war began Germany hada mili tary al l iance with I t a l y , aconsultat ive pac t wi th Russ ia thatappeared t o contempla te j o i n t mili-tary act ion in suppor t o f a r e -appo r t i onmen t o f Europe and aloose unde r s t and ing with J apan . To -day t he Ber l i n -Rome a x i s appearst o be a th ing o f t he p as t U nderpresent condit ions, I t a l y refuses t omake war on t he s i d e o f Germany :The mili tary alliance between Ger-many and I ta ly h as not been fo rm-a l l y ended bu t i t s eems t o be im-probable t h a t i t ever will lead theLwo na t ions t o make common causeaga ins t Britain and France . Russ iahas blocked Germany on t he e a s t

and s o u t h e a s tana a l though she-has

bef r iended Germany m a number

i o f minor r e s p e c t s , s he appearst o be

gett ing r e ady fo r a possible con-

f l i c t with Germany, Hitler has

placed himse l f more and more a t

the mercy o f S t a l i n , whotoday

oholds the f a t e o f Germany i n " ~ -

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