Mexborough & Swinton Times – Saturday 03 October 1942
Still the Sure Shield
Convoys have been in the news more than usual recently. The Government’s latter day reticence about sea traffic has perforce been relaxed in several Instances.
In the case of the Malta convoy and the huge Armada which swept round the coast of Norway to deliver much needed supplies to Russia some account of these operations was expected as a matter of course. As for the boastful German claims of a mortal blow against an Atlantic convoy, alleged to be bringing American troops across, a statement was necessitated by the grave implication of the Nazi story, but in refuting circumstantial bragging our own official statement was a model of taciturnity.
The threadbare ruse of attempting to provoke an explanation helpful to themselves now no longer serves the Germans. Nevertheless, they remain past masters at painting a picture calculated to impress as well as depress, and their gloating references to an engagement, the result of which they claimed to be tantamount to a defeat on the field of battle, carried some weight until discredited by the fiat British denial.
On the whole the war at sea continues to be a stealthy affair, with most of the news coming from Germany and some from America, while on this side of the Atlantic only the most generalised comments are officially released. From the bombastic lies manufactured by Dr. Goebbels and the cautious admissions of the United Nations, it is possible to hazard only a vague estimate of the true position. It seems, however, that if Hitler is not having matters all his own way, neither are we.
In his latest speech the Fuehrer declaimed that his U-boats were surpassing all their previous feats, while a few days earlier Ribbentrop permitted himself the grandiloquent guarantee that it would always be possible for the U-boats to sink more tonnage than the Allies could replace. In the light of experience such remarks from such lips can almost be taken as giving support to our own guarded claims to have reduced the sinkings of merchant ships. This, together with the wonderful ship -building efforts which are being made in our own yards and those of America and Canada, tends to discount the frenzied German efforts, but we are not yet destroying the U-boats faster than they can be built. This is a serious matter.
Germany seeks to stop the Second Front by gaining a strangle-hold on the Atlantic supply line. Success eludes her, but even partial success gives the Nazis precious respite while they strain for a decision in the East.
For this reason it was cheering to hear from the First Lord of the Admiralty that the Navy, which has taken some shrewd knocks since war was declared, has not only regained but increased its old might. The demonstration of power in the last convoy on the Murmansk route mightily confirmed these pronouncements. There was reassuring aggressiveness about the way the Navy handled the German sea and air forces launched against the convoy.
The Navy, staunchly supported by its American counterpart, must in the coming days safeguard and guarantee the most vital link in the United Nations’ offensive. Not only before, but during and after the opening of a Second Front, the Navy’s is a key responsibility.
The Senior Service has never failed us yet. It will not do so at this crucial phase of the war.