World War, PROPAGANDA FRONT: Bombast in Perspective

One year ago this week, when the Battle of Britain was reaching its height, German and Italian radio stations broadcast the following statements:

Hamburg: “We are inclined to see in the British determination to hold out longer a terrible piece of military ignorance.”

Rome: “The Italian population knows that the total defeat of Britain is only a matter of a few days now.”

Berlin: “Gigantic air battles have occurred almost daily. But these air battles are not fought over Germany or France or elsewhere on the Continent, but in the air over the British Isles. . . . The Churchill lines have begun to sway even before a German soldier has set foot on the soil of the British island.”

Zeesen: “The prominent Italian military expert, General Bellati, reports that the strategical importance of the conquest of British Somaliland lies in the removal of the continuous British threat to Ethiopia.”

Rome: “The Italians have not allowed the British to carry off even a handful of soil from Somaliland, which will remain forever Italian territory.”