World War: MORALE: Answers on Action

> “Britain is sending all aid to Russia short of war.”—A bitter London wag.

> “The opening of a second front in the west is an urgent necessity, and in view of the latest news from the Russian Front we demand that this be done with the utmost speed.”—Employes of two Leeds engineering factories.

> “We are seriously disturbed at the present military situation in Russia and alarmed at the absence of effective British intervention.”—Students of University College Hospital, London.

> “Some effort must be made to create a diversion.”—Laborite Emanuel Shinwell.

> “We are not pinning down the Germans by sitting at Suez.”—The London Evening Standard.

These were only a few of the many British voices raised last week to clamor for action, action, action. The people of Britain felt that their Government and their High Command were being ridiculously penny-wise and pound-foolish in spending their ally, Russia, to save their own Army at home.

To still this clamor, the British Government and High Command took these actions:

P.D.Q. Aid really began to roll to Russia. American correspondents were permitted to visit a port in northern Britain whence tanks, fighter planes, ammunition, medical supplies and clothing were being loaded and shipped to the ally. Five ships had already sailed, three were loading, six more were expected momentarily.

B.E.F.? This week the Stockholm newspaper Aftonbladet reported that a British Expeditionary Force running into “tens of thousands” had landed at the northern

Russian port of Archangel. This may have been true. If the British had decided to send military help to Russia, Archangel would be the logical port of entry. More probably this rumor originated with the arrival of the vanguard of the British-U.S. supply ships, with-perhaps a garrison to administer unloading and a military-naval escort to protect it.

A.B.C. The British Army and Canadian Corps in Britain staged the biggest maneuvers of the war. Besides teaching the troops the A.B.C.s of both assault and defense, its primary purpose was rationalization. For the benefit of the British, the Army trotted out a really remarkable array of ordnance. For the U.S., the British censor passed articles like that of William H. Stoneman of the Chicago Daily News and New York Post: “If it were not for the R.A.F. and the Home Guard, an invading German Army equipped with Panzer divisions and several divisions of infantry could roam England, spreading havoc for at least one week, and at the end of that time could still exist as a fighting unit.”

X. The Army announced that it was training a picked shock troop. Called Commandos (Boer for the personnel of military and semimilitary expeditions against natives), this mystery unit was being toughened by long marches on skimpy rations, being taught to read maps, get through barbed wire, navigate vessels, swim in full battle equipment, handle all sorts of weapons and explosives, even master the pressure points of jujitsu.

Q.E.D. After staging vast maneuvers on India’s long-turbulent North-West Frontier, the Army announced officially: “Our troops are being prepared for the day when a vast offensive movement will be launched against the enemy.”