Daily Post - 24.11.1941, Blaðsíða 2

2
DAILY i'OST
DAILY POST
is published by
BlaSahringurinn.
Editors: S. Benediktsson.
Sgt. J. I. McGhie.
Office: 12, Austurstræti, Tel.
3715, Reykjavík. Printed by
Alþýðupr entsmiðj an.
Monday. Nov. 24, 1941 •
Bardia Falls
%
Bardia has fallen. That is to-
day’s news, and it is a great
temptation to say it is all the
news. It is not, of course; fíght-
ing still goes on around Moscow
and on other sectors of the Rus-
sian front as fiercely as at any
other time in the five months
of the Russo-German war. But
we on our side can at last point j
with legitimate pride to more |
open and visible aid to the Rus- j
sian effort than the supplies
that we have been giving them.
No more can the Germans an-
nounce with glee that the Eng-
lish will fight to the last Rus- i
sian.
As has already been said in
these columns, we must beware
of over-premature rejoicings at
our Libyan victories. The mili-
tary authorities in Cairo have
warned us that “the Hun is a
tough bird, and won’t give us
anything for nothing”. He is
many times more formidable
as an opponent than the de-
moralised and faint-hearted
Italians whom General Wavell
mopped up in such large numb-
ers in our previous push. But
we are at any rate entitled to
say, without being either rash
or vainglorious, that things
look quite encouraging. So far
not a single enemy surface
vessel has appeared, to bring to
the Axis forces in Libya the
supplies and reinforcements
that are so sorely needed. The
only two enemy petrol dumps
have had a plastering from the
Royal Air Force, and one of
them is being rapidly approach-
ed by the New Zealanders; al-
ready there are signs of short-
age of petrcl in the German
mechanised columns. The
R.A.F. and their Imperial
colleagues have complete
superiority in the air, and are
using it to the full, attaching
aerodromes, mechanised trans-
port and personnel with happy
impartiality. The Navy is
shelling German positions from
point-blank range and keeping
Ttae War imlthe Ether:
Germany’s Bogus Radio
Condensed from a talk given by W. A. Sinclair
in the Overseas Service of the B.B.C.
The Voice of the Nazi makes
itself heard in some peculiar
ways, quite different from open
propaganda broadcasts. You
could, as a matter of fact, have
forecast beforehand what some
of these would be, before they
were actually heard. Thus, we
have 'long ago learned that
when the Nazis attack any of
their neighbours. they not only
attack them with an army and
an air force, but they try to
split them internally by propa-
ganda, by working up any tend-
ency to oppose the Government
that may already exist there,
and by trying to create new
centres of opposition.
You could, therefore, fore-
cast that when the Nazis at-
tacked any country, they would
send out. from some of their
own stations, radio programm-
es which pretended to originate
inside the country in question
and to be run by “patriots” of
that country in opposition to
its Government. If many people
heard these programmes, and
were taken in by them, and
believed that they really were
run by groups within the
country, then the effect on
pulblic confidence would be
very seriously disturbing.
There was one station pre-
tending to be in Brittany
which preached Breton inde-
pendence. Similarly there was
another pretending to be in
a vigilant and hopeful look-
out for enemy surface ships.
It must be remembered that
in judging the success or fail-
ure of the present operations in
Li/bya, there is only one thing
to be considered; that is, the
degree to which it serves as a
diversion of German forces and
material from the Russian
front. So far, Bardia does not
seem to have made much dif-
ference to Moscow, but it is
early yet to judge. The fighting
in the Western Desert is not a
war in itself — it is part of the
war.
Corsica, which preached Cor-
sican independence. For Brit-
ain, the Nazis use four of their
stations. The speakers al-1 pre-
tend that they are somewhere
in the British Isles. They start-
ed running these programmes
to Britain at various dates at
the beginning of 1940.
Wherever Nazi action is
likely to take place, one of
these bogus stations duly
'appears on the air. When the
Nazis were about to attack*
Yugoslavia, two so-called
“Croat Freedom Stations”
came on the air. When trouble
was brewing in Iraq a station
calling itself “The Voice of the
Free Arabs” Was heard. When
the attack on Russia began, a
whole crop of bogus stations
appeared, claiming, one of
them, to be run by Russian
“patriots”, another by the
Bolshevik “Old Guard” in
opposition to Sta'lin; and so
forth.
The Nazis follow the same
procedure in all their bogus
stations. The speakers spend
much of their time trying to
give the impression of being
really in the country in quest-
ion, and this is usually quite
artistically done. One of the
bogus stations for Britain,
which calls itself N.B.B.S.,
plays a gramophone recording
of “Loch Lomond” at the be-
ginning, and of “God Save the
King” at the end of its pro-
grammes, and it always speaks
of Germany as “our enemy”.
On one occasion the announcer
tried artistically to confirm the
illusion by soulfully warning
his listeners not to pay atten-
tion to German broadcasts in
English. These broadcasts, he
said, “may often >be very
plausible, but they work solely
for the benefit of Germany
without regard to the welfare
of the. British people. We, on
the other hand, are concerned
only with Britain’s interests.
We advocate the immediate
conclusion of peace with Ger-
Stations
many.” And so on.
ROMANCE AND REALITY
These Nazi broadcasts con-
tinually try, by various deft
little touches, to make it appc®1"
that their station is a smal,
almost amateur one, working
under great difficulties, and in
constant fear of detection by
the police. On one occasion, fcr
instance, the N.B.B.S. s8* ’
“We do not pretend to have tbe
resources of the B.B.S. We are
proud of what our tiny trans*
mitter has been able to accom
plish.” On another occasion,-
their announcer turned a Pr°
gramme breakdown to qnl*e
good use by saying this: 1
breakdown simply could not b®
helped. We work in confin
circumstances in consta
dangá- of being raided, and s°
accidents will happen.”
So he said; but as a matter
of fact the reception of tba^
particular station shows that 1
has all the strength of the nor
mal full-size commercial stf
tion, and it could not possib >
be a secret station hiding frorn
the police.
It is on the simpler thing-
that they slip up. For instancer
when Britain changed t0
Summer Time on May 4, all ^e
ve
four stations alleged to
cperating inside Britain metbo
dically carried on their broad
casts according to German t:me
for some days.
IN STEP WITH
DR. GOEBBELS
It is clear from a study 0
the output of these station-
that they are designed to fif in
with whatever general Pr°?a
ganda campaign Dr. Goebbels
happens to be running at fbe
time. Sometimes the Par
lelism between the recogn!se°
Nazi stations and the bog°“
stations is only in gener
trends.
There are four of these bogn5
stations directed at Britain-
One of them appears to be in
tended to appeal to all p°sSIb e
varieties of discontent in
possible sections of the pop1
alf
ula'
tion. Its general theme is r
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