Daily Post - 20.06.1942, Blaðsíða 2

DAILT POIT
HOW THE B.B.G.
ANSWERS GOEBBELS
Goebbels, however fantastically he lies, also lies methodi-
cally and has a public disposed to believe him. Our broad-
cásts are to the average German “enemy propaganda”.
They therefore have to be cleverly thought out if they are
to convince him.
*
DAILY POST
la pwWtohed by
■dllon: S. BeiMdiktsaon.
agt J. I. McOhis.
Sgt. A. L. Mersoa.
OCBea: lt, Auaturstradl. Tel.
1711. Keyktovlk. Prtotod by
AlbýOuprtntamlðJan.
Saturday, June 20, 1942
Spríng Offensive
At this time in 1940, Norway,
Denmark, Holland and France
had been conquered. At this
time in 1941 the Balkans had
been brought under German
control. The all-out spring off-
e.nsive has been a feature of
Nazi technique in this war. Yet
now, in 1942, spring has passed
into summer ,and the great
spring offensive against Russia
which Hitler promised his
people last December, has not
materialised. Already, in his
Reichstag speech in April, Hitl-
er so much as admitted that it
would not, when he spoke of
next winter’s campaigns. What
does this mean?
It means, first, that the facts
have abundantly justified the
Soviet leaders’ estimate of the
position. On November 7th
1941, Stalin said that the Nazi
offensive was losing impetus
and would soon be stopped. On
December 6th it was stopped.
Then Stalin proclaimed the Sov-
iet offensive. He promised no
spectacular results, but only
the beginning of a long and de-
sperate struggle to eject the in-
vader. Some people y/ere disap-
|X)inted at the comparatively
small advances achieved by
months of costly winter attacks,
and half believed Hitler’s boast
that spring would bring a ren-
ewal of the smashing German
advance. But Hitler was wrong
and Stalin was right. The winter
fighting sapped the German
strength and dislqeated their at-
tempts to prepare a spring of-
fensive. The Nazis were late,
and when von Bock was .almost
ready to strike beyond Khar-
kov, Timoshenko struck first,
and crippled his drive. ■
Hitler is in great difficultíes.
But the Russiarís cannot break
him alone. They have told us
so and we can • believé them.
Their sacrifices have been and
are, terrible. The tinfie us com-
ing för us to share those sacri-
fices to the full. We, like the
Russians, must anticipate the
enemy’s plans. Then with such
You rerríember that Hitler in
his speech recently about the
Russian campaign claimed that
the total number of Germans
killed in Russia from June 22
till November 30 was 162,000.
Now we know perfectly well
that that figure was a fantastic
understatement. But how were
we to refute it? Not simply by
giving another, truer figure be-
cause, however accurate our
estimates might be, the Ger-
mans desperately wanted to be-
lieve that Hitler’s figures were
right and certainly wouldn’t
take the word of the BBC for
it that they were wrong. No,
we had to say to them: the
íigure of 162,000 can’t be cor-
rect, as you can prove for your-
self if you care to take the
trouble. And we had to offer
our listeners suggestions of how
to prove this.
Here are some of the sugges-
tions we'offered:
First, how many days are
there between June 22 and
November 30? Answer: exactly
162. So if the figure of 162,000
dead were correct, that would
mean that the German Army
had lost precisely 1,000 men a
day. That sounds a bit suspici-
ous, doesn’t it? Almost too good
a coincidence to be true? Well
all right, suppose it is a coinci-
dence.
Now comes the next point.
The Russian Front is something
like 1,300 miles in length. So
1,000 deaths a day means ten
deaths a day for every thir-
teen miles of the front — less
than one death a mile, Is that
likely during a campaign which
Goebbels and Hitler have j
throughout described as involv- !
ing continuous severe fighting? |
Point number three. Between
June 22 and’November 30 the
average advance of the German
Armies wás of the order of
strength and with such Allies,
there can be little doubt of the
result.
fifteen miles a day. So if one
German died in the field of
battle for every mile of the
front, by his death he won for
his country a rectangle of terri-
tory a mile long from north tb
south and fifteen miles deep
from west to east — fifteen
square miles and more ,in all.
Do you believe that in a cam-
paign in which the enemy has
; contested every inch of the
ground?
Point number four. 162,000
is less than one-thirtieth of the
total German Army engaged on
the Eastern Front. German
fatalities therefore work out at
a mere three per cent of the
troops engaged. But at the same
time the Rumanians announce
their casualties to be forty per
cent of their total army. Again,
the Spanish unit has lost a full
third of its total strength, the
Finnish Army has lost about a
fifth. Do you really believe that
the German Army has got off
with only a fraction of the loss-
es suffered by Germany’s
Allies?
And finally point number
five. There are about twenty-
five million households in Ger-
many. So 162,000 deaths means
one death per 150 households.
A town with a thousand in-
habitants should have lost on
an average two, not more, of
its young men; a eity with
50,000 inhabitants should have
lost just over eighty. po you
believe that? Work it out for
the families and households
known to you — see if your
village or town has come off as
lightly as that.
Well, these are some of the
ways in which we have tried to
prove to the German people
that they have been grossly lied
to on the all important question
of casualties. I think our proofs
are really convincing, because
they don’t rest on any asser-
tions by us but entirely on
statements by the Nazis them-
selves or by their Allies.
George’s
News
Service
This .... is .... George.
Moreover, this is the only un-
official organ of the Free Brit-
ish in Iceland. If the person
who suggested that wise saying
will call at the office in a
month’s time, he might get a
free copy of today’s paper.
Space has already been cleáred
for the protest that will come
from the Mess Deck of B —.
Flash! Have you said goodbye-
to your sleeping-bag? Did it
whimper like George’s before it
dolefully but dutifully trotted
away to the waiting van?
There was a friend indeed.
Just a whistle in the moming
and it used to roll itself up on
the bed.
Flash! Icelanders avidly
await the arrival of Mexican
and Costa Rican troops who-
will fill the gap left when the
British evacuated the island
and the Americans disappeared
overnight according to orders.
The complete lack of troops is
most disconcerting to the na-
tives.
This news bulletin comes to
you from George.
Flash! Birthday greetings to
Grannie who, it is believed, has
at last retired from professional
life on.the strength of a legacy
subscribed to by grateful sol-
diers.
Flash! It is rumoured that the
R.A.F. has demanded hostages
as a preventative measure
against violence to an L.A.C.
whose views have proved too
individualistic to appeal to the
hoi polloi, the plebs, the great
unwashed, i. e. everyone but
himself.
Flash! According to a new
order, all people leaving Iceland
will treat their eyes with anti-
dim; during glaring sunny
weather, glass eyes will be
smoked.
Here is an S.O.S. Will the
person who told Leading Sea-
man (Yo-ho) Benbow to get
knotted please come and untie
him.
And now over to the next
column. Gccd riddance, every-
body.
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