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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1943-05-06, Page 7THURSDAY, MAY 0, 1943 E S1AFO] TH NETS NO STEAK ... just a seagull.' NO COFFEE ... just putrid water. NO HEAT. q . just.a freezing wind to chill the bones! tir Mow Men forced down at sea know what hardship is. They know the tortures of thirst, of hunger and of utter helplessness. Our own airmen have tasted that hardship in the bleak Atlantic; British flye(s have come through the ordeal in the North Sea. Eddie Rickenbacker and his six companions fought the !'mad Pacific" for twenty-one days in Good- year life rafts. Yes, all these men know hardship. We in Canada live in security and comfort.... our fighting men live in danger and discomfort. We ..: all of us ... can provide the money to "BACK THE ATTACK!" That's little enough, when we know that every cloltar`invested now brings added security to our loved ones and to our homeland! Bagmore afca'naore VICTORY BONDS . X b lII rl Iha Ngvy A o}v nq<Indsp.t, fp s,of by (fly built ,libber p edsph In Tad, s `!p ai I btdt is ria tre'la WV/ lhhc v hakarIbree Ian oledajo r T rhp vv t+asaYwhee Fr, keel Ieeee-.col se colt I nM tpnTadr 000 c bol aariialtt aN s a fol hootEr,ol su apP:r hell pra anz mind gcollor , halmwj darner*Itatgerj yy n h, ndt ref the mad, 0:'C d ri I i Ca dean; fightingP au ma'nf omb Damage and Civilian Morale By Walter R. Legge, All Canadians are intensely inter- ested in the bomb damage in Britain. We found, on our return to Canada, that everywhere we went we were certain to be' asked about it. It has been said that there is not a village in England that has not had a bomb dripped on it, but i know of several places that up to the time that we were there had not seen a bomb. After landing and boarding the train for London, we were sur- prised to see no sign of bomb damage until after we had been travelling for several hours. There are few signs of bomb damage to be seen in any of the smaller places, except near the east and south coasts. Even in Lon- don there are large areas that appear to have been untouched. We began' to realize how small a start the Ger- mans had made toward the destruc- tion of Britain. Where a building has been totally lestroyed. it 15 difficult for anyone who has not seen that heeding to visualize the amount of the destruc- tion. For instance, when we were be - Ing shown around Bristol, one day. our guide halted in the centre of a large area that had been demolished. Pointing to a part of it, he said. "'That is where one of our largest *.le- pertmental stores used to stand." We could see a heap of rubble, but never hiiving seen the store it was impos- sible really to appreciate the extent of the destruction, In other places where the walls are still standing, it is mucll easier to understand the damage. We. drove through parts of London. and later walked through part of Bristol, on brilliant. moonlight :nights, and the moonlight, shining through roofless and windowless buildings, made a terrible picture, never to - be for- gotten. We visited blitzed areas in London. Bristol, Bath and ' Portsmouth, but there are many other places that have badly battered areas. Hull, Dov- er, Coventry, Plymouth. etc. in some cases areas of several 'flocks have been absolutely flattened, while in others, one house in the middle of a block may have been de- mollshed as if cut out by a huge ',Hire. We were told that there is a well defined pathway between London and the coast, leading toward 'Germany, lnog which the fields were ploughed up by bombs which had been chopped by raiders who, rumble to penetrate the London defences. had turned back and dumped their bombs at random. . In April, 1942, Hitler carried out what is known as the "Baedecker" raids, (so called because they were aimed solely at destroying famous places). on Exeter. Bath, Norwich, York and Canterbury. Civilian casual- ties at Bath, Exeter, Norwich and York were 938 persons killed and 998 injured. Many of the killed were never identified, The pathetic descrip- tion of one at Bath read, "Age, about two years; hair, fair; eyes, blue -gray; division between top row of teeth; no other distinguishing features." The most deplored architectural loss in Bath was the Assembly Rooms, The t'oonts, said to have been the most beautiful in Britain, were fleet opened in 1771, and had been re- finished in 1935 at a cost of fifty thousand pounds sterling. These rooms delighted Charles Dickens. who made them famous as the scene of Mr. Pickwick's game of whist with the "three thorough -paced female card -players." Bristol, we found, had been rather badly battered, principally in the winter of 1940.41, during which 2,259 houses were destroyed and about 46,- 000 6;000 recevied varying degrees of da- mage. Many other buildings were de- stroyed, including 22 elementary schools and 29 churches. Our hone in Bristol was the Royal Hotel, which was carrying on, al- though the back part, including the dining room and many of the rooms, had been bombed off. The rooms oc- cupied by some of our party did not have any glass in the windows. In four of the larger cities which we visited, we saw areas many blocks in extent that have been com- pletely flattened. Since returning home, I have heard that up until. De- cember 31st, 1942, the number of Bri- tons killed in alt• -raids was 47,860 and the number injured was 56,140. 'l)re heard many expressions of ap- preciation for the assistance sent to the stricken people by various funds in Canada. One of the aims of the enemy was to destroy the morale of the people, It was interesting to study the act- ual effect. We found that the stories we had heard of the way in which the people had taken the punishment dished out to them were absolutely true. Their spirit is simply wonder- ful. Their morale is proof against any terror that can be launched against them. Hero's to heros and herohies, valiant and strong, Who carry on bravely, no matter how long; Through darkness and peril, they're • steadfast and true, The people of Britain - Here's 10 you! Send as the names o4 your visitors. Plant Chrysanthemums For Autumn Color Here are a few of the 87 choice varieties of "Mums" listed in McConnell's 1943 Catalogue Double Indicun "Mums" 3 for 60c.; doz., $2.00 Abundance. Salmon red, Early, Aladdin. Bronzy -gold and .apricot. Early, Autumn Lights, Coppery bronze. Medium early, Barbara Cummings, Orange -bronze, Early. Cydonia, Orange mahogany, Mid- season. Golden Charm, Deep yellow. Mid. t eaeott, H. C. Anderson. Bronze, Early. Herman Stensson, Rich red. Early, Jean Treadwey, Sparkling pink, Mid-season, La Garonne. Rose and buff. Med. early, Muldoon. Purplish amaranth, tSid season, Provence. Pink blended gold, Early Ruth Hatton. White. Midseason. Ruth Cummings. Reddish brown. Midseason. Single Korean "Mums" Beautiful Midseason Varieties 3 for 60c.; doz., $2.00 Aphrodite. Soft pink and ivory Autocrat. Orange Scarlet Daphne. Daphne -pink Diana. Chatenay-rose Fortuna, Oxblood red Hebe, Lavender -pink Innocence. White to soft pink Mars. Amaranth to wine red Nancy Copeland, Spectrum red Saturn. Orange and brown Stellaris. Buttercup -yellow Thalia. Orange "Cushion Mums" Each Plant a Flower Show in Itself 3 for 65c.; doz., $2.25 Bronze Cushion. Rich bronze Pink Cushion. (Azaleamum). Orchid pink Pygmy Gold. Buttoudike dowers. Golden yellow. Red Cushion. Fiery red White Cushion. Pure white Yellow Cushion. Rich yellow Double Korean "Mums" 3 for 65c; dose $225 Acacia, Sulphr yellow. Medium early Burgundy, Cerise crimson. Mid- season Caliph. Vetvety.red, Midseason. Gleam O'Gold, Primrose yellow. Midseason. Indian Summer. Glowing Orange, Mid-season King Midas. Bronze -yellow, Early Lavender Lady. True lavender, Medium eariy. Romany, Carmine and geld, Mid- eeason Delphinium Giant Pacific Hybrids Strong field grown. 3 for 90c; doz, $3.00 Slack Knight. Deep Violet Blue Jay. A true blue Guinevere. Lavender pink Hardy Asters (Michaelmas Daisies) Very showy autumn flowering plants 3 to 4 feet high 3 for 60c; doz. $2.00 Amethyst. Purple -blue Beechwood Beacon. Rosy carmine Beechwood Challenger. Pure red Beechwood Charm, Rosy -red Chas. Wilson. Cerise pink Climax. Lavender blue Col. Durham, Dbl. purple blue Little Boy Blue. Deep blue Mt. Everest, Pure white Queen Mary. Rich blue Red Rover. A lovely red Silver Sheen. Lavender -blue Tritoma Royal Standard A choice new variety with con- spicuous golden yellow base and scarlet top. Very showy. 3 for 60c; doz„ 52.00 Bleeding Heart (Dlcentra spectabilis) An old garden favorite. Pink, heart -shaped flowers 40c each; 3 for $1,00 Hardly Perennials for the Rock Garden Three Doz. Alyssum saxatile cone pactum .50 $1.75 Achilles totnentosa, Yellow ,50 Arabia alpine, White.50 " alpina plena. Dbi white . .75 Arable alpina roses, Pink .50 Armetla Suttons Giant Rose .60 Asperula hexaphylla, White .50 Aubretia Large Hybrids .60 Calanttuna alpine. Purple .60 Campanula carpatica, Blue .50 Delphinium Cltinensis. Dwarf blue .. .60' Dianthus Rose Dawn. Pink .75 Dianthus caesius. Rose .50 Geum Mrs. Bradshaw. call .60 $ t e Globnlarta trichosantha. Lavender .50 Helianthemum matabile. (Roee Rose) .60 Lychnis visoaria splen - dens. Pink .60 Myosotis palustris, Blue .50 Penstemon birsutus. Pink , , .. .50 Phlox subulata lilacina Light blue .50 1.75 Phlox subulata Leuchstern 1.75 Salmon pink .60 Phlox subulata rosea. 2.50 Pink , .. .50 Saponaria ocymoides. 1.75 Pink .50 Silene schafta. Rose.50 2,00 Veronica prostrate. Bright blue .50 1.75 Veronica teuerium. Rich 2.Q1) blue .. .50 2.00 Dwarf Hardy Asters 2,00 1.76 1.75 1,75 1.75 2,00 1.75 1.75 1,75 1.75 1.75 Wonderful bloomers in autumn 1.76 growing one fbot high, Fine for rockery or border. 2.00 3 for 60c; doz„ 52.00 Blue Bouquet, Violet blue. 2,50 Countess of Dudley. Pink. yellow 1,75 eye Lady Maddocks. Pink 2.25 Niobe, White, yellow center Ronald. Lilac pink 1.75 Snow Sprite. White Victor. Lavender blue Send for Free Catalogue of Ornamentals and Fruits The McConnolI Nursery Co. Port Burwell, Ont. BELLS RING AGAIN Removal of the ban on ringing of church bells in Britain is taken as a sign that danger of invasion is past. It was the defeat of the Luftwaffe over England during August and Sep- tember 1940 that was the ehief cause of wrecking the whole plan of con- quest. To attempt to land a force in England without first securing at least command of the air, while the powerful British fleet was racing southwards to strike at the dis- embarked troops and transports, would have been to invite disaster of the first magnitude. The great expeditionary force never started. Some people say that it did and that it suffered disaster. What actually happened was, how- ever -in all probability -that a dress rehearsal of tate invasion was caught in the act and smashed up by British bombers, and neutral observers thought that they had proof of fail- ure of the real attempt to cross the Channel, It seems certain, at any vete, that about. the middle of September some calamity did overtake the forces ear- marked for the attempted invasion. It is kno'wu that a large number of German soldiers were treated for burns in p'r'ench hospitals about that time, and it was widely reported that their injuries were caused by oil set ablate by the British bombers that sank the barges in which they had just been embarked for practice, Bodies of Germans were rvash:ed lip also 00 French, Belgian and Dutch coasts, A storm may have added to the discomfiture of the flotilia, Why was a positive attempt at rte vasion not made One may surmise with some confidence that the main reason was that something went wrong with the preliminary opera- tion of the great project. This opera- tion was to have been the elimina- tion of the Royal Air Force as an overhead cover for the southeast of England. An all-out effort was made by the Luftwaffe in August and September 1940 to drive the Royal Air Force out of the sky, and put its bases out of action; It failed. Fighter Command of the Royal Air Force obstinately re- fused to he driven from the sky, and indeed turned tables and ejected the Luftwaffe unceremoniously, In one day 185 Nazi planes were shot down. It was not Fighter Corntand only which brought Hitler's plan to nought. Bomber Command took a hand in the game of wrecking too, Barges and ships which had been concentrated in ports along the south side of the English Channel were an inviting target for British bombs. They were duly dealt with again and again, During September and October they were raided almost nightly, An Air Ministry bulletin of that time re- ferred to operations as "a forestalling offensive," which exactly described the purpose of the attack. Early in October 1940. one of the British Ministers referred in a speech tb "harbors littered with the wreck. age of barges and shies intended for our nest ed:ion." Le Havre bas never really recovered from the pounding which it received then. It is a sadly disfigured haven and an almost use- less one today.