THE WAR: SUPREME WAR COUNCIL. (Hansard, 13 September 1939)

§ THE LORD PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL (EARL STANHOPE)

My Lords, the following statement, which I make on behalf of His Majesty's Government, has also been made by the Prime Minister in another place. Your Lordships will have learnt from the communiqué issued last night that the Supreme War Council met for the first time during the present war yesterday on French soil. It is only fitting that the progress report this week should begin with an account of that meeting. It was attended, as your Lordships already know, by the Prime Minister and the Minister for the Co-ordination of Defence for Great Britain, and by M. Daladier and General Gamelin for France. The representatives of both countries were accompanied by a number of officials, but as His Majesty's Government were already in close touch with the French authorities on technical strategic questions it was not intended to discuss such questions at the meeting and the Chiefs of Staff were not, therefore, on this occasion summoned to attend. The object of the meeting was to make possible at the earliest practicable stage in the war a direct and personal exchange of views. The present situation was fully examined and the measures to be taken in the immediate future were discussed. Further meetings will be arranged as and when necessary in order to ensure that the closest possible contact is maintained between our two countries on all major aspects of the conduct of the war.

The meeting began in the morning and was supplemented by further conversations in the afternoon. The House will 1040 not expect a detailed account of the many subjects discussed; nor would that be in the public interest. There is, however, one important matter to which it is proper and useful to refer. As was natural, there was an exchange of views at an early stage in the conference on the present state of public opinion in the two countries. I am glad to be able, to assure the House that it is evident that public opinion on the two sides of the Channel is completely in accord. The people of France and the people of Great Britain are alike determined not only to honour to the full their obligations to Poland, but also to put an end once for all to the intolerable strain of living under the perpetual threat of Nazi aggression. Our French allies are, like ourselves, a peace-loving people, but they are no less convinced than are we that there can be no peace until the menace of Hitlerism has been finally removed. "Il faut en finir."

For the rest I am authorised to assure the House that the Prime Minister came away from this meeting fortified and encouraged by the complete identity of views which was revealed between the French Government and our representatives on every point of policy and strategy which was discussed. I need hardly stress the immense value of these personal contacts which enable that mutual confidence to be established without which there can be no real harmony of action.

I will now give your Lordships a short account of the present situation in the Empire, in Europe and the several theatres of war. Day by day fresh evidence reaches us of the determination of the peoples of the British Commonwealth overseas. Noble Lords will have read during the last day or two speeches by Dominion Prime Ministers and other leaders making this determination manifest. But it is not only by words that this resolve is shown; it is by deeds also. I cannot, of course, give the House details of all the measures of defence which have been adopted in the oversea parts of the Empire, but on behalf of His Majesty's Government I can say that, both in the military and in the civil sphere, steps which in some cases are of a far-reaching character have been taken. These steps are all directed to one end—the pursuit of a common purpose, the fulfilment of a common task. An increasing number of foreign States have 1041 declared their neutrality, but in no case has this led to any relaxation of the armed vigilance which now characterises Europe and is the direct result of the Nazi menace to our common civilisation.

For the moment the Eastern theatre of war is still the main centre of operations. The Germans appear to be endeavouring to force a decision in this theatre before they are compelled to transfer formations to the West to meet the threat of allied intervention. With this object in view they have continued their relentless pressure on the Polish Army, hoping thereby to break resistance and to turn a hardly contested withdrawal into a retreat. That these hopes have been so far frustrated is due to the indomitable spirit of the Poles, who refuse to be intimidated by the weight of material brought against them or by the overwhelming superiority of the German Air Force.

In the West the French Armies have begun a methodical advance. Hitherto, these operations have been local with the object of straightening out the line and gaining contact with the main enemy positions. This is an essential and important preliminary phase, about which the French are naturally reticent, and it is sufficient to say that it has been completely successful. Certain statements have been made to the effect that the British Expeditionary Force has already been engaged in France. These statements are not strictly accurate and are principally the result of the highly imaginative reports of foreign correspondents, over whose activities we, unfortunately, have no control. Nevertheless it is true that British troops are already in France, though they have not been in action. When this happens, as full information as the exigencies of the military situation permit will at once be issued.

In the air the normal work of reconnaissance and patrol has been continuous, and a number of Royal Air Force squadrons are now operating from French soil. Further successful reconnaissance flights over Germany have been carried out by the Bomber Command in this country and much useful information has been gained in the course of these flights of activities behind the German frontier. Defensive patrols proceed continuously, and the Fighter Command remains in a state of instant readiness. The Coastal 1042 Command has continued to carry out extended reconnaissance and anti-submarine patrols and a number of attacks have been carried out against enemy submarines.

On the seas, the outbreak of the war found the active Fleet fully prepared and the Reserve Fleet mobilised, but that did not include the whole of the very numerous auxiliaries which when war begins have to be brought forward to complete our sea power. These forces are now passing rapidly into service. The Fleet has been joined by three destroyers of the Polish Navy which have proved to be very efficient and are taking part in the strenuous life of our light forces. The main object of the British Navy must be, as in the last war, to ensure the freedom and safety of the seas. During the war of 1914–18, and particularly in 1917, the German policy of unrestricted submarine warfare created, as is well known, a situation which was at one time very serious. In the present war, the German attack upon our merchant shipping, begun by an act of ruthlessness against a passenger ship contrary to all the rules of maritime warfare and the Convention that Germany herself had signed, is being continued. A certain number of British merchant ships has been sunk, and our losses have undoubtedly been somewhat severe. This is only what had to be expected for the reason that the war came at a moment when large numbers of our merchant vessels were scattered over the seven seas moving under peace conditions. On the other hand, the Germans had placed their U-boats and their supply ships previous to the outbreak of war in the best strategic positions and it is not surprising that some of our vessels have been caught and surprised by submarines before they were able to reach port.

It is impossible to apply the convoy system while many of the ships to be convoyed are still on the high seas. We are, however, pressing on with putting that system into force and it is daily operating with ever increasing efficiency. In the last war out of some 16,500 vessels which were convoyed to and from this country on the Atlantic, only 102 or 6 per cent. were sunk by submarine action while on convoy. But the convoy system was only applied in the summer of 1917 after we had been at war for nearly three years. That is not the case 1043 to-day. The convoy system is being applied immediately and as soon as it is in full working order there is no reason to suppose that it will prove to be less decisive than it was twenty years ago. Meanwhile, I am able to assure the House that submarines are being constantly attacked and that successes have been achieved. At the outbreak of war the total German tonnage of ships at sea or in neutral or allied ports, Baltic Ports excepted, was in the neighbourhood of 1,105,000 tons. Practically all that shipping has now been cleared off the high seas, some has been captured and much of it has interned itself in neutral ports. Moreover, the supply to Germany of vital war materials carried under neutral flags has been, and will increasingly be, limited by the contraband control imposed by the power of our Fleet.

In the statement which was made in both Houses of Parliament on September 7, I said that the organisation of the Civil Defence Services was being rapidly completed. This process has continued, and steps are being taken to deal with the various problems inseparable from the rapid mobilisation of personnel in an entirely novel form of national defence. It was of course essential at the outset of the emergency to call up everyone available for whole-time service to man the home defence front. It has been suggested that as a result, in the absence of any call as yet to meet actual attack from the air, we have unnecessarily immobilised a considerable mass of man-power, I would, however, remind the House that if our Civil Defence organisation is to be effective, it is inevitable that a sufficient nucleus of men and women should be kept at "Action Stations"—standing by cannot be avoided. We are, however, endeavouring to ease the position in various ways and are considering how best we can minimise dislocation while still maintaining Civil Defence on an adequate war-time footing.

There are one or two specific matters on which I think it may be desirable that I should give your Lordships some further information. Take first lighting restrictions. It is said, and said with truth, that the lighting restrictions at present in force cause personal inconvenience, that they are dangerous to traffic, and that they slow up important elements in the 1044 productive processes of the country. But they are, in fact, required on strategic grounds, and they form part of the strategic defence of the important industrial areas of the country, and all their details are the result of long experiments carried out by the Royal Air Force. The Air Staff are equally interested in reducing to the minimum any slowing down or interference with production, and if the existing restrictions appear irksome, it must be accepted that they are, for the moment, inevitable.

The whole preparations of civil defence, whether lighting restrictions, warnings, or mobilisation of personnel, are conditioned by the speed with which hostile air attack can develop. There is, for example, general agreement that buildings should be "blacked out" in advance. Preparations for "blacking out" at the last moment would be too late. The blackout restrictions apply for the present to the more remote areas as well as to the big cities. It is not that those remote areas are themselves likely to be attacked, but the lighting they give would be a signpost to built-up areas which might be of greater military importance. Somewhat different considerations apply to the restrictions on moving vehicles and on the use of pocket torches and small lamps by pedestrians as aids to movement. I think the House will be glad to hear that some relaxation in these respects is considered practicable and the necessary instructions are in preparation. Many of the complaints about the lighting restrictions and also the warning system are influenced by the fact that up to the present we have not had air raids. It would be very dangerous to make any drastic modification of these strategic preparations until actual air raid experience has indicated the lines upon which modifications might safely be made.

The movement of evacuation which was started on Friday, September 1, was completed with the evacuation of Jarrow, Hebburn and Sunderland on September 10 and 11. Experience so far shows that the billeting of unaccompanied school children has given rise to much less difficulty than the billeting of mothers and young children. A very heavy demand has been made on the energy and initiative of the receiving local authorities and on the good will of the householders in the receiving areas. There has been a remarkable response to the demands thus 1045 made and there every indication that the process of settling in is now taking place satisfactorily in a great majority of cases. Needless to say a movement on this scale raises a large number of social problems. Active steps are being taken by the local authorities in this matter, and the Minister of Health and the President of the Board of Education and the Secretary of State for Scotland will continue to co-operate in a solution of these problems. In order to afford to the parents of school children who had not taken part in the movement a further opportunity, arrangements were made to enable these parents to register their children at schools on Monday and Tuesday of this week. No immediate further evacuation move is, however, in contemplation, as the receiving areas must be given time to assimilate the present large influx of population, and all concerned must have time to digest the experience already gained.

As was stated last week some 200,000 hospital beds were made available by various means for the reception of civilian air-raid casualties. These beds, of course, are also available for Service sick and casualties and a certain proportion of them are now in use for this purpose. It is also part of our scheme that these hospitals should continue to admit ordinary acute surgical or medical cases amongst the general population. This "reflux" is now taking place and will continue. There are therefore facilities available to ensure that any patient whose medical condition requires inpatient treatment shall be able to obtain it. These cases will naturally encroach upon the number of beds immediately available for the reception of casualties, but this is being met by increasing the numbers of extra beds, by pressing forward with the building of hutted wards, and by providing further temporary accommodation in large tents. The net result is that in spite of fresh admissions the number of beds immediately available on 12th September has been maintained at the figure of 200,000. Furthermore, we have asked that out-patient facilities for the ordinary civilian sick should be maintained and this is being done.

The first-aid posts, both fixed and mobile, have been in general duly established and equipped and the emergency ambulances have been assembled and fitted up. Motor coaches in the provinces 1046 as well as in London have been converted for use as inter-hospital ambulances. The full complement of casualty evacuation trains for civilian cases has been assembled and staffed and provided with medical equipment. Some shortage of extra beds, bedding, dressings and surgical equipment has been reported from a number of places, but this is being met as rapidly as possible by accelerating the delivery of goods on order, by the diversion of supplies from places more favourably situated and by placing fresh orders. In particular surgical instruments are now being delivered in considerable numbers and others have been obtained on loan from hospitals and surgeons having a surplus available.

Finally, I propose to say a few words about the creation and work of the Ministry of Information, over which a distinguished member of your Lordships' House, my noble friend Lord Macmillan, has been called to preside. The work of the Ministry of Information is the most difficult type of work that can be assigned to a Government Department. Such a Ministry must continually seek to steer between giving information which might help the enemy to defeat and destroy our own troops and withholding information with the risk of creating an impression that terrible things may be happening of which the public have no knowledge. In the second place, a Ministry of Information is necessarily a department which cannot begin its work in any real sense until the outbreak of war, and then, at a moment's notice, it has to spring into the fullest activity. It is scarcely to be expected that in the face of such formidable difficulties as these errors will not be made and some of them will be serious enough to cause trouble and exasperation to the whole Press. His Majesty's Government greatly regret such incidents and we should like to express our appreciation of the patriotic way in which the Press generally in this country has co-operated with the Government and sought to play its part in the common struggle.

It is definitely the desire and intention of the Government to give the fullest possible information to the public and to do all that we can to prevent any feeling in the minds of the public that they are being kept in the dark. That is the principle to which, through the Ministry of Information, His Majesty's Government 1047 will seek to give effect. Improvements in the machinery can, I have no doubt, be made, but in these early days my noble friend is entitled to ask not only your Lordships but the country as a whole for patience and toleration while he is endeavouring to correct what has gone wrong and to build up a satisfactory and efficient service.