3,000 BRITISH PLANES FIGHT
BERLIN, Aug. 17 (AP)—Authorized German sources proclaimed last night that wave after wave of bombers had hurled destruction on the London environs late in the day, lining both banks of the Thames with fires, bomb craters and the wreckage of industrial plants.
The British fought back with 3,000 or more planes and with every weapon at their command.
But the mass-scale German attack, unprecedented in history, is designed to prove that “no power on earth can stop the Nazi air force,” declared German sources.
Hawker Hurricanes of Fighter Command, a first line of defense against the incoming German bombers attacking England, flying in formation during the Battle of Britain.
AUGUST 22, 1940
Trotsky Dies of His Wounds; Asks Revolution Go Forward
By ARNALDO CORTESI
Special Cable to The New York Times.
MEXICO CITY, Aug. 21—After twenty-six hours of an extraordinarily tenacious fight for life, Leon Trotsky died at 7:25 P.M. today of wounds inflicted upon his head with a pickaxe by an assailant in his home yesterday.
Mrs. Trotsky was with him to the last. Two of his secretaries also were present.
Almost his last words, whispered to his secretary, were:
“Please say to our friends I am sure of the victory of the Fourth International. Go forward!”
The 60-year-old exile’s losing struggle for existence continued all last night and all day today with alternate ups and downs. He rallied somewhat at the middle of the day but by evening it was evident the end was near.
The assassin, Jacques Mornard van den Dreschd, for months an intimate of the Trotsky household, had a declaration written in French on his person when he was arrested yesterday. Police said today that in it he told of having quarreled with his leader when Mr. Trotsky tried to induce him to go to Russia to perform acts of sabotage.
The declaration adds that the writer decided to kill Mr. Trotsky because the latter did everything in his power to prevent van den Dreschd from marrying Sylvia Ageloff of Brooklyn, who had introduced the two men to each other.
Miss Ageloff, who is held as a witness, is said to have met van den Dreschd two years ago in Paris, and it was through her that he was able to win Mr. Trotsky’s confidence, for her sister, Ruth, was Mr. Trotsky’s secretary in 1937.
Questioned by police, she declared she introduced “Frank Jackson,” as she knew him, to Mr. Trotsky in perfect good faith not knowing he had any designs on the former Soviet War Commissar’s life.
She was so remorseful that she threatened to commit suicide if Mr. Trotsky died. She revealed that “Jackson” always seemed plentifully supplied with money and told police he once gave her $3,000 saying it was left him by his mother when she died.
The assassin, who entered Mexico posing as a Canadian, Frank Jackson, now is said to have been born in Teheran, Iran, son of a Belgian diplomat. Police say many letters in English, French and Russian were found in his hotel room.
With remarkable fortitude, Mr. Trotsky, despite his very severe wound, was able to grapple with his assailant and then run from the room in which he was attacked, shouting for help. He did not collapse until his wife and his guards had rushed to his aid. For some time he retained full lucidity of mind and was able to make a few statements.
Along the same corridor in the hospital, only two doors away, lay his assailant. Police guard the door of his room for fear that if there was an organized attempt on Mr. Trotsky’s life, the organizers may murder “Jackson” to prevent his testifying.
Leon Trotsky
AUGUST 26, 1940
JAPANESE SEEKING INDIES OIL SUPPLY
U.S. INTERESTS INVOLVED
By HAROLD CALLENDER
By Telephone to The New York Times.
SURABAYA, Java, Aug, 27—The conference of the Japanese trade delegation, arriving in Batavia next week, with the Netherlands Indies Government and Netherland and American oil men may have a vital bearing upon the future of Eastern affairs, it is believed here.
The Japanese visitors, representing the Mitsui and other companies, are expected to seek increased exports of oil, tin and rubber to Japan, especially oil. Mr. Schultz of the Far Eastern Standard-Vacuum Company will fly to Batavia from Hong Kong, and Mr. Kany of the same company will fly from New York to consider the Japanese desires.
Hitherto the Japanese have obtained oil through the selling companies in Japan—Standard and Shell. But the Japanese contend that they are not getting enough oil through the normal channels. Hence, this visit to Batavia to confer with the Netherlands Indies Government as well as the oil producers in these islands.
It was said here tonight that the Japanese wanted increased oil in order to build up their reserves as Germany did up to a year ago.
EXPORTS TO BE DISCUSSED
Unlike tin and rubber, the oil exports are not controlled by agreed international limitation. But it is expected that the Japanese want to discuss all three commodities. Since exports are under government license under the “Crisis Decrees,” this will bring the Netherland Government as well as the oil companies into the negotiations. The two producing oil companies here are American and a British-Netherland combine.
Hence, it is widely believed that the disposition of the East Indies oil is perhaps the main factor governing the immediate future in Asia. The importance of the issue, as viewed here, can hardly be overestimated.
The belief here is that the American embargo on aviation gasoline to Japan is one cause of the pressure from Japan for more oil from the East Indies. In the present circumstances, with Britain virtually out of Far Eastern affairs and American policy uncertain, the best informed observers think there is not much the Netherlanders can do but to try to appease Japan by meeting that country’s desires. Hence, the Netherlanders in these islands say they intend to defend themselves if necessary, and they are making rapid preparations to that end.
An invader would not find the oil wells intact, and it would require months to repair them if they were destroyed. But in the defense preparations much depends upon the United States; it is the only source of war materials.
AUGUST 30, 1940
Editorial
RAIDS ON EGYPT
So far, except in Somaliland and Libya, where marching columns and troop concentrations weave across the desert in a haphazard pattern that seems to have nothing to do with this war, the Italians have fought chiefly with their air force. This week they have bombed Port Said, at the head of the Suez, for the first time; at irregular intervals they drop a load of dynamite into the harbor of Alexandria, headquarters of the British Mediterranean fleet. The paradox of these raids on Egypt is that they are attacks on a country with which Italy is not at war; the Italians are fighting the British in Egypt but not the Egyptians, and the latter are in an equally paradoxical position; for while their land is an important military and naval base for Great Britain and is dependent for protection on British power, they are exceedingly reluctant to join in hostilities against Italy. This reluctance, fanned by a large and influential Italian colony in Cairo and by stubborn remnants of anti-British feeling left over from the fight for independence, explains the instability of the Egyptian Government since the Mediterranean became a battle front.
In sharp contrast with the methodical way the British use the air weapon, blasting night after night at the same objectives, the Italian squadrons appear to rush about at random. From Gibraltar to Malta they flit from port to port like a Mediterranean tripper, with no apparent aim except to harass the British as much as possible with as little cost as possible. In their operations there is much to support the theory that they expected the conflict to end with the fall of France; this is the best explanation of the gingerly and cautious fashion with which they keep up the appearances of warfare while husbanding their limited military resources. They strike wherever the British are exerting pressure.
The threat to Greece, the nervous haste of the effort to calm the Bal
kans, the dispatch of an Italian mission to Syria, can be taken as signs that the English are busier than they seem in the Balkans and the Near East. But Egypt is the key of their defenses and the core of the Mediterranean conflict. If the manoeuvres now in progress from the Black Sea to the Sudan foreshadow a shift of the battlefield to the south, as some observers believe, the place to watch is the bridgehead which straddles Asia and Africa at the Suez.
SEPTEMBER 1, 1940
A YEAR OF WAR LEAVES BRITAIN FACING HITLER
PROSPECT OF INVASION FADING
By EDWIN L. JAMES
The end of the first year of the war finds Great Britain facing Germany in a conflict of bitterness which apparently has still some time to go. In that twelve months Hitler has conquered France and Poland and overrun Norway, Denmark, Belgium and Holland. The carving up of Rumania at his “advice” shows that he is very nearly master of the Continent of Europe. Italy came in with him after France was prostrate and is waging an indifferent war against the British in the Mediterranean and Africa.
As things stand now, Britain’s fleet is maintaining a fairly effective blockade of the Continent to prevent food and supplies from reaching the Germans, while Germany is trying to maintain a blockade of the British Isles, using mostly her air force, her submarine warfare having slumped remarkably.
While these two efforts at attrition are in progress the German and British air forces are hammering away. Day and night the Nazi planes attack Britain. They have unquestionably done large damage but they have suffered heavy losses at the hands of the R.A.F. Britain, on the other hand, continues almost daily raids on German military objectives in France, Belgium and Holland and has taken the war to Germany. Against the bombing of London, there is the bombing of Berlin.
WARFARE IN THE AIR
The indications are that the Germans have given up, or are giving up, their plan for a military invasion of Britain, so loudly heralded by German propaganda. It is possible that the advice of German generals that it would be a very tough job indeed caused Hitler to think of the price a failure would cost him. In any event, the approach of bad weather in a few more weeks seems to make it evident that if the Germans have not forsaken their dream of capturing London with tanks and infantry, at least they have put it off until next year.
True enough, the current air attacks on Britain are intended to “soften” that country, to use Nazi terminology, to the point where an invasion could be attempted. It would not appear that the “softening” process has gone far enough to permit a military invasion to be imminent.
It looks, therefore, that the coming months will see the fight between Britain and Germany limited to air warfare. One may figure that the weather will have a hampering effect perhaps on both sides and also one may figure that neither side has as yet made its maximum effort.
There is so little definite public knowledge of so many important factors that it is difficult indeed to make any predictions as to what the Winter months will bring.
THE MONTHS TO COME
In the first place, there is little reliable information as to the relative air strengths. This is natural, inasmuch as such facts would constitute important military information for the enemy. The estimates of German plane production vary from 1,000 a month to 6,000 a month. This means simply that outside of Germany little is known of the Nazi plane production. Prime Minister Churchill stated in the House of Commons ten days ago that British production of planes had comfortably passed German production. The most commonly reported figure of British production is between 1,600 and 1,800 planes monthly, to which may be added a figure of 300 as representing roughly the number of planes received by Britain from the United States.
Of course, there is a possibility of error in figuring a blanket number of planes. A big bomber may cost ten times as much as a small chasse plane and yet in these popular classifications each is counted as one plane. There is also the element of aviators. Which country has the most aviators? One would suppose that Germany, with the larger population, could train more pilots. Over against that calculation could be placed the circumstance that when a British Spitfire brings down a German bomber, there are four or five men lost, whereas if the single-seater chasse plane is brought down one airman is lost.
It is therefore hard to guess what the effect of four or five months of the aerial warfare now going on will be on the two sides. Certainly there appears no good reason to think that either the British resistance has been seriously weakened or that the Germans have seriously worn out their air force. The spirit and morale of Britain are excellent, from all accounts.
UNITED STATES PREPARES
In the meanwhile the United States, although somewhat lumberingly, is getting prepared. If the theory is correct that even if Hitler had designs on this country it would take him two or three years to get ready, then our situation is not so bad. The factor of Britain’s so far successful resistance to Hitler has somewhat softened the fear which swept over much of this country after the defeat of France. However, the movement toward preparedness seems to have a solid popular backing.
There is much quotation here of the Germans’ statement that they have no aspirations in this hemisphere. It would, therefore, be interesting if the United States were to propose to Denmark a ninety-nine-year lease on a slice of Southern Greenland as an air and naval base. The Danish Government is under the thumb of the Germans and the advice Berlin might give on such a proposition would be significant. After all, Greenland is in the Western Hemisphere and once before we acquired bases from Denmark when we bought the Virgin Islands for $25,000,000 in 1917. If it be true that Greenland would be a convenient half-way point for bombers coming this way from Europe, it might be a strategic advantage to have a base there. And, of course, if the Nazis do not dream of ever sending any bombing planes across the Atlantic they ought not to have any objections to our building a base which might be an interference.
But there will not be any Nazi bombers, warships or transports coming this way until after Britain has been defeated. And Britain is not yet defeated. Mr. Churchill says the war will turn around in 1942.
SEPTEMBER 1, 1940
Fifteen Outstanding Events in the European War
September 1, 1939: Germany Invades Poland
September 3, 1939: Britain and France Declare War on Germany
September 17, 1939: Soviet Army Marches Into Eastern Poland
September 28, 1939: Germany and Russia Partition Poland
November 30, 1939: Russia Invades Finland
March 12, 1940: Finland Cedes Territory to Russia, Ending War
April 9, 1940: Germany Occupies Denmark, Invades Norway
May 10, 1940: Germany Invades Low Countries
May 14–May 23, 1940: Germany Conquers Netherlands and Belgium, Invades France
June 10, 1940: Italy Declares War on France
June 17, 1940: France Asks for an Armistice
June 27, 1940: Russia Obtains Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina From Rumania
July 21, 1940: Russia Moves to Incorporate Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia
July–August, 1940: Germany Launches “Battle of Britain”
August 30, 1940: Rumania Cedes Part of Territory to Hungary
SEPTEMBER 4, 1940
BRITISH JUBILANT
Destroyers Strengthen Their Fleet At Point of Greatest Strain
By RAYMOND DANIELL
Special Cable to The New York Times.
LONDON, Sept. 3—It would be impossible to overstate the jubilation in official and unofficial circles caused today by President Roosevelt’s announcement that fifty United States destroyers were coming to help Great Britain in her hour of peril. They will be manned by British crews and will fly the white ensign of the Royal Navy, it is true, but they are coming, nevertheless.
It was tangible proof that American talk of giving “all aid short of war” was more than idle chatter and that this country’s friends across the Atlantic, despite German propaganda and the heavy bom
bardment of British cities and towns, had decided there was still lots of fight left in the British lion and that it was not too late to help turn the tide against totalitarian domination of Europe.
DESTROYER LOSSES OFFSET
Under the arrangement, it was pointed out by authoritative sources, the United States gained security against future aggression, while the British fleet at one stroke acquired fifty 1,200-ton destroyers as an offset to the thirty lost since the beginning of hostilities.
These destroyers are badly needed at this stage of the war with British sea power engaged in a death grapple with the German Empire. Since the French were knocked out as an ally, the whole job of protecting convoys and maintaining the lifelines of the Empire against the new enemy in the Mediterranean has fallen upon the British fleet, while the air force has concentrated chiefly on destroying the enemy’s supplies and defending the homes of the people of this island, which is under repeated bombardment from the air throughout its length and breadth.
Added to this multiplication of the navy’s duties has been the necessity of blockading the whole Continent of Europe while standing by to resist the very real threat of a German invasion which, as War Secretary Anthony Eden warned today, still hangs over this country.
The New York Times Book of World War II, 1939-1945 Page 35