Man Power

At the root of all questions of man power lies the size of the Army. The Navy and Air Force make gigantic demands upon us, but the great customer for man power is the Army.

So spoke last week a man who loves the Navy much, who carries a lump of sea salt in his mouth. For Winston Churchill such a statement was a kind of concession. But it was one which he had to make. By last week the Army--especially the one right at home--was very much on the British mind. Defense against invasion was again the biggest concern.

Winston Churchill went on to claim for Britain 4,000,000 men in uniform and under arms. This included the semi-civilian Home Guard (almost 2,000,000). (The British estimate of Germans under arms is around 4,400,000 and the British do not deny that the Germans have more and better equipment.) Even though the British claim was good considering the disorganization after Dunkirk, Winston Churchill saw an increasing demand for man power. He said the Army and Air Force would have to set about "combing their tails in order to magnify their teeth"--would have to cut down on their behind-the-lines military services of maintenance, repair, supply, preparation, so as to bolster the front ranks.

Last week the 4,000,000 under arms were not idle. No British Army even in World War I has ever been that big; none has ever had so much practice for such a bitter defensive job. One regional command let it be known last week that it had studied and practiced against 120 distinct invasion hypotheses. The British expect that the Germans may succeed in establishing a few beachheads. If they do, the defense counts on 1) the Navy to cut off water-borne supply, 2) the R. A. F. to resist airborne supply and reinforcements as well as attacks from three air armies totaling 18,000 planes, 3) the Army to crush the invaders on land.

Last week Britons revived an old fear: gas. After Munich and at the war's beginning, Britain was very much on guard against gas. Over 45,000,000 gas masks were distributed, but gradually the fear blew away, and now only about one in five carries a mask, usually only when the war of nerves is fiercest. Last week the Government considered requiring gas masks as an admission "ticket" for bomb shelters; planned practice gas alarms to remind the people of this threat; put pressure on producers of gas-fighting equipment to speed up.

Invasion may have fizzled last summer, may look like a horrible risk for the attackers now. But Britain expects it. A lull in air attacks last week, which in London lasted seven whole days, did not decrease British vigilance. The ticking of hours--lengthening the span of days after the last Hitler-Mussolini meeting, shortening the span until fairer weather--increased it. The British expected to beat off invasion even at the cost of one half of the Royal Air Force, three quarters of the home battle fleet, 250,000 young units of man power.

But vigilance was not fear. The British expected to beat off invasion even at the cost of one half of the Royal Air Force, three quarters of the home battle fleet, 250,000 young units of man power.

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