Whose War?

Onward Christian soldiers, armed for total war,

Crescent moon and sickle going on before,

Strengthening defenses, girding for the fight,

Westward help comes slowly, eastward it is bright.

Titled Onward Comparatively Christian Soldiers, this sly hymn was published last week in London's liberal-to-leftish New Statesman and Nation, but the sentiments in it were not limited to the left. Many a Briton, irrespective of politics, badly wanted to know the answers to some important questions. When and how was Britain going to help Russia? When was Britain going to attack Germany except in the air? Whose war was this anyhow?

Onward Marxist armies, mainly infidel.

Smite the hordes of Wotan, ram the gates of hell!

Onward hosts of Allah on the desert sand,

Paladin of Siva from India's coral strand!

Chancellor of the Exchequer Sir Kingsley Wood in a speech promised Russia all the credit she could use, warned at the same time that help to Russia would mean that Britons must haul in another notch in their belts. What Sir Kingsley did not say was how much of her own meager supplies Britain can spare for the Russians, how the supplies can be sent.

Onward Afric warriors marching in the van,

Polytheists fighting as polytheists can!

Moslem, Sikh and Hindu bringing victory near,

Onward Christian soldiers, bringing up the rear!

From the military point of view, despite the clamor, there seemed little that Britain could do to ease the weight of the Nazi campaign on Russia. The best that military men in London could suggest last week were distracting coastal raids on the Continent, the possibility of an offensive in Libya, where, it seemed likely, an Axis campaign was brewing already (see p. 20}.

Gather, piebald legions of every faith or none

For the powers of darkness conquer one by one.

Satan's ranks will scatter, Wotan's swarm depart,

Chased by Christian soldiers, once they make a start.

It looked as though Winston Churchill would have some lively sessions ahead of him, as Parliament reconvened this week, explaining to impatient Britons what Britain was going to do about her war.

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