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BRITAIN N OT !
SOFTENING IN
VICTORY HOUR
(From F. E. BAUME, European Editor of the Daily Mirror)
LONDON, Tuesday.— Perhaps even
now it is VE-day as Hitler's
Germany turns the sword in its own
belly, but in London as yet there is no
cheering.
The West End wants to play, hut on
crowded trains troops on leave do
not discuss the great news.
Prepared For Pacific
One Marine commando said to me last night:
"Well, it's the Japanese now, and we're all ready to
aet movinq. This war's not over yet."
fjpHAT is the general English
view.
The world may owe more to Brit
ain than Britain owes the world, yet
Britain's masses are in no mood for
merrymaking or mercy.
They are hard, stern, bitter and
unforgiving; relentless and I'uthless
beyond any stage of their history
other than Cromwell's period.
They say publicly, "Thank
Heavens Mussolini was caught by
Italians. We would probably have
raised him to the peerage."
That may be only a joke, but it is
a bitter joke, recalling Darlan and
certain Italian grandees, and comes
at a time when Himmler is definitely
trying to exchange his own life for
Germany's surrender.
But Englishmen do not believe the
Allies would pardon the Gestapo's
merciless chiei.
An order still exists that troops
may use their own discretion if war
criminals attempt to escape.
If Hitler and Goering are dead,
then Himmler becomes Germany's
No. .1 war criminal.
Mussolini's statement that he had
only contempt for Churchill is re
membered and quoted. What Britain
thinks of Mussolini is beyond con
tempt.
It must be awful for a man to die
so hated.
Britain is remembering that, if
Germany and Italy had won, there
would have been no Britain.
Nobody here will ever forget the
summer of 1940.
And now England merely says:
"The war is won; when the end is
announced doesn't really matter any
I more."
Questioning Public
London, perhaps the world's most cynical city today, is
already calling VE-day Q-day — Question Day.
WITH one side of the world war
1 finished, Londoners want to
ask their rulers a million ques
tions.
How long does Churchill expect
the Japanese war to continue?
How soon will plans for the tran
sition of war industry to peace be
ready?
When will there be sufficient
materials to rebuild bombed
houses?
® Will German prisoners be sent
back to work under the Allies on
German soil?
Will some use at last be made
of Hitler's Labor Battalions?
O Will British civilians at least get
as much food as German military
prisoners?
Will beer get cheaper?
Will there be partial demobilisa
tion, as promised?
Will women be allowed to retain
their war-time jobs in view of the
increase in industry, or will they
have to leave when soldiers re
turn?
Will social security be a definite
portion of Churchill's election plat
form?
8 Will war criminals be dealt with
adequately or whitewashed at long
ethical trials?
Will recently-released detainees be
all wed to continue their .pre-war
work under another guise?
Britain is in no unamimously jolly
mood for VE-Day junketing, as
Churchill's recent warnings indicated.
There are grave problems here.
There is more anti-semitism here
today than before the war, accord
ing to those who have studied the
problem.
There is growing Communist ac
tivity, which, although it may not
sweep the polls as in the French
municipal elections, is showing in
several ways signs of its pre-war dis
ruptive policy.
There are some strange signs of
unemployment in districts where
war work has already ceased.
Prices are soaring to the point of
inflation for clothes and practically
everything but food, although in the
past six months there are sinister
signs, for the first time in the war,
of a food black market, especially in
Soho restaurants.
The people are war- weary and sick
at heart despite their courage.
They talk openly about another
war being round the corner,
naming Russia as a possible an
tagonist.
Ridiculous, you may say. But once
we thought Hitler ridiculous.
Whoever can answer the questions
will lead post-V-day Britain.
$