GERMANY'S CONFIDENCE
Snt,—I would like to support most wholeheartedly the con- tention by Mr. George Edinger in your issue of January 5th, that our morale is left entirely undefended while the much more exposed nerves of our enemies are apparently never to be attacked by the propaganda methods they are marshalling against ourselves.
This appears the more serious when it is remembered that it is Hitler's declared purpose to disrupt an enemy psychologi- cally on the home front before striking at him and destroying him militarily.
The following brief paragraph from the Bridgwater Mercury of December r3th speaks for itself : " A correspondent writes : ' German announcers have gone so far as to mention small towns and places in the West Country, which has surprised listeners and aroused curiosity to tune in regularly. The diabolical craftiness of these talks I know causes arguments and doubts which are dulling enthusiasm."
It would be interesting to know if all England, Wales and Scotland has been covered in this fashion. My radio set is not quite up to getting Lord Haw-Haw, unfortunately, regularly.
Whoever invented the name " Lord Haw-Haw " for the German broadcaster struck a cruel blow at this country. The mere repetition of the words arouses a pleasurable feeling of superiority in the speaker or thinker. Hence its popularity. And for this reason journalists seized on it so eagerly. All laughter, of course, is provoked on this basis.
I have myself experimented in this medium. I believe that I was the originator of the phrase " blood-bath " for the Nazi PartY. purge. It went through the Press like wildfire, in time reaching the august heights of the Daily Telegraph leader column.
When I was a very young man I worked for a few months in an Australian ironstone quarry, where a great deal of blasting was done with various explosives. We frequently unearthed unexploded plugs of gelignite in the course of our work. Some of the older men—particularly ex-soldiers—would mutter then: " They're too free with their explosives in this quarry." Sure enough it came. One day we had what was
said to be the biggest open quarry disaster in the history of New South Wales.
For anyone with experience in such matters there is psycho- logical dynamite kicking around at the present time to make
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