An interesting echo. In The Spectator of just five years
ago there was an article by Major Lawrence Athill on " How Civilisation Came to Harrar," in which the writer described that Abyssinian town as he had known it years before. His closing paragraph read, " But this is not Harrar of today, for on March 29th, 1936, sixteen aeroplanes flew over Harrar and left their civilising message. They did not quite achieve their work, for on that evening only half the town was in flames. The Ethiopian Cathedral had gone. So had the hospital . . . Perhaps tomorrow the aeroplanes will return, and then the civilising of Harrar will be complete." That was on March 29th, 1936. It is still, as I write, four days to March 29th, 1941. That date may prove a notable anniversary for Harrar, for aero- planes with different markings are over it now, and if they are dropping anything it is leaflets telling of impending liberation. As for Major Athill, I do not know his precise whereabouts, but I shall be surprised if he is not nearer to Harrar than to Hampstead.
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