LONDON

HEADQUARTERS
OF FREEi EUROPELondon

Headquarters of Free Europe

Tjj ^ROM under the wheels of the German panzer
|_J divisions the small nations of Europe snatched
I 1 the greatest treasure in their possession. Hitler
JL had hoped to capture not only their armies, their
stores and their territory but even the last vestige
of their freedom. If they had made peace with
the conqueror and accepted his New Order in Europe
as a fait accompli, Hitler’s supremacy would have been
infinitely more difficult to overthrow. But the small
nations salvaged their self-respect out of the wreckage.
Their defeat never became a rout; instead they converged
all their remaining forces, moral as well as material, upon
Britain, at that time the only hope of salvation.

Hitler was balked of the real fruits of conquest. Instead
of a pacified Europe he was left with a cauldron of hostility.
A large part of his army has had to be immobilised in
the task of maintaining order among the peoples that
have refused to surrender. For, across twenty-one miles
of salt water, these nations have a complete government
to represent them. Not only a government but an epitome
of their entire national life. Their ships sail from Great
Britain’s harbours, their armies are directed from Great
Britain’s soil, many of their funds are safely bestowed in
Great Britain’s banks, their culture lives and flourishes
in Great Britain’s cities. Hitler’s New Order remains a
mockery while free Europe is still able to ’ oppose him
from its impregnable headquarters in London.

3Nine Nations Building the Future

At an inter-Allied meeting in London on June 13th,
1941, the representatives of nine unyielding nations from
the continent of Europe, together with Britain and the
Dominions, pledged themselves to co-operation in the
task of defeating Germany. This was their resolution.

1.	That they will continue to struggle against German
or Italian oppression until victory is won, and
will mutually assist each other in the struggle to
the utmost of their respective capacities.

2.	That there can be no settled peace and prosperity
so long as free peoples are coerced by violence
into submission to domination by Germany or her
associates, or live under the threat of such coercion.

3.	That the only basis of enduring peace is the willing
co-operation of free peoples in a world in which,
relieved of the menace of aggression, all may enjoy
economic and social security; and that it is their
intention to work together, and with other free
peoples, both in war and peace to this end.

The signatories to that resolution in addition to Great
Britain and her self-governing dominions, were the Nether-
lands, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Yugoslavia, Belgium,
Norway, Luxembourg and General de Gaulle, leader of
the Fighting French.

THE NETHERLANDS

On May 10th, 1940, the day of the German invasion
of the Netherlands, the Foreign Minister, Dr. E. N. Van
Kleffens, and the Minister for the Colonies, Mnr. C. J. I.
M. Velter, were sent to England so that the voice of the
lawful Netherlands Government should not be silenced
even though the entire country should be overrun. It
was a wise step, for the Germans had already proved
the indiscriminate and ruthless character of their warfare.
Attempts were made to capture the Queen and the rest
of her ministers and they were pursued and attacked by

4Every morning the Red, White and Blue Flag of the Netherlands is hoisted by the
Maerchaussee (Netherlands Guards) from the balcony of their Headquarters in London.

bombers wherever they went.. Finally, they succeeded in
making good their escape across the North Sea. Prince
Bernhardt, husband of Princess Juliana, the heir to the
throne, stayed on and fought in the lines beside his men,
and not till his country’s military effort had ceased did
he join his family in England.

Under the able premiership of Professor Gerbrandy
the Netherlands Government operates in London as though
it were on its native soil. Through that government
the Netherlands and the Netherlands East Indies have a
voice in world affairs; their accredited representatives
are in the capitals of all free nations, their possessions
in the New World are geared to the allied war effort, and
their forces are being gathered for the series of counter-
strokes which will restore their fortunes and their lost
territory.

5General Sikorski, Polish Premier and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces,
salutes the Guard of Honour formed by the Home Guard on the occasion of
his visit to the Ministry of Information.

POLAND

When the Poles, after a month of glorious resistance
to the German mechanised forces, had no course left but
to lay down their arms, their part in the war was by no
means over. Their government escaped to France and
there formed new armies to fight alongside their allies.
The capitulation of France and the ignominious Bordeaux
armistice with Germany could not involve what was left
of the proud Polish nation. Their government came to
London and with them as many of the Polish soldiers
and airmen as could slip out of the German clutches and
cross the English Channel. Under General Sikorski as
Prime Minister, Poland is maintaining her national integrity.

The agreements signed between Poland and Russia
in 1941 marked the end of the old differences between
the two nations in the face of a common enemy and the
pact of Federal Union signed by the Polish and Czechoslovak
Governments in London on July 23rd, 1941, was a corner-
stone in the building of a new Europe beside which Hitler’s
New Order is a shoddy excuse for tyrannical imperialism.

6YUGOSLAVIA

Yugoslavia is interesting among the occupied territories
as an example of how public opinion can save a nation’s
soul. A pro-German government which was not repre-
sentative of the people had planned to admit the Germans
without striking a blow. When the people became aware
of this plot they threw out the treacherous government
and took their stand with Greece against the German
and Italian aggressors. It was too late for their armies
to be mobilised into an effective force against a premeditated
attack. But it was not too late for General Simovic to
set up a government in London to keep alive the
independence of this great Slav people.

The young King Peter of Yugoslavia, in a broadcast
to the British people soon after his arrival in London,

The young King Peter of Yugoslavia walking in the courtyard of Clare College,
Cambridge, where he is completing his studies.

7said that he came among them not as a stranger in exile
but as a friend and even a kinsman, for his mother was
related to the English Royal Family. The young King
is continuing his education at Cambridge University while
his ministers, under the premiership of M. Slobodan
Yovanovitch, successor to General Simovic, watch over
the present interests in Yugoslavia and plan wisely for
the future. One of their most statesmanlike actions has
been the Treaty of Federation with Greece signed on
January 15th, 1942. This union of two heroic peoples
is a symbol of the better Europe that the United Nations
are building even amidst the stress of war.

Many officers and men of the French Army, captured in France by the Germans
during the battle of France, have escaped to England to join General de Gaulle.
The Fighting French newspaper published in London is very popular.

8FIGHTING FRANCE

The capitulation of France is one of the saddest events
in the whole history of that once great nation. It seemed
to the world that with the signing of an armistice between
France and her German conqueror and the setting up
at Vichy of a government pledged to obey Hitler’s will,
all that was best in the French character and culture would
be submerged for ever. Those who loved France and
had looked to her for spiritual leadership felt that their
world had crumbled to dust. Then, as if in answer to
the despairing hope of the friends of old France, a National

French men and women have found in London the freedom that has been eclipsed
in France and, from their new centre of operations, they are planning the liberation
of their country. In the Fighting French is enshrined the true soul of France.

9General de Gaulle and General Catroux
meet General Sir Archibald Wavell
in Cairo.

Committee was set up in London as a rallying point for
all those French people who did not understand the word
surrender. Under General Charles De Gaulle, the Fighting
French rallied to champion the cause of their unhappy
country. That the Fighting French movement is not a
hollow symbol is evidenced by the fact that large! and
important territories in the French Empire have identified
themselves with the ideals of General de Gaulle. The
Fighting French colonies represent a territory six times
the size of the mother country. They are a token of the
independent France which the Fighting French are fighting
to restore and which will result upon the victory of the
United Nations.

ioEmmanuel Tsouderos5 Prime Minister of Greece,
photographed in his office at the Greek Government
Headquarters in London.

GREECE

No nation has fought more heroically in the war than
the Gxeeks. For many months they drove back the much
larger armies of Mussolini and delivered what was perhaps
the first blow in the decline and “fall of that dictator. But
the Greeks could not hope to stand up before the
organisation and strength of the German armies. The
occupation of Greece was the last of Hitler’s cheap victories
over a small and weak opponent. He was yet to meet
an army capable of smashing his mechanised forces ip
the plains of Russia. For five months King George of
the Hellenes stayed in the Near East supervising the

iiKing George of Greece and Prince Paul talking to girls dressed in the Greek
national costume at the opening of an exhibition of Greek art in a London gallery.

re-organisation of Greek forces that had escaped into
Egypt. Then, leaving his military representatives in the
Middle East, he came to London to form a government.
The Greek Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign
Affairs is Monsieur Emmanuel Tsouderos. His Ministry
has already made history with the Pact of Federation
entered into between his country and Yugoslavia.

CZECHOSLOVAKIA

The Czechoslovaks were among the earliest victims
of German aggression. Their country was first fragmented
by the Munich decree and then dismembered by German
and Hungarian annexations. Many of the leaders of the
Czechoslovak people managed to escape. When the war
began they set up their headquarters first in Paris and
later in London, where a Czechoslovak Government was

12Dr. Edward Benes, scholar, states-
man and national hero of Czecho-
slovakia, photographed in London,
where his Government has its
Headquarters.

established under the Prime Ministership of Monsignor
Jan Sramek. The President of the Czechoslovak Republic
is Dr. Edward Benes, who was a leading collaborator of
Dr. Thomas Masaryk, the first President, in the liberation
of Czechoslovakia. His presidency is a good omen for
the future restoration of his country. Already the Czecho-
slovak Government has taken the enlightened step of
joining forces with Poland in a project for confederation
when the war is over. Together, these two nations will
constitute a stabilising factor in Central Europe when
the supreme disturber of European peace has been removed.

The membership of the Czechoslovak administration
has a national rather than a party basis. Five of the
ministers are Slovaks, who believe that the fortunes of
the Czechs and Slovaks are inseparably linked together.
They and their Czech ministerial colleagues are working,
like the Czechoslovak forces in Great Britain and the
Middle East, for “a free Czechoslovakia in a free Europe.”

13Young Belgians register for war work at the Belgian Labour Bureau in London.

14BELGIUM

Belgium is yet another nation which transferred its
government to France and then to Britain when France
fell. When the Belgian Army was encircled and its retreat
cut off, King Leopold chose to stay with his stricken people
even though it meant remaining a prisoner in German
hands. Meanwhile, ministers of the Belgian crown and
representatives of every aspect of the national life formed
a little Belgium in the haven of London. Her Prime
Minister, Monsieur Hubert Pierlot, said in a broadcast
from London to occupied Belgium : “ As long as the
enemy treads upon our soil, the war will not be ended.
Belgium is still in the fighting line, like the other states
who, in spite of invasion, will not accept slavery. . . . One
counts one’s friends in the hour of trial. England is
passing through the hour. She will not forget. We, too,
shall not forget. Belgium knows that the friendship of
Britain is the most cohstant factor in the problem of
preserving her existence as an independent nation in
European affairs.”

Belgium has suffered severe losses, not only as a result
of German aggression but through the defection of France.
About £65,000,000 in Belgian gold was deposited with
the Bank of France for safety. Despite repeated instructions
from the Belgian authorities that this money should be
transferred to Britain or the United States, it was sent
to Dakar and under a subsequent agreement signed at
Wiesbaden between France and Germany, the Belgian
gold was shipped to Marseilles and delivered over to
Hitler. To redress the injustice done to a small and
oppressed nation, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York was
authorised by the New York courts to place an equivalent
quantity of gold belonging to the Bank of France at the
disposal of the Belgian Government. Belgium is thus
not only secure financially for her war of liberation but
she still has the splendid asset of the Belgian Congo, a
territory almost as large as Argentina in area and in

15population. With the Fighting French and British colonies
of the African continent the Belgian Empire represents
a valuable source of raw materials and a bulwark against
the advance of the enemy.

LUXEMBOURG

This small brother of Belgium, too weak to offer
military resistance to the invader, had the self-respect
and integrity to refuse surrender. Invited by Hitler to
regard themselves as Germans, the Luxembourgers chose
the privilege of being Hitler’s enemies, the ruler of this
little state, the Grand Duchess Charlotte and her consort,
Felix Prince of Luxembourg have come to London and
identified themselves with the great international movement
for the freeing of Europe from the Nazi grip. The Prime
Minister, Monsieur Pierre Dupong, has his office in London
and has negotiated a loan agreement with the Belgian
Government and rallied Luxembourg citizens for the
day of restoration.

NORWAY

Throughout the unequal campaign in Norway, when
the Norwegian people put up a fight out of all proportion
to the odds against them, King Haakon VII and his
government stayed on Norwegian soil at great peril to
their lives. When, however, their position became hopeless
they decided to seek sanctuary in England and there rally
the remaining Norwegian forces. With the vindictiveness
that is characteristic of German fighting methods, enemy
bombers hunted the aged King among the mountains
and fields of his country. Fortunately, the “ quislings ”
were very few in number. The great bulk of that little
nation were willing to risk their lives to shelter their hero
King.

King Haakon has not forgotten his people. He still
speaks to them by radio from London and they know

16Prince Olaf, Crown Prince of Norway, broadcasting a
message of comfort and hope to his stricken country.

that he and his government, in conjunction with their
allies, are planning the rescue of their country. That
government under Professor Johan Nygaardsveld has been
in power since 1935; it is representative of the four main
political parties and has the allegiance of all the Norwegian
people. Hitler has tried to undercut the authority of
this Norwegian Government in London by nominating
Vidkun Quisling as Prime Minister of occupied Norway,
but to the neutrals as well as the allies the only Norway
is the little band of statesmen, soldiers and sailors whose
headquarters are in London, the power-house of free
Europe.

* * ★

17Armies Rise From the Ashes

These governments exiled in London are not there
on sufferance as poor relations. They are giving as well
as receiving. They have brought with them armies,
navies and air forces. Their forces may be small but
they make up in courage and sincerity what they lack in
numbers. Czechoslovaks have distinguished themselves in
some of the most brilliant battles in the air and Polish
airmen played an important part in the Battle of Britain
when German bombers were shot out of the sky at a rate
that even the Luftwaffe could not endure for long.
Certain sectors of Britain’s home defence front are garrisoned
by Polish troops and the part played by the Poles in
collaboration with the British and Dominion forces at
Tobruk is already a matter of history. Dutchmen from
all over the world have formed a brigade in Britain, which
includes commando and parachute troops.

The Fighting French, too, have shared in the honours
of Libya, Eritrea and Abyssinia; from their strongholds
in the Chad territory they have harassed the enemy forces
in North Africa to very good effect, and their newly-formed
commando unit distinguished itself in the combined opera-
tions raid on Dieppe, on August 19th, 1942. In the
Middle East Polish, Czechoslovak and Greek brigades
have been formed of military units that had escaped from
the European battlefields and Yugoslav units are carrying
on outside Yugoslavia the heroic resistance that their
comrades are sustaining inside the country.

The naval reinforcements that these small allies brought
with them constitute in the aggregate no mean force. They
comprise 225 warships, ranging from cruisers to harbour
service craft. Their total personnel amounts to some 25,600
men. The Dutch Navy has added new glories to the
history of that great seafaring nation in the operations
against Japan in the Pacific. Fighting French and Polish
naval units have played an efficient and heroic part in the
battle of the Atlantic. But it is not only in ships of war
that the allies have contributed to the common cause.

18Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, accompanied by Prince Bernhardt, presents
the colours to a new Dutch regiment which she has named Princess Irene Regiment
after her grandchild. From the safety of British soil, the Netherlands Government
continues to play its part in world affairs.

Almost one third of the shipping now under British pro-
tection belongs to her small allies. Four million tons of
Norwegian merchant shipping escaped to British ports
when the Germans seized the country, and 30,000 men are
bringing food and oil to Britain in those ships. Indeed,
a substantial part of the allied oil supply is being carried
in Norwegian tankers. Norwegians are continually slipping
across the North Sea in frail boats and joining their comrades
in British ports. The Dutch, the Belgians, the Fighting
French, the Poles, the Greeks, the Yugoslavs have all

19contributed merchant shipping and seamen to the great
pool of vessels that is keeping open the lifelines of the allied
war effort.

100)000,000 Guerrillas

The allied military forces operating from London, as
their headquarters, are the nucleus of a very much more
widespread war effort. How powerful that effort is Hitler
will one day know when his storm troopers and Gestapo
have to face the fury of a hundred million people emerging
from enslavement. Even to-day those people are organised
into a kind of guerrilla army. Most of those invincible
soldiers are not yet fighting to kill, though the mortality
among German officers in the occupied territories is high
enough to cause, demoralisation among the armies of occu-
pation. The main concern of the guerrillas is with sabotage,
which is greatly hampering German production and is
destined one day to play a vital part in the crippling of the
German war machine.

In one sector of that European battlefront actual warfare
is in progress, and that is in Yugoslavia. Under General
Mihailovitch an organised guerrilla army is still holding a
substantial part of Yugoslav territory against German and
Italian forces. This guerrilla war is very intimately con-
nected with the Yugoslav organisation in London, because
General Mihailovitch has been appointed Minister for War
in the Yugoslav Cabinet. The movement in Yugoslavia
will grow and spread till every one of the nine nations with
their headquarters in London will be conducting a successful
military campaign against the disintegrating Nazi Empire.

Social Progress under Fire

Not only the arts of war but the graces of peace are
being fostered by the nations that are Britain’s guests for
the duration of the war. Each of the nine nations has very
active organisations to watch over the welfare of their
soldiers and other nationals and to keep the social servicesThe first session of the Netherlands Maritime High Court at the Middlesex Guildhall,
Westminster. On the President’s right is Lord Simon, Britain’s Lord Chancellor,
and on his left Dr. Gerbrandy, Netherlands Prime Minister.

alive. There are hospitals and clinics staffed by Continental
doctors and nurses, scientific research institutes for the
solution of post-war problems, and restaurants and canteens
where the allied people can, as far as war restrictions permit,
be reminded of home.

Dutch Daw on British Soil

One of the most interesting examples of the completeness
of Dutch national life in Britain has been the setting up of
a Netherlands Maritime Court where cases are tried
according to Dutch Law. This was the first time since
the Middle Ages that Britain had permitted foreign civil
courts to be established on her soil. At the first case to be
tried the Clerk of the Court was a Dutch woman barrister,
and the President a distinguished judge from Rotterdam,
and Netherlands State Police in black and silver uniforms
were in attendance.

By the Allied Forces Act of August 22nd, 1942, Britain
legalised the application by the Allied Governments who

21are her guests of their own code of military law. Belgium,
Greece, Norway and other nations are following the Dutch
example and putting their own legal systems into operation
for the benefit of their nationals.

Transplanting a University

While education is under a cloud in Germany and in the
territories occupied by her, the torch of enlightenment is
being kept alive by the legitimate governments of those
territories in Britain. Schools have been opened with
native teachers in charge (so that Hitler shall not have
robbed all the children of their cultural heritage). There
are, to name only a few examples, a Polish boarding school
in Scotland, several schools for Norwegians, a Czech school,
a Netherlands Naval College, an Association des Etudiants
Beiges. An understanding is being fostered between the
European allies and the British people and facilities are
provided for English studies and courses in British uni-
versities. A special school has been opened to provide
Dutch lessons to the English wives of Dutch nationals in
Britain.

A unique development in the inter-change of educational
facilities has been the opening of a Polish Faculty of Medicine
at the University of Edinburgh in March of last year. It
represents the safeguarding and fostering of Polish scholar-
ship on foreign soil for eventual transplantation into the
free Poland that will arise when the war is over. This
form of intimate collaboration between Universities has no
precedent in academical annals; it foreshadows a degree
of understanding between nations which will shine like a
new renaissance after the dark age of Nazi domination.

Religions find Sanctuary

The spiritual welfare of the people of different races
and religions who have taken refuge in Britain is being
cared for with the sympathy and tolerance that the worldexpects from a great democracy. At the house of the
Catholic Archbishop of Westminster a Catholic War
Refugees Spiritual Welfare Committee has been set up
for the guidance and comfort of Poles and citizens of other
Catholic countries under German domination. There are
also Polish Catholic Missions for soldiers and a Polish
Church in North London. For the Czechs an Anglo-
Czechoslovak Christian Fellowship has been formed under
the presidency of the Archbishop of York and the chairman-
ship of the Dean of St. Paul's, and the Catholics of the
former Czech state are represented in the Anglo-Czechoslovak
Catholic Committee presided over by Monsignor E. Myers,

The Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Dr. Gerfcrandy, with Queen Wilhelmina and
Prince Bernhardt, attend a service on the anniversary of the invasion of the Netherlands
in the ruins of the historic Dutch Church, destroyed during a German raid on London.

23A solemn High Mass in Westminster Cathedral on Polish Constitution Day, with
Bishop Gawlina, Polish Army Bishop, officiating and Cardinal Hinsley attending.
The singing is led by the Polish Army Choir.

Catholic Bishop of Lamus. Indeed, wherever these guests
of Britain are stationed a religious centre is made available;
for the Czechs in Scotland, to whom the Christian Societies
in London are inaccessible, a Scottish Czechoslovak Christian
Fellowship has been founded in Edinburgh. There are
Orthodox places of worship for the Greeks and Yugoslavs.
The Dutch had had a church in Austin Friars in the City of
London for centuries, but this famous building was destroyed
by German bombs; in compensation, a church has been
opened for the Dutch people in Bourden Street, London,
W.i. In Camden Town, London, there is the Belgian
Catholic Church of Our Blessed Lady of Hal. The French,
too, have convents and places of public worship, which were
in existence long before the war and have now acquired a
deeper significance to those in exile from the double tyranny
of the German persecutors and their French satellites.
The French Protestant Church in Soho Square, London,
was established as a Hugenot church under Royal Charter
nearly 400 years ago.

24



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Freedom of Speech in a do^en languages

One of the most inspiring examples of the blossoming
of the things of the spirit in the tolerant air of Britain is the
free expression of opinion by the allies through the medium

The British Government has released some of its precious stock of paper so that
its guests from allied nations can have newspapers printed in their own languages.

25of newspapers in their own languages. Paper is scarce in
Britain; it is rationed so severely that most British news-
papers are able to print only a four-page issue each day.
But Britain has released some of her meagre stocks so that
the Poles, the Czechoslovaks, the French and others shall
have the privilege denied to those who were not fortunate
enough to escape the German clutches. Among Czecho-
slovak periodicals are the political weekly “ Czechoslovak,”
the literary monthly “ Kulturni Zapisnik,” a daily bulletin
for Czech soldiers, and a monthly for the Trade Unionists.
The Slovaks in Britain who have made common cause with
the Czechs are represented by a monthly, “ Nove Casy.”
The Belgians have newspapers in the French and Flemish
languages; a daily news-sheet “ Inbel,” a weekly, “ La
Belgique Independente,” a weekly in Flemish, “ Onaf-
hankelijk Belgie,” and an excellent monthly magazine in
English called “ Message.” The Dutch have a platform
in the now well-established, “ Vrij Nederland.” The
French are catered for in the daily paper “ France ” and
in the high-class monthly review, “ La France Libre,” and
the Greeks in the newspaper “ Hellas.” Among newspapers
and magazines in the Polish language, there are “ Dziennik
Polski,” “ Robotnik,” a fortnightly paper representing the
Polish Socialist Party, and a special daily for the forces
stationed in Scotland.

The British Broadcasting Corporation gives news
bulletins in foreign languages for the allied people in Britain
and the occupied territories and has placed some of its
time at the disposal of their speakers and artistes.

Art defies the Barbarian

The German authorities in many occupied territories
have made it a crime for the native language to be spoken,
the national history and literature to be studied and the
national art to be practised. But in London these rich
and ancient cultures are very much alive. British lovers of

26The first meeting of the Czechoslovak Government at their Head-
quarters in Mayfair, the fashionable residential quarter of London.

music consider it a privilege instead of a crime to listen to
the music of Chopin, Dvorak and Grieg, to attend a play
by Ibsen or Bjomson, or see sculpture by Mestrovic.
Exhibitions of Czech paintings and pottery and of the famous
Bohemian glassware have been held in London an4 one
of the big London stores has placed a gallery at the disposal
of the Greeks and the Yugoslavs for the exhibition of their
paintings and sculptures. A Dutch national and colonial
exhibition was opened in Edinburgh in the summer of
1942, with the object of presenting a picture of Holland
and her Empire at peace and war. Similar exhibitions
for the other allied nations are planned. Typical of the
intimacy of the cultural centres opened in their temporary
home by these exiles is the Polish Hearth, where recitals
of national music have been given and also concerts by the
Polish Army choir of fifty-two voices. This choir delighted
London with their singing of the Solemn High Mass at
St. George’s Cathedral. Akin to the Polish Hearth is the
Czechoslovak Institute, a rallying place for all Czechoslovak
citizens including many eminent writers, playwrights and

27composers. A play entitled “ Cavalry Patrol/’ by Frantisek
Langer, a distinguished man of letters with the Czech Army
in Britain, has been performed in London by Czech actors.
The Belgian Institute designed as the London Centre of
Belgian cultural life was recently opened by Mr. Anthony
Eden.

The everyday needs of these communities are also well
provided for. There are clubs and societies where people
can meet for conversation in their own language and where
they can discuss without interference and, indeed, with
every encouragement the kind of world they will build when
Europe has been purged of the Nazi poison.

Planning the Renaissance

Next to the vigorous prosecution of the war and the
complete destruction of the enemy’s forces, the most
important item in the allied agenda at their headquarters
in London is the re-equipment and the rehabilitation of
devastated Europe after the war. An organisation under
Sir Frederick Leith-Ross has undertaken a vast scheme
for feeding, clothing and restoring the people of Europe.
At a meeting held at St. James’s Palace on September 24th,
1941, the governments of Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Greece,
Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, the
U.S.S.R., Yugoslavia and representatives of General de
Gaulle, leader of the Fighting French, formally accepted
the plans for post-war reconstruction outlined by Mr.
Churchill and President Roosevelt and pledged themselves
to wholehearted co-operation. One of the clauses in their
six-point resolution embodied a promise to collect data on
the requirements of their countries and on the resources
available and to present these to a co-ordinating bureau
which would pass them on to the Cpmmittee under the
chairmanship of Sir Frederick Leith-Ross. A new Europe
is in process of creation within the stronghold of London;
the adherence of free civilisation in other continents can
widen the scope of this great enterprise into a world renais-
sance

28The Norwegian Prime Minister and his Cabinet plan the liberation
and restoration of their country in their Council Chamber in London.

A Call to the Outposts

The heroic struggle that all these little nations of Europe
are now carrying on side by side with their great allies is
not so much a war as a crusade. The total war that Hitler
has imposed upon the world involves every man, woman
and child. The destruction of Hiderism and the restoration
of all the oppressed nations is not the concern only of those
still suffering under the Nazi heel and their more fortunate
brothers who have escaped to Britain. It is the concern
of every Pole, Czechoslovak, Dutchman, Greek, Belgian,
Frenchman, Norwegian, Luxembourger and Yugoslav
throughout the world. In countries other than their own
there are tens of thousands of people who can trace their
origins to one or other of these oppressed nations. Friendly
countries offered them sanctuary and comfort and they have
repaid the debt with complete loyalty. But there is an older
loyalty which is not inconsistent with their good citizenship
in the countries of their adoption. The representatives of
the small oppressed nations are calling out to their blood

29brothers all over the world to join them. They are offering
a share in the privilege of destroying the most hideous
tyranny the modern world has seen.

In London to-day there is a great concourse of nations^
a great surge of freedom. Never has there been so mighty
a rising of free peoples. This re-birth of freedom in Europe
is something all absent Europeans can understand and
applaud; to those nationals with their roots still deeply
thrust in the suffering soil of their native lands it is an
appeal that is too insistent for denial and too urgent for
delay.

* * *

L. T. A.' Robinson, Limited, London, S.W.9.

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