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I've often wondered what those leaflets said that the RAF were dropping on their "Nickel Raids" on Germany at the beginning of WW2. I found a translation of one in the book "Wings of the Morning" by Hilly Brown's sister, Jean. Here it is:
WARNING
GREAT BRITAIN TO THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Germans,
With full and deliberate intention, the government of the Reich has forced war upon Great Britain. They well knew that the consequences of their action would plunge the people into greater disaster, as was the case in 1914. In April, the Chancellor of the Reich gave to you and to the world his assurance of peaceful intentions. This proved as worthless as his proclamation of a year ago in the Sportspalast: 'We have no further territorial demands upon Europe.'
"Never has a government sent its people to death on flimsier pretext. This war is quite unnecessary. German territory and German rights have not been threatened anywhere. No country obstructed the occupation of the Rhineland, the consummation of the Anschluss, and the consequent bloodless incorporation of the Sudetenland into the Reich. Neither we, nor any other country, sought to prevent the growth of the German Reich — so long as it did not threaten the independence of non-German peoples.
All just German demands might have been peacefully settled by arbitration. President Roosevelt has offered you peace with honor, as well as friendly relations in trade and commerce. Instead of these things, you have accepted the invitation to a general massacre, misery and starvation, soon to be brought on by a war which you can never hope to win.
Your government has betrayed not us, but you, its people. In these last years, you have been blinded by a vicious brutality known only to the most primitive. These beliefs keep the soul of the real Germany clutched and beaten down in concentration camps. How else could your government have dared to block with falsehoods and enmity our strivings to achieve, through arbitration, some assurance of peace and friendly intent for the future? We, the British, cherish no feelings of enmity toward you, the German people.
This Nazi influence has persuaded you that you are not committing yourselves to a long struggle. But in spite of ruthless leadership, you are on the verge of bankruptcy. We and our allies have access to vast reserves of manpower, equipment and provisions. We are too strong to be vanquished in battle, and would pursue you vigorously and mercilessly to the bitter end.
You, the German people, have the right to demand peace now, and for all time to come. We, also, wish for peace and are prepared to co-operate with every just and friendly overture of the German government.
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