THE LAST ROUND

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 8, Issue 60, 27 March 1945, Page 4

THE LAST ROUND

IN the words of that great Britisher General Montgomery, the last round of the greatest war in the world's history is now about to begin. Crushed between the slowly closing jaws of the greatest armies of modern times, supplemented by all the machinery of destruction which the scientific and industrial worlds can provide, the remnants of the once proud Third Reich, is mustering its final reserves for one forlorn, desperate bid for victory, to relieve the hopelessness of its outlook. Into thinning ranks of her exhausted divisions Nazi Germany is pouring every man, irrespective of age capable of bearing arms. The final classes of the Volkstrum have been called to the swastika, thus further crippling the already weakened industrial and producing sections of the community. Each new draft of German manhood conscripted into the fighting forces, must mean the increasing of the intolerable burden bearing down upon the womanhood of the nation. Just how far-reaching the effect will be is hard is guage, but if we are to heed the broiadcasts and newspaper exhortations of the notorious Dr Goebbels, the whole of the nation is sufficiently unified to make this one final desperate gamble, in the face of overwhelming odds. "Never since 'D' day," write correspondents "have we noted such a gigantic massing of equipment and munitions." This observation covers the preparations behind the lines established by General Montgomery, for the final onslaught. The intensity and fu'ry of the new attack must hasten the end and something of its tempo may be guaged by the terrific air bombardment which is at this moment hammering away at the enemy positions and rear bases. The Anglo-American armies, aided by the free units from France, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Norway, Poland and Czechoslovakia, are but awaiting the; word. Their advance will mark, in the words of their famous leader; the last round, to a fight which has involved the entire world, and which has dragged on for five painful, wear*/ years of suffering and disaster.