ARMS FOR OFFENSIVE

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 202, 24 May 1944, Page 6

ARMS FOR OFFENSIVE

Impressive Picture Of Lend-Lease ALLIES’ MUTUAL EFFORT (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, May 22. The forces of tlie United Nations are now about to strike new and mightier blows at Nazi-occupied Europe from offensive bases in the west, south and east, says President Roosevelt in a letter to Congress accompanying the fifteenth Lend-Lease report. He intimates that new Soviet blows will be simultaneous with advances elsewhere. Lend-lease aid. the report says, had reached 24,224,806,000 dollars (over £6,000.000.000 sterling- by April 1. In his letter, Mr. Roosevelt draws a striking picture of the forthcoming operations. He says: "The fighting men of many nations have been banded together in combined operations. They are armed with the most, powerful weapons that the combined resources and ingenuity of the United Nations can produce. They are ready to bring to bear their strength to continue the crushing process against the Nazi and German war machine.’’ He adds: “The United Nations’ fighting partnership has been made far stronger by lend-lease and reverse lend-lease. Decisive battles are ahead. Now, more than ever, it is vital to our own American army, navy and air forces, as well as to the forces of the other United Nations, that we should continue to provide our fighting partners witli the additional war supplies they need to supplement their own resources. Strength in Unity. “Only by uniting our full strength with the full strength of the other free peoples of the world have we moved from the defensive to the offensive, from defeats to victories. By maintaining bur unity now, we shall certainly achieve final victory. By continuing our unity after the war we can assure a peace in which mankind can live, work and worship in peace, freedom and security.” In the first three months of this year the Uniteel States provided the Allies with the record-breaking total of over 4,000,000,000 dollars’ worth of lend-lease aid, the report states. About 97 per cent, of all lend-lease aid has gone to the British Commonwealth, the Soviet Union and China. , “In the first 60 days of this year alone 2100 lend-lease planes, almost 2000 tanks, and over 60,000 other military motorvehicles were sent from the United States to the forces of the other United Nations fighting the Germans and Japanese,” it is stated. , , ~ “Since the beginning of the lend-lease progranime in March, 1941, we have sent more than 30,000 planes, some 2a,000 tanks, and over 800,000 other military motor-vehicles to the forces of our allies. Of these, more than 23,000 planes and over 23,000 tanks, and almost 500,000 other motor-vehicles went under lendlease. The rest were paid for in cash by the Allies.” Of reverse lend-lease, the report says: “By the first of this year the aid provided to the United States by the nations of the British Commonwealth since June 1, 1942, totalled over 2,000,000,000 dollars, and the rate of aid was approaching this amount per year. . “Just as our allies benefit from the other 86 per cent, of our war expenditures, so we benefit from all their war expenditures whether they are for ver^ e lendi-lease and mutual aid or 'not. In the case of the Soviet Union and China, for example, virtually all their resources are needed for fighting the invaders of their own soil, and it is essential to the success of qur own military operations that their resources should be so used.” AU-Round Equality. The report makes a point of emphasizing that “all the experience and information we have available indicate that, in proportion to their available resources, our principal allies are putting into this war fully as much as we are. including our lend-lease aid. “This is true in terms of the percentnge of their manpower in uniform, m the terms of the percentage of gross national production each is devoting to wnr purposes, and in terms of their increased taxes and increased national indebtedness in relation to national income. . There is a striking reference to Britain in the report. “Three years ago, it says. “Britain stood' alone between the United States and the tide of Axis aggression that Had, swept across western Europe. Three years later, in the. swing of 1J44, Britain has become the mightiest, militaiy base in the history of the world.