COMMENT AND REFLECTIONS

Evening Star, Issue 24292, 5 September 1942, Page 5

COMMENT AND REFLECTIONS

Perusal ot the summary of three years of war which was published in too ‘ Star 1 on Wednesday must have bred high unease. We knew that all these impossible things bad come to pass, but to have them categorically catalogued was like reading the chapter headings of a treatise on ‘ How to Lose an Ei. - pire,’ That, or pretty nearly that, *3 what they sum up to. It is right to say, as is always being said, that the decisive factor to-day is the United States, as it was in the last war. But circumstances are so different this time that tho might of America may be unabia to make itselt felt before all Europe is lost. Military and economic conquest of almost the whole Continent has already been secured by the Nazis, and the economic gains, even though serviced by the unwilling victims, are so substantial that our blockade loses half the value it had in the last war, while on the other hand Germany’s blockade of us is effective even to the American coast. It has been said_ that every 41 days Germany collects in goods from the occupied countries a sum equal to that she was condemned by-the Allied Powers to pay for World War damages, and that the material wealth which. Nazi Germany has accumulated in the occupied countries during the last three years has already paid for the years of war preparation. The Allies, on the other hand, have little to show on the credit side and a big debit in loss of territory, loss cf almost the whole of the rubber resources, and the probable loss of our European oil stocks. There is no need to magnify the importance of these losses and these gains, and it. may be true, as General Wayell. says, that tho enemy’s effort is beginning to falter; but the scene about Stalingrad and Novorossisk bears iio evidence of this. Both are gravely imperilled, and ,the consequences of their fall would bo disastrous. It may be strategically excusable that wo should stilly be hard upon tho defensive, for it is impossible for our’leaders to reveal what their secret problems have been; but why feed ns sugar every time the news feeds us gall? Space at disposal to-day forbid* lengthy comment, so that, briefly *. — RUSSIA. —Even should Stalingrad itself bo held, the Germans are already m position north and south of the city; to interrup traffic on the Volga, and this is their main purpose beyond immobilising the activities of the great steel city, and the effect on morale of its fall. But t-ie nows that both Black Sea ports of Novorossisk and Tuapse are invested opens up the possibility to the Nazis of avoiding the breaching of the Caucasus in their drive for oil. ,If Russia’s Black Sea fleet is driven out of Novorossisk it will have no safe base, and can be destroyed from the Crimea coastal aerodromes (no doubt rebuilt by Germany), and the Germans may attempt direct landings on the coast near Sukhum, Poti, and Batum. Any such invasion of Georgia from the west would immediately threaten the Russians’ flank and disrupt their strategy. It might be accompanied by an attack along the Caspian via the Derbent Gateway, and ■would constitute the gravest challenge to the lands south of the Caucasus. EGYPT. —Rommel has gained little from his first renewed drive against our El Alamein strong point. Although he is reported to have used almost the whole of his armoured forces in probing'our positions it does not appear to have been a more weighty affair than a reconnaissance in force, and apparently our gun strength proved too great for the panzers to tackle, and they were withdrawn overnight. , The element of unease occasioned by the large assemblage of paratroops and glider divisions of the enemy at Crete remains. Soma say these number a quarter of a million, men. Are they intended for use in the rear of the Eighth Army, or do they constitute a force gathered for an enterprise upon Syria? INDlA.—Reassuring reports from some of the provinces justify in some measure the nope that the disaffection has been localised and suppressed, which, is just as well, since India is still under 'immediate threat of- invasion. It is significant that in every province where there has been Hindu jstudents have been responsible. More sinister is the fact that the most concentrated attacks upon communications have taken place in those parts of India likely to be invaded. . JAPAN.—-America’s riposte in tho Solomons has clearly. upset Japanesa calculations, and is of immense importance whether or hot it is entirely successful. In trying to Retrieve the loss of a stepping-stone southward v tho enemy literally took a ducking at Milne Bay. He was trying again the gama he played so successfully in Malaya, o£ compelling a general retirement by effectinglandings in the rear. It was a well-baited trap that General MacArthar had set—an easy way to Porfi Moresby the prize; only, unfortunately for the Nipponese, the jungle behind the beaches was fully occupied by Australian bush-fighters, _ and the enemy took so bad a hammering that when the seepnd day’s sun rose the beaches were empty, japan cannot now afford t» leave the situation where it stands* since we occupy an enfilading position relative to her link of South Pacific bases,* and it remains to be seen what she will attempt beyond redoubling her effort toi reach Moresby via the Owen Stanley Mountains—a task even more arduous than the breach of the Caucasus. Another humiliating series of reverses iuj China must add to Japan’s_ chagrin* The offensive into South China snowi signs of complete collapse. In the provinces of Chekiang and Kiangsi thd Chinese are slowly regaining all thq cities and airfields they nad lost, thanks to the assistance derived from the now) considerable American air force at them disposal. If only we could get the other equipment to them—bigger guns and more tanks—there seems no doubt that Japan could be rudely and speedily swept from the country.