BITTER STRUGGLE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 22 April 1941, Page 5

BITTER STRUGGLE

TAKING EXPECTED COURSE PRESS COMMENT IN LONDON. air and land forces. (By Telegraph —Press Association —Copyright) LONDON, April 20. The “Daily Mail” in a leading article says: “The events in Greece are taking the expected course. There: were never any illusions about the probable outcome of the Greek operation. The Greeks have shown themselves worthy of all we can do for them. We are bound to, them in honour.” The Athens correspondent of “The Times” says that, despite the Allied retirement, the Greeks are not downhearted. The people of Athens staged a huge demonstration last night and cheered for victory. They nearly lynched two people caught spreading defeatist talk. . The bitterness of the struggle in Greece is generally commented upon by the weekly Press. The Sunday Times” says: “Battles so intense and continuous as those which have r£ }S in the Balkans ever since Hitler launched his attack just a fortnight ago allow of little description during their progress. We can still form no picture of the day-to-day movements, but enough is known to show that the Greeks. British, Australians and New Zealanders have fought with the utmost determination. The German war machine had nowhere previously encountered more dogged and effective resistance and disproportionate losses have been inflicted on its advancing troops. , , “But the struggle has been very unequal. Yugoslavia was caught still unready and collapsed. Her rapid defeat permitted the Germans to mass the whole of their strength against the Anglo-Greek front. The weight of the attack has grown from one day to another and it has now assumed gigantic proportions. “And here we may note a peculiarity which distinguishes the pi esent from all previous wars. In rugged or fortified country where accesses are narrow it is impossible to throw more than a definite weight of ground troops against the nodal point and even aitillery concentration has limits. But to air pressure there is no limits. That is what falsified the good doctrines of defensive warfare and made an end of ‘impregnable’ positions. “Much suffering and much hard work lie yet before us. We did not go into the Balkans expecting an easy time there. We knew too much of the German . war machine for that. There will be a hard struggle before its menace comes to an end. But to break it we are determined, since freedom and civilisation cannot co-exist with it on the earth.”