Wairarapa Times-Age WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6, 1941. AN ACT OF DECEPTION.

Wairarapa Times-Age, 6 August 1941, Page 4

Wairarapa Times-Age WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6, 1941. AN ACT OF DECEPTION.

4, — TN the extent to which comedy can enter into the grim and deadly business of war it is introduced by the bitter and apparently sincere complaint of Nazi propaganda officials (the most unscrupulous gang of liars the world has ever known) that M. Stalin has been guilty of “the greatest tank bluff since the tank was introduced into warfare.” The .Russians, it is declared, displayed only old model tanks at manoeuvres and parades at which foreign military attaches were present. Since ' then, however, the German armies have made the acquaintance, uncomfortably and in battle, of types of tanks “of which the German High Command had never heard.” No doubt the Nazi dictatorshir]) now regrets its precipitancy in making a mockery of the League of Nations, the Hague Tribunal and all the machinery of international regulation and control. J lad it not done so, it might now have been in a position to invite an international verdictupon the gross deception by Russia of the masters of the German military machine. Nazi feelings it may be supposed are the more deeply stirred, since the grievance they hold against the Soviet Union is very far from relating only to tanks. They appear to have fallen even more seriously into error in estimating the strength and striking power of the Russian Air Force than in their assessment of the quality of the Soviet tank divisions. A good many people are of opinion that the Germans really believed that they would be able for practical purposes to destroy the, Red Air Force in the opening days of the Avar on the Eastern front. Here again, however, their hopes have/ been shattered and proved to be illusory. All the information available goes to, show that the Red Air Force, after six weeks of intensive conflict, is more than holding its own against the Luftwaffe. Reports] from day to day show that it is playing an active, enterprising and successful part in all areas of conflict. It has distinguished itself, not only in combat with German air formations, but in persistent attacks on enemy tanks and other mechanised vehicles. Russian bombers also have given a most effective account of themselves, notably in attacks on oilfields and refineries in Rumania which are declared to have ent deeply into Germany’s available oil supplies, and in operations against enemy warships and supply vessels. What has already been accomplished in this way is highly suggestive of what the Russian bombers are likely to do to Eastern Germany as the northern nights lengthen. Visible evidence goes Io show that the Nazis have been deceived and have deceived themselves in regard to Russia’s total fighting power and that they have every reason to be dissatisfied with the realities now being forced in an unpleasant and deadly fashion upon their notice. It is not reasonably in doubt, that Hitler attacked Russia hoping for and anticipating early success on a great and decisive scale —success that would x have enabled him either to turn swiftly to a full-powered attack on Britain or to settle down, as his alternative hope may have been, to a long stalemate, with the vast resources of Russia at his disposal and open to his unimpeded exploitation. Hitler and those who are fighting under his orders are faced now by a very different and much drearier prospect. It may be open to the German armies to make, at a price, some further gains of territory, but there appears now to be every likelihood that they must expect to be met in any development of the war by an increasing development of Russian resistance and that they will have to struggle against mounting and menacing difficulties as their lines of communication lengthen. Many new developments are still possible in the Pacific and in existing areas of war, but it greatly affects the total outlook that the Germans undoubtedly have been terribly deceived and mistaken in their hopes and beliefs where their conflict with Russia is concerned.