MR CHURCHILL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 30 December 1941, Page 5

MR CHURCHILL

RETURNING TO WASHINGTON AFTER BRIEF VISIT TO CANADA. FAR-REACHING DECISIONS EXPECTED. (By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright) LONDON, December 29. Mr Churchill, who is now in Ottawa, is returning to Washington from his brief visit to Canada. Far-reaching decisions are expected to be taken in Washington on his return. STALIN INVITED TO VISIT UNITED STATES. ACCORDING TO AMERICAN COMMENTATORS. NEW YORK, December 28. The radio commentators, Messrs Pearson and Allen, in a broadcast said that President Roosevelt has asked M. Stalin to visit Washington. They said that he sent the invitation through the Soviet Ambassador in Washington, M. Litvinov. The British in the earlier stages of the Allied conference believed that the primary war effort should be concentrated in the Atlantic, the commentators said, but it was subsequently decided that while Britain and the United States would continue all-out aid to Russia, equal aid must be given in the south-west Pacific, and Singapore and the Netherlands East Indies, must be held at all costs.

Investigating the problem why Russia does not fight Japan, Mr Walter Duranty, writing in the “New York Times,” concludes that the Russians do not believe in half-hearted, sporadic actions, and therefore do not want to start hostilities and minor air raids against Tokio while their main forces are busy against Hitler. “But eventually a Japanese-Russian war is 'inevitable though possibly it will be delayed,” Mr Duranty says. He adds that two events could speed up Russia’s entry of the war, firstly, the conclusion of an all-out Anti-Axis union tantamount to an alliance; secondly (though this is unlikely),, unexpectedly severe reverses of the A.B.C.D. Powers in the Far East and the Pacific, necessitating the immedi-. ate diversion of Japanese forces.

PACIFIC STRATEGY

COMPREHENSIVE SURVEY. MADE BY MR W. M. HUGHES. (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, December 28. In a comprehensive survey of the Pacific situation Mr W. M. Hughes, deputy-Leader of the Australian Opposition, according to Press messages from Sydney, stated that Australia looks to the United States in the Pacific strategy. “Though,” he added, “it is well that we should look to America, Russia, China and the Netherlands for co-operation and aid, without Britain we should be undone.” Mr Hughes further said, “Russia is rolling back the Germans, but Russia is not at war with Japan. British planes are continually bombarding vital areas in Germany. The American Navy has to be distinguished between the Atlantic and the Pacific, and following the Pearl Harbour sinkings it means that there are fewer naval vessels for the Atlantic. Also it must be remembered that it is British forces who are rolling up the Germans and Italians in Libya.”

WAR PROBLEMS

AGREEMENT ANTICIPATED. BETWEEN GREAT POWERS. (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, December 28. In Britain widespread attention is focused on the proceedings of the Allied war conferences in Washington and Moscow, which are expected to produce agreement between the great Powers and their associates on the prosecution of the wax- throughout the world. The vital importance of a fundamental agreement on strategy is recognised as essential for the most successful distribution of the supplies which are at the Allies’ disposal, particularly during the present period before American war production is fully developed. Before any majoi' decisions have been taken in Washington, heavy defeats have already been inflicted on the Germans in Russia and on the combined Axis forces in North Africa, achievements which evidently owe much to the prior decisions to reinforce both the Russians and the Allied armies in Egypt even at the temporary expense of Fax - Eastern defence. A new phase now opens an both fronts.' By capturing Kaluga and neighbouring towns the victorious Russian armies have crushed the German hopes of stabilising their shortened line during the winter. At the same moment General Auchinleck, having inflicted heavy losses on the enemy armoured forces and infantry and reached the western end of Cyrenaica, is now in a position to jeopardise the whole Axis position in the rest of North Africa.

Attention, nevertheless, is already fixed on the prospects of successfully defending the Far East against the Japanese inroads, which it is felt must be the immediate preoccupation of the Allied statesmen and their staffs in Washington.