BADLY CORRODING

Wairarapa Times-Age, 18 February 1943, Page 3

BADLY CORRODING

HITLER’S MILITARY MACHINE ALLIED LEADERS’ BELIEF. ACCORDING TO AMERICAN CORRESPONDENT. (By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright) NEW YORK, February 16. “Behind-the-scenes strategists in Washington and London credit high reports of the German casualties. They believe that Hitler has lost more than 4,000,000 men killed, wounded and captured,” says Joseph Harsch, writing in the “Christian Science Monitor.” “Furthermore, the loss of Stalingrad is interpreted to mean that the German air transport is so weakened that it can no longer serve the function for which it was developed. Confidential reports from inside Germany indicate that an excessive drain on petrol supplies has forced a' contraction of air training, precluding the Luftwaffe from obtaining an adequate replacement of pilots. Moreover, the German rail and water transportation is so overstrained that purchases of Swedish steel have been drastically curtailed, not because of,Swedish resistance, but because the Nazis are unable to move it. “Military circles in Washington see the possibility that Hitler f has been building up a reserve air force for one big powerful kick; either a new attempt to reach the Caucasus oil or a drive to Gibraltar or an invasion of Britain.” Mr Harsch concludes: “Neither Mr Roosevelt nor Mr Churchill expects that Germany will , crack soon, but they are confident that Hitler’s military machine is badly corroding while the Allied machine is getting bigger and stronger every day.” The “New York Times” suggests the possibility that the Germans will remain on the defensive on the eastern front and take the offensive 'in the west. It adds: “The Axis thrust in Tunisia -is a warning that the Germans are not preparing to quit Africa, where the Allies are facing big casualties.” “The biggest fact that can be discerned from the victories in the Ukraine is the rise of Russia as a great world power,” comments the New York “Her. ald-Tribune.” “It is idle to think any longer in terms of bolstering up Russia till a mortal blow can be delivered from the west. It is the Russians who are now bolstering up the west. From the military viewpoint, the Allies must exploit the Russian success by the mightiest possible blows. “From the diplomatic viewpoint, united action is also imperative. Russia has indicated that she is ready to work with the democracies after the war provided that they are strong and resolute, and she has also indicated that if she is left to win the war alone she will then take care of herself in her own way. It is folly not to recognise that the shape of the world is changing and refuse to co-operate with it.”