UPPER HAND

Wairarapa Times-Age, 8 July 1943, Page 4

UPPER HAND

AT PRESENT HELD BV ALLIES IN BATTLE OF ATLANTIC. ADMISSION BY NAZI NAVAL SPOKESMAN. (By Telegraph—Press Association— Copyright) (Received This Day, 12.35 p.m.) LONDON, July 7. An admission that the Allies at present hold the upper hand in the Battle of the Atlantic, and that they are further developing their defences against the U-boats, was made by a naval spokesman, Admiral Luetzow, over the Berlin radio. “It is a hard struggle for our Üboats from th® time they leave their bases until they return,” he said. “We have increased the numbers and range of our boats, but it was realised in 1942 that the conditions of fighting had become more difficult for us. The enemy left nothing untried, increased the protection of his convoy, and met our counterstrokes with fresh devices. The enemy has continually increased the number and efficiency of his planes policing the lanes the convoys are using, thus gradually compressing the area in which U-boats can systematically pursue the attack. Carrier-borne planes now circle the convoys. They drop depth charges and report the position of U-boats to destroyers. Our Üboat crews are nevertheless straining every nerve to wrest from the Allies the advantageous position they at present hold in the Atlantic.”