FIRST CRACK IN AXIS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 30 July 1943, Page 3

FIRST CRACK IN AXIS

HAILED BY PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT BROADCAST TO AMERICAN PEOPLE. MARCH OF THE FORCES OF LIBERATION. (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY. July 28. President Roosevelt, in a broadcast to the American people tonight, recalled that over a year and a half ago he had said: “The militarists in Berlin, Rome, and Tokio started this war, but the massed, angered forces of common humanity will finish it. - ’ Mr Roosevelt went on: “That prophecy is in process of being fulfilled. The massed, angered forces of common humanity are on the march. They are going forward on the Russian front, in the vast Pacific area, and in Europe, converging upon their ultimate objectives of Berlin and Tokio. “The first crack in the Axis has come. The criminal, corrupt Fascist regime in Italy is going to pieces. The pirate philosophy of the Fascists and the Nazis cannot stand adversity. The military superiority of the United Nations on the sea and land and in the air has been applied in the right place at the right time. Hitler refused to send sufficient help to save Mussolini. Hitler's troops in Sicily stole the Italians' mo-

tor equipment, leaving the Italian soldiers so stranded that they had no choice but to surrender. Once again the Germans betrayed their Italian allies. as they had done time and time again on the Russian front and in the long retreat from Egypt, through Libya to Tripoli to the final surrender of Tunisia.

NO ESCAPE FOR CRIMINALS

“Mussolini came to the reluctant conclusion that ‘the jig was up.' He could see the shadow of the long arm of justice. But he and his Fascist gang will be brought to book and punished for their crimes against humanity. No criminal will be allowed to escape by the expedient, of resignation.

“Our terms to Italy will still be the same as to Germany and Japan—unconditional surrender. .We will have no truck with Fascism in any way,, shape, or manner. We will permit no vestige of Fascism to remain. Eventually Italy will reconstitute herself. It will be the people of Italy who will do that, choosing their own Government in accordance with basic justice and the principles of liberty and equality. “In the meantime, the United Nations will not follow the pattern set by Mus, solini, Hitler, and the Japanese, for the treatment of occupied countries, the pattern’ of pillage and starvation. We are already helping the Italian people in Sicily. With their cordial cooperation, we are establishing and maintaining security and order. We are dissolving the organisations which kept them under Fascist tyranny. We are providing them with the necessaries of life till the time comes when they can fully provide for themselves. The people of Sicily are today rejoicing in the fact that for the first time in years they are permitted to enjoy the fruits of their ov/n labours—they can eat what they themselves grow, instead of having it stolen by Fascists and Nazis. “In every country conquered by the Nazis, Fascists, or Japanese militarists, the people have been reduced to the status of slaves or chattels. It is our determination to restore the conquered peoples to the dignity of human beings, masters of their own fate, entitled to freedom of speech and religion, and freedom from want and fear. We have started to make good that promise. Meanwhile, the war in Sicily and Italy goes on. It must go on, and will go on till the Italian people realise the futility of continuing to fight in a lost cause, a cause to which the people of Italy never gave wholehearted approval or support.”

FORCES OF INVASION.

The President stated that it was just over a year since the North African and six months since the Sicilian campaigns were planned, and spoke of the vast preparation that had to be made for thctfi. The initial assault force in Sicily involved 3000 ships carrying 160,000 men, 14,000 vehicles, 600 tanks and 1800 guns, he said. The meticulous care with which the operation in Sicily was planned had paid dividends. The casualties in men, ships and material were low —far below the estimate. The toughest resistance had developed on the front of the British Eighth Army, which included the Canadians, but that was no new experience for that magnificent fighting force, which had made the Germans pay a heavy price for each hour of delay in the final victory. The American Seventh Army, after a stormy landing on exposed beaches in southern Sicily, had swept with record speed across the island into Palermo.

Credit must be given for the co-ord-ination of the diverse forces in the field, the planning of the whole campaign, and the skilful leadership of General Eisenhower, Admiral Cunningham, General Alexander and Air Chief Marshal Tedder, who had been towers of strength in handling the complex details of the naval, ground and air activities.

REAL CO-OPERATION

“Some people say that the British and Americans can never get along well together, that the army, navy and air forces can never get along well together, and that real co-operation between them is impossible,” the President said. “Tunisia and Sicily have given the lie once and for’ all to these narrow-minded prejudices. The daunt-, less fighting spirit of the British people in this war has been expressed in the historic words and deeds of Mr Winston Churchill, and the world knows how the American people feel about him. Ahead are much bigger fights, and we and the Allies will go into them as we went into Sicily—together. And we shall carry on together.” Turning to the shipping situation, Mr Roosevelt said that this year the United States was producing over 19,000,000 tons of merchant ships, and next year would produce over 21,000,000 tons. For several months they had been losing fewer ships by sinkings and had been destroying more and more Üboats. It was hoped that this would continue but, “v/e must not lower our guard a single instant.” t TRIBUTE TO RUSSIA. Referring to Russia, Mr Roosevelt said: “The world has never seen greater devotion, determination and selfsacrifice than has been displayed by the Russian people and armies under the leadership of Marshal Stalin. With

a nation which, in saving itself, is thereby helping to save all lhe world from the Nazi menace this country should always be glad to be a good neighbour and a sincere friend in the world of the future.”

The president went on: “Those few Americans who grouse and complain about the inconveniences of life should learn some lessons from the civilian populations of our allies —Britain, China and Russia, and the lands occupied by our common enemies. The heaviest decisive fighting today is going on in Russia, and I am glad that the British and we have been able to contribute somewhat to the striking power of the Russian armies. In the Pacific we are pushing the Japanese round from the Aleutians to New Guinea, and there, too, we are taking the initiative, and we are not going to let go of it. “It becomes clearer and clearer that the attrition and whittling down process against the Japanese is working. The Japanese have lost more planes and ships than they have been able to replace. Continuous, energetic prosecution of the war of attrition will drive the Japanese back from their over-ex-tended line running from Burma, Thailand and the Straits Settlements through the Netherlands Indies to eastern New Guinea and the Solomons. We have good reason to believe that their shipping and air power cannot support such outposts, and our naval, land and air strength in the Pacific is constantly growing.

ADVICE TO JAPAN.

“If the Japanese are basing their future' plans for the Pacific on a long period in which they will be permitted to consolidate and exploit the conquered resources, they had better start revising their plans now. “We are delivering planes and vital war supplies for the heroic armies of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, and we must do more at all costs. Our air supply line from India to China across enemy territory continues in spite of attempted Japanese interference. We have seized the initiative from the Japanese in the air over Burma and now enjoy superiority. We are bombing the Japanese communications, supply dumps and bases in China, Indo-China and Burma, but we still arc far from the main objectives in the war against Japan. We arc pushing forward to the occupation of positions which in time will enable us to attack the Japanese islands themselves from the north, south, cast and west.”

POST-WAR PROBLEMS.

-Referring to post-war problems, Mr Roosevelt said: “The same kind of careful planning that has gained the victory in North Africa and Sicily is required if we are to make victory an enduring reality and do our share in building the kind of peaceful world which will justify the sacrifices made in the war. The United Nations arc substantially agreed on the general objectives for the post-war world. They arc also agreed that this is not the time to engage in international discussion of all the terms of peace in all details for the future. We must not relax the pressure on the enemy by taking time to define every boundary and settle every political controversy in every part of the world. The all-important thing now is to get on with the war and win it. While concentrating on the military victory we are not neglecting the planning of the things to come—the freedoms which we know will make for more decency and greater justice throughout the world.”

FOR TOTAL VICTORY.

Having spoken of demobilisation and other post-war problems for the solution of which it was necessary to plan in advance, the President concluded: “The plans we have made for knocking out Mussolini and his gang have largely succeeded. But we still have to knock out Hitler and his gang, and Tojo and his gang, and no one pretends that this will be an easy matter. Wo shall not settle for less than total victory. That is the determination of every American on the fighting fronts. That must be and will be the determination of every American at home.”