MOOD OF CONFIDENCE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 10 August 1943, Page 3

MOOD OF CONFIDENCE

RULING IN GREAT BRITAIN

OMINOUS WEEK FOR GERMAN ARMS.

SIGNIFICANCE OF EVENTS IN RUSSIA.

(Special P.A. Correspondent.) LONDON. August 8. « The victories of the past week have produced an atmosphere of confidence throughout Britain which has never been exceeded during the war. No curb has been put on this mood, and one of the most frequent comments this weekend is upon a quotation from the memories of 1918 by the German General Ludenorff: “August 8 was the black day of the German Army.” The opinion is held that the same week in 1943 is no less ominous for German arms.

Of the three Allied victories—Orel, Byelgorod, and Gantania—commentators suggest that.the Russian victories are probably the most alarming to the Germans because they confirm the fact that the long-promised German summer offensive was a disaster. The Russian offensive, combined with the Sicilian victories, means the successful opening of two fronts. THREAT TO BALKANS.

There is considerable conjecture as to what will be the next step in the Mediterranean. It is questioned whether it would be strategically sound for the Allies to pin down a relatively large proportion of their own manpower by occupying a no-man’s land in southern Italy. On the other hand, if the Allies were firmly established in southern Italy they would threaten not only the German line north of Rome, but also the Balkans.

The “Sunday Times” says: "From the heel of Italy it is a short crossing into the Balkans—short enough to permit of landings being made with fighter cover. Such landings, if they were successful, would outflank the enemy forces in Greece. That circumstance is combined with the fact that the burden of occupation, which has hitherto been boyne almost entirely by the Italians, might cause an evacuation of Greece in the quite near future. It would not be surprising if Greece were the first conqured European country to be liberated.” POLICY TOWARDS ITALY. Last week’s debate in the House of Commons focused attention on the Allies’ political intentions inside Italy. The “Economist” stales the opinion that the cleavage of opinion in the Commons was real and profound, and the journal gives support to a policy which was suggested by Mr Ivor Thomas (Labour) that “there should be for some period a military occupation, during which the organs of democracy should be allowed to function again,” instead of attempting to throttle down popular passions under some quasiFascist dictatorship.

The “Observer” contends that Mr Eden’s reply to the debate was “an elegant but evasive little speech,” and it declares that it would be an -immense relief to hear one- word from the Government benches indicating that Britain’s leaders are alive to the immense and pressing opportunities and responsibilities of this question.