SHORTENING THE WAR

Wairarapa Times-Age, 27 October 1943, Page 3

SHORTENING THE WAR

PRESS COMMENT IN BRITAIN SOVIET VICTORIES AND ALLIED STRATEGY. SUPPORT FOR THE RUSSIAN VIEWPOINT. (Special P.A. Correspondent.) LONDON, October 25. Russia has been the dominating interest during the past week on account both of the amazing military progress and the conference in Moscow. It is only a fortnight ago that the most responsible opinion here frankly expected that the Russians would pause before crossing the Dnieper for perhaps two months, but the Russians had other The “Sunday Express” points out that as a result the Germans in the Dnieper bend are in about as bad a military position as possible, and it expresses the opinion 'that nothing short of a miracle can save the Germans. The “Observer” says: “During the next few days and weeks the fate of three German armies will be settled. The consequences if they are destroyed are almost immeasurable. The southern flank of all the German armies south of the Pripet Marshes would be torn wide open and all these armies would find themselves in jeopardy. The recovery of the Crimea would restore complete Russian domination of the Black Sea and the coast of Rumania. In that case, where could Germany’s eastern front be restored?” Mr. J. L. Garvin says: “It seems likely —pretty certain —that the European war will be shortened. The Red Army’s stupendous campaign within the Dnieper bend and outside it to the Crimea has seized the enemy with surprise and dread like nothing yet.” Discussing the Moscow conference, Mr Garvin says the Russians think that the question which is now paramount in the world’s interest as well as their own is to hasten victory in Europe and shorten the whole war. “They maintain that an all-round and overhead assault against Htilerism with the concerted maximum strength of all three Powers should be undertaken with the irreducible minimum of delay,” he says. “They urge that the majestic time-table of the Western Powers should be spurred.” UNIFICATION OF STRATEGY. The “Economist” stresses the same urgency of speed. “The material superiority of the Allies over Germany in every branch is now beyond doubt,” it says. “Their war production is more than double that of German-controlled Europe, their air power is at least three times that of the Luftwaffe, they are the masters of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, they have at least a dozen warships to every German one, and they can muster 450 to 500 divisions against a maximum of 350 by Germany and her satelites. “The enemy is retreating on every battlefield in Russia and Italy, in the air and on the sea, and, not least, on the battlefield of ideology, yet official sirens still sound the political alert, ‘The most difficult phase of the war is still ahead of us,’ ‘We must not expect the end of the war —yet.’ ” The “Economist” continues: “The Russian view of the war is based on a great culmination of effort to break Germany’s military backbone. They are using every opportunity to gain a cjecision in the shortest possible time, compared with the Anglo-American long-distance perspective.” The “Economist” believes the need is for a single Allied strategy of victory against Germany, with a combined concentration of effort and dovetailed time-table.