PLANES FOR BRITAIN ON WAY TO RUSSIA

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 188, 11 August 1941, Page 7

PLANES FOR BRITAIN ON WAY TO RUSSIA

AMERICAN FIGHTERS

British Commentators See J Hopes Of Victory U.P.A. ;mil Ilrilifli Wirf-les*. Rec. 1 p.m. LONDON, Aug. 10. According to authoritative reports from Washington hundreds of American fighter planes built for Britain are now on the way to Russia. Arrangements are also being i made to provide Russia with the latest type of American medium bombers. The British Government consented to the transfer, it is reported, because Britain has sufficient planes in reserve. John Gordon, writing in the "Sunday Observer." says: "I back Russia to win. The German dream of a quick victory is fading. The Battle of Britain was a shock; the Battle of Russia is a great shock, but the nightly crashing of bombs on German towns is probably the greatest shock of all to Hitler." , J. L. Garvin, in the "Observer." says: "Russia's resistance has turned the tide against Hitlerism. The Russians know that their heaviest tests are still to come, but they are more confident than ever that they will win. Next month, as we enter the third j'car of the war. the supreme effort of the British Commonwealth and the United States will organise the bulk of mankind to ensure the world's deliverance and the great peace. Hitlerism will have died hard, but its fate is forewritten." Captain Liddel Hart, in a speech, said: "Prior to the Russian entry ! into the war. there was no reason- | able ground for the talk of victory in which our political leaders indulged. Hitler has now altered the strategic plans of the war, and as a result, for the first time since the outbreak, there is a possibility of our victory in a substantial sense as distinct from mere frustration." Nazis Abandon Objectives "The Economist" points out that the Germans are gaining ground in Russia, apparently at the cost of abandoning, at least temporarily, a number of their original objectives. Instead of driving further towards Leningrad, they have mpved directly towards the Kholm neighbourhood, which is midway between Leningrad ancl Moscow sectors. Similarly a direct attack on Kiev may have to be abandoned in favour of another movement towards Odessa. Moreover, both in the Ukraine and Kholm, the Germans are still trying to divide up Russian Army groups from one another —an objective they claimed to have attained three weeks ago.

"The Economist" adds that the third German offensive will not be more devastating or far-reaching than the first two, which the Russians successfully repulsed. The German lines of communication are appallinglv difficult, and road builders and railway workers have to perform their tasks under constant guerilla attacks. The Russians, on the contrary, have completed mobilisation and considering the chaotic state of Russian transport at the time of the "purges" their supply system is quite modern.

Another aspect of supply discussed by "The Economist" is the transport promised for war material from the United States via Vladivostok or the Atlantic, and Russia's northern ports. It is questionable whether United States ships can hope to ply between San Francisco and Vladivostok witnout adequate naval protection.

The prime question in the Pacific as well as the Atlantic will be whether naval protection will be effective .if it does not nnpiy "shooting."