The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1941. PROBLEM OF AIDING RUSSIA

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 225, 23 September 1941, Page 6

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1941. PROBLEM OF AIDING RUSSIA

'J'HE German armies are winning formidable victories in Russia, and the end of them is not vet. As in every other campaign, Hitler did not embark on this one without careful calculation, which convinced him that he could \.in. Although for the first time he sent his armies against superior numbers of men, and probably of machines also, he knew that in modern warfare numbers are not so important as equipment, and the quality of that, equipment. And he relied also on the efficiency of a well-tried army against a force which must suffer from the disadvantage of never having fought, except against Finland. These advantages so far have been decisive, and Hitler at the moment has no cause to feel dissatisfied with the progress of the campaign. Probably it has been much more costly than he bargained for, but the cost will weigh little with him against the tremendous gains which may be his. Until he launched the attack, three months ago, he could never forget that the forces of Russia, intact and always growing stronger, stood along his eastern frontier, and he could not be sure that they would never march against him. Hence he was obliged to maintain great armies on the eastern frontier. They were idle armies, but they could not be used elsewhere, and they were of course expensive to maintain. It must have occiured to him that if he could so damage the Russian military machine that it would be incapable for a long time of again becoming a potential threat, he would be in a far better position to turn his full force against Britain and British power everywhere. It is necessary to realise now that the state of the Russian campaign is such that Hitler to-day must be highly confident that his hopes will be fulfilled. The reports of imminent action by Bulgaria, and of increasing pressure upon Turkey, are sure indications that Hitler feels himself free, or thinks he will shortly be free, to follow up the striking advantages he has gained. Nothing in the reports of the fighting gives us any dependable evidence of the effect upon the Russians of their reverse. The exchange of compliments between the garrisons of besieged cities tells us nothing of the condition of the armies in the field. It is possible for skilful commanders to sustain great reverses and lose much territory and still preserve their armies as fighting forces. That is the object of the Russian commanders, but how successful they have been we do not know. The tone of the comment in the British Press, which is demanding more aid for Russia—aid which cannot be quickly supplied, in any circumstances, in the vast quantities evidently needed—suggests a belief that the Russian armies will still be able to fight effectively when the aid arrives. The statement that Cabinet has adopted an "all-in" plan for material aid "in the next few months" is encouraging in this respect. It is clear, from the urgent appeal by the Russian Ambassador, that Russia's greatest, need is tanks. Britain, too, needs tanks, both in the United Kingdom and the Middle East. It is reasonable to suppose that if General Auchinleck had all the tanks he needs we should already be hearing of decisive, large-scale action by the forces under his command. The criticism by the British Press must be read with this fact steadily in mind. No question of willingness to aid Russia is involved, for it must be clear to anybody how greatly Britain would be aided, and the war shortened, by a successful Russian resistance. The question involved is one of judgment, judgment between competing claims, and no one is in a position to say that the War Cabinet's judgment is wrong without being in possession of information which only the Cabinet can have.