A PROBLEM FOR ENGLAND

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23749, 22 September 1942, Page 5

A PROBLEM FOR ENGLAND

NEED OF SECOND FRONT

IF NOT WON IN 1942 WAR MAY LAST 10 YEARS (Rec. 11.30 p.m.) SYDNEY, Sept. 21. "England will have to launch a second front to protect herself against Germany if the position in Russia continues to deteriorate,” contends M. Vladimir Mikheyev, representative m Australia of Tass, the Soviet official needs a second front more than Russia does,” he said. Only a second front will prevent Germany from withdrawing her forces from Russia and hurling them at England. "If the Germans succeed in forcing their way across the Volga before the winter they will be in a position to send troops against England. Germany will need only a comparatively small force then to hold Russia in position. Her main forces can be diverted a^he S belilf^n d ßussia was that if the war was not won this year it might last for 10 years, said M. Mikheyev. He said that no other country could realise the extent of the Russian sacrifices and suffering, which would be increased one hundredfold for every year the war was prolonged. That was why M. Stalin and other Russian leaders always spoke of a victory this year, he said. It was believed in Russia that this could be accomplished if the maximum pressure was put on Germany in France Belgium, Norway, Holland, and Libya, and, perhaps, Greece, Italy, and even Germany itself. "Russia understands the difficulties and dangers associated with attacking Germany m Europe, but compared with the dangers of her own situation she feels that the risks for Britain and the United States are ever so much lighter.” Whatever happened, Russia would go on fighting. Her problem was not manpower, but equipment with which to fight. The greatest relief, however, could only come by forcing Germany to divide her forces and fight in the west as well as in Russia; The loss of Stalingrad would be the greatest blow that could befall Russia. Cutting the Volga communications virtually would mean cutting Russia in half. , . M. Mikheyev, who is aged 35, has been with the Tass Agency for 14 years. He spent 1940 and 1941 in Chungking.

OFFENSIVE FROM BRITAIN

COMMENT BY LORD HALIFAX

(8.0. W.) RUGBY, Sept. 20. A comparison of Britain to-day with the Britain of two years ago, when the Nazis began to bomb London, was given by Lord Halifax, British Ambassador to Washington, in a broadcast in the United States. Many new lessons had been learned by the British people, said Lord Halifax, among them being the recognition that while capacity to take punishment might avert defeat, only capacity to hand it out would bring victory. . ~ _ . With eager satisfaction the British people had seen the first offensive blows delivered against Japanese aggression, and hour by hour they had watched the magnificent struggle of the armies of Russia exacting a fearful price for every yard they yielded. The Dieppe raid and the bombing of Germany were hailed as evidence of this new offensive spirit. However, when and Where this offensive spirit could be developed was a matter for the chiefs of the fighting services to decide. There was no doubt as to the feeling of Britain to-day. Everywhere people were eager to get to grips with the enemy. “Although we are determined to rid Europe of Hitler and all his works,” continued Lord Halifax, “we are not so foolish as to suppose the world after the war will be the same world as before. Although we see the war as one of liberation for enslaved peoples, we also see it as a struggle to keep an open road from a Christian past to a more Christian future.

“We know that, stripped of the accidents which brought this or that nation into the war the real issue for us is whether Christianity and all it means is to survive. The Nazis will declare,” said Lord Halifax, "that Christianity offers no answer to the pressing problems of life to-day. If we had been prepared to turn our backs on these things of the spirit that are our birthright, we need never have gone to war. We might have accepted the Nazi philosophy and filled our bellies with the crumbs that fell from the Nazi table, and the price would have been slavery. “We are resolved never again to lose that new sense of values which we have won through the war.” The First Lord of the Admiralty (Mr A. V. Alexander), at Sheffield to-day, referred to the demand for a second front. He said: “Leave those in authority to be the best judges of what should be done and at what moment. I want you to believe that those of us who have given all our lives to working class freedom have not suddenly withdrawn from that position. We are doing all we possibly can, but it would not be helping an ally to take action which might lead to disaster to our own forces. What we have to do is to keep our eye on the ball and never give up kicking it.” German Minorities Army Division.— The Moscow radio says Hitler has created a new division consisting Of members of the German minorities in Hungary, Croatia, Rumania, and Slovakia.—London, Sept. 20.