“BEGINNING OF THE END”

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 23997, 12 July 1943, Page 5

“BEGINNING OF THE END”

Roosevelt’s View Of Invasion ALLIES’ ULTIMATE OBJECTIVES

(Rec. 10 p.m.) WASHINGTON, July 10. When Mr Roosevelt addressed General Giraud and other guests at a White House dinner party just before 10 o’clock American time last night,, ne described the invasion of Sicily as the beginning of the end. He said he naa just had word of the first attack against the soft under-belly of Axis Europe. He asked the guests not to reveal the news, because of previous arrangements for simultaneous announcements in Algiers, Washington, and London. . ... lv ,o Mr Roosevelt paid a tribute to the co-operation by the British, French, and Americans, who, he said, had been working in “complete harmony. After referring to Mr Churchill s end of the beginning” statement of last autumn, the President added; “I think we can almost say that this action to-night is the beginning of the end. “We are going to be ashore in a naval, an air, and a military strise. Once there we shall have an opportunity of going in different directions, and we have not forgotten that Franc is in one of the directions Even if the move is not directed at this moment against France itself, the ulti mate objective is the liberation of the people of France, not merely m the south part, but also in northern Fra:nee. “We have not won the war yet, but one happy thing is that with the help ot General Giraud we have un ted the military situation. We want to help to rearm the French forces and to build up French strength, so that when the time comes point of view, when we get into b ranee itself and throw the Germans out. there will be a French Army nd French ships working with the British and ourselves.”

War Crimes Commission.— Sir Basil Hurst a leading British authority on international law, who, since 1929. has been a judge, and later, president, of the Permanent Court oflnternational Justice will be the British, member of the United Nations Commission for the investigation of war crimes.—London, July 10.