ONE OF HITLER’S WEAK SPOTS

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 80, 28 December 1940, Page 4

ONE OF HITLER’S WEAK SPOTS

Importance Of Railways R.A.F. BLOWS AT GREAT JUNCTIONS Tlie famed Orlen I Express, on wliieli millionaires and lilm stars once rode in luxury, recently puffed lliroitgh France, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, and Rumania, and at its linal terminus —Istanbul—out sleiqied one solitary passenger. Anol iter train steamed into Moscow a few weeks ago. and from it alighted a Commission of Persian railway expeHs, who had arrived to discuss transit probleitts will, lite Soviet authorities. Somewhere between these two news items of tlie rails lies Hie crux of tin- problem that is lielping to defeat Hie Axis Bowers, says lite "Daily Telegraph," London. Every time tlie R.A.F. rains bombs on tlie crc.-it rail jitnciions and marslialling’yards of Dtiislmrg, Osnabrnvk, Eschweiler ami Aachen, they deal Hiller a body idow. Hamm, a super-Clap-liam Junction in Germany, where (lie biggesl network of lines converges, has been visited again and again, to have its rails tiptorn and twisted by British bombs.

Hiller’s war .strength depends upon steam strength. Troops cannot lie moved in vast numbers witlmnl trains. Ore and oil may lie plundered in tnillions of tons, but must lie idle and useless without the trucks for traitspori. in 1932 Hie German Stale Railways carried 2.B(i.(HKl.ii(ii> tons. By 1937, under Hiller’s war liid, Hie traliic had risen to 516,0011,001) tons. Trains, instead of covering 600.000,(1110 locomotive miles, were covering 912,000,000 toiles. The slicer si rain of it wore the rolling stock down almost lo tile axles. Tlie 26,700 locomotives of a normal period had been reduced lo 21,1)00, mid many of these were of an obsolete pattern.

In ravaging Europe, the armies went all out for railway trains. As lluprice of temporary peace, Belgium was persuaded to h.-ml Germany hundreds for use in I’olaud. Polish trains, in tlieir turn, were used on the local Berlin lines. Gentian I’rain Disasters.

Denmark was no sooner overrun than Germany seized linn locomotives, 511(1 railway carriages, ami 12.1)91) trucks. 'l’lions.-imis more have been lilclied from France. Yet rail power dcpemls. not qit trains, but on rails. And Hiller's railways have been oci-r--crowded for so long llml I rain disasters hare- ri’.-ii-lied a new German all-lime high level. if Hiller wishes to keep llaly's factories at war work .iimiher big demand is made of lii-s train streiiglli. Reci-nlly. for iusitim-e. Germany underlook lo supply Italy with I.ll(ii),i:iii) tons of coal. To have delivered lids in the stipulated time 2IK)(I engines would lii|ve been required. ami 67 trains ol coal would have had to arrive in Italy every 2-1 hours. Yet t In-re- are only lour railway lines linking tlie Axis lieiween ilnly ami Gerimmy. Running through tin- Balkans, (lie lit I le-kiiown Bukovina line knows Die whole answer of oil supplies for tlie next blitzkrieg. Bukovina rails run all tin- way from (hl(t.ss<(, on I lie Black Sea. to tin- German frontier, it was linked Uy Fre-m-h ami Czeeli capital as :i new Balkan artery, hut il was never iiiH-nded for -peed, l-'or nearly Hie eulire 2no miles of llm lines. Bukovina has mdy a single track. lu carrying war supplies lo lhe ciiasl of l-'i'.-ince. 100, i lie Fuehri-r is limited in l hi- main lo lhe irniik line via Brussels. Night afler night R.A.F. bombs rain down on strategl ii- points ami bridges. Signals al "Danger." I'rol'essoi- Blum, one of tin- foremost anthoi-ities on traliic prolilcms in Ger-ni.-iny. said: War can be sustained only with tin- assistance of a transport syslcm in 11<• rfi-i-1 order from lhe begiiuiiii.g.'' Brilain has always been world-famed for lhe wondi-ri'iil condition of her railways and rolling stock. No wonder llitler look’s greedily across tin- sea. Briiains air power and sea power are re morse less l.v crippling liis rail power, ami tin- signals for Hie Nazis are sei at "daliger.”