The Dominion THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1943. MR. CHURCHILL’S WELCOME HOME

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 308, 23 September 1943, Page 6

The Dominion THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1943. MR. CHURCHILL’S WELCOME HOME

The hearty welcome extended to Mr. Churchill on entering the House of Commons after his return from Quebec must be inteipieted both as a tribute to his leadership and an expression of profound satisfaction with the present favourable aspect of the war situation.. Recent public criticism had led to anticipations that the Prime Minister would be sharply interrogated on two points —the apparent delay in following up the’ military advantages gained by the Italian armistice, coupled with the escape of Mussolini from custody, and the still muchdebated question of a second front in Western Europe. On these two questions Mr. Churchill appears to have satisfied the House. Hie Italian front, we are now told, is a “Third Front.” The long-antici-pated Second Front is no empty phrase, but in the Prime Ministers prophetic assurance, a very definite planned objective. Indeed it would appear from a reported statement by General Marshall, United States Chief of Staff, that the stages are being cleared for great offensive operations in various theatres, and that the time is almost ripe for the launching of these enterprises. One heartening feature of Mr. Churchill s statement was that leferring to the war against the U-boats. There has been a surprising hill iifthe attacks bv the enemy’s submarines, especially in the Atlantic, but this, he warns,'is not to be taken that the enemy has been beaten, but rather as a calm before a new storm, in which the enemy may be expected to exploit new weapons and new methods of attack. As has often been pointed out. the crux of all great offensives now being planned is sea power. Any serious recrudescence of enemy submarine activity in a new and dangerously effective form might delay the launching of these offensives. The effect of this latest. statement by the British Prime Minister will be to intensify.public anticipations and at the same time to temper these, with a realistic appreciation of the significance of possible contingencies. __