“A DECISIVE DEFEAT”

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 280, 23 August 1944, Page 4

“A DECISIVE DEFEAT”

General Montgomery’s inspiring message to the troops under his command in France caps a series of successes that has completely changed the aspect of the military situation in this theatre. The public will be thrilled and uplifted to have from his own lips his verdict that “our victory has been definite, complete, and decisive.” Nothing that has been said by correspondents on the scene, or by commentators, could have been so convincing and encouraging as this unequivocal statement by the Commander himself as to the nature of the defeat that has been inflicted on the enemy. It is characteristic of General Montgomeiy that he has awarded the merits of the fighting without distinction of corps or individuals. “Where all have done so well,” he says, “it is difficult to single out any for special praise.” That is a very high compliment to the spirit of team work that has animated every fighting unit throughout the operations. To the average reader of the day-to-day news of the. operations which have reached so decisive an achievement, it may have seemed that brilliance of tacti’cs and speed of execution on certain parts of the front overshadowed the efforts of others. Less obvious was the fact that to these others fell the hard and less spectacular task of holding down the enemy on a bitterly-contested sector in order that greater mobility might be achieved elsewhere. To each unit was allotted a sphere of action that fitted into the general pattern of the battle. Failure on any one sector might have spelt failure to realize the objective of the operations as a whole. The psychological effect of General Montgomery’s message upon his troops must undoubtedly have been very great. They have fought hard, have sustained losses,' and it must have been a stimulating and exalting reward for their efforts to be told that their valour has been crowned with a victory that will stand out in the records as one of the decisive episodes of the war; to be told, moreover, that their achievement marks “the beginning of the end of' German domination in France,” and that “the end of the war is in sight.”