Evening Post WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 1942. WORD AND WEAPON ATTACK

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIII, Issue 111, 13 May 1942, Page 4

Evening Post WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 1942. WORD AND WEAPON ATTACK

The month of May has been chosen for Hitler's offensive against Russia. Two years ago Hitler had a glorious May when he walked over the French, but many things have altered since May, 1940, and the French precedent has no application anywhere in Russia, or, indeed, anywhere else in Europe. May and June (1940) in France represented the peak of the Hitler tide. By the following May (1941) Hitler had decided on his treacherous attack on Russia, which he actually launched in June, since when his fate has been written definitely upon the Russian wall. He found it necessary to disavow the word "blitz" as soon as it became patent that Russia was not a replica of France and Greece. Later he found it convenient to attribute the limitations of his military success to the Russian winter and to the psychology created by Napoleon's failure. And now, amid the melting northern snows and the drying southern fields, he is launching a new spring-summer drive with (it is reported) two million men to replace two million dead. Just as the Germans express doubt about the two million dead men, so also the world may well feel doubtful about the two million live men on the Donets front that Hitler now proposes to bury in Russia. But two million is a handy sum in round figures and represents a good number to start off with when the German propagandists tell the world.

Whatever may be the actual number of troops now put in the field by Europe's chief undertaker, there can be little doubt that what is being witnessed is indeed the longheralded spring offensive. In addition to the fighting reports — ambiguous as ever—there are pieces of corroborative evidence, mainly propagandist. The story of new German weapons is always reserved* for the eve of some great offensive. Whether the new weapons are effective or not, and whether they are new or not, the new weapons story always possesses a certain intimidatory value. As time goes on the innovations will have to justify themselves; and before long the Russians will have taken their measure, and their surprise value, as well as their intimidatory effect, will disappear. With gas it is different. Hitler can continue to "hold chemical warfare threats over the heads of his enemies, while continuing to take credit for his own tender self-restraint. His self-restraint—his reluctance to use an inhuman weapon—would disappear as rapidly as his pact with Stalin disappeared if Hitler could see any definite advantage in using gas; but Mr. Churchill's warning may prove to be something of a steadier. A new weapon is useful if the enemy does not already possess it. But gas is well outside this category, and no German monopoly attaches to it should Hitler's soft heart suddenly lose its present tenderness. Will Hitler's offensive against Russia be served, or disserved, by an increase in the number of Italian divisions on the Russian front? The Stockholm correspondent of the "Daily Telegraph" declares that, when they met at Salzburg, Hitler was promised by Mussolini additional men. 'The number stated, 100,000, is not impressive. Still less impressive will the quality be. Food is very scarce in Italy, and the transfer of Italians to the Russian front may come under the heading of relief works. If these Italian divisions really count as front-line soldiers, then Hitler's transport of them to Russia does not seem to coincide with rumours of an early drive by the Axis in the Eastern Mediterranean. Some of the reports to hand imply that Hitler at present is concentrating against southern Russia and is seeking "a gateway to the great oilfields region." If he were to succeed in this sector,' Turkey would again come into the news. Henceforth Russia and the Middle East may appear more in the headlines than recently has been the case. The spotlight now is on Russia and on the expected second round of our sea-and-air struggle v;illi Japan.