DIRECTOR OF CAMPAIGN

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 127, 31 May 1944, Page 5

DIRECTOR OF CAMPAIGN

PRAISE FOR GEN. ALEXANDER

(Special P.A. Correspondent.) Rec. 9.45 a.m. LONDON, May 30. High praise is being accorded General Alexander for his direction of the Italian campaign, the news of which is being read avidly by a public that waits daily for news of the invasion of Europe, which r.iany people believe may not come for a few weeks. The "Daily Telegraph," paying a tribute to General Alexander, recounts his war record, and adds: "The last three weeks, which have seen a strong, spirited German army completely defeated in the field, and threatened now with disruption, must have convinced even the most querulous that this war has thrown up a great British commander." Pointing out that the army in Italy comprises sfeven nations speaking four languages, it adds: "If the Commahder-in-Chief had been a bad mixer, his plans might have been wrecked upon the inhibitions and frictions- which the enemy had striven to create. Instead, just as he succeeded in North Africa in becoming the head of a perfect British team, so in Italy General Alexander has formed a perfect international team of which he is the undisputed and unenvied captain." "The Times" declares that General Alexander has "set the unmistakable stamp of his strategic genius upon the great battle." and adds: "He has displayed in Italy a patience under adverse circumstances and a thoroughness in planning which have given him at the crisis a clear mastery over his formidable opponent, Kesselring. He has also shown faultless timing in his blows." GREAT VICTORY WON. Discussing the trend of the battle, "The Times" says Rome is significant not as the political capital of Italy, but as a node through which run all the best lines of communication, along which a defeated army can carry out a retreat northwards. It believes that the chances improve hourly, and that the gigantic enveloping movement which has developed out of the Anzio beach-head may cut the enemy's essential lines of retreat and sweep his whole army back into the Apennines, where he must risk disaster on a scale as large as that which befell him in Tunisia. The "Manchester Guardian" says General Alexander, has already won a great victory, and that it is unlikely that Kesselring can really aim at defending Rome for any length of time along the Alban line. "Not only are we too near and too strong," it adds, "but the possibilities of a landing on the flat coast just north of Rome must be too much in his mind. Our aim is, of course, ti, get to Rome before the bulk of the enemy have passed through or to get across the approach byroads. Success in either of these aims should leave us with a great part of the remains of the German and Italian armies in our hands." Mr. J. L. Garvin, in the "Sunday Express," says General Alexander is establishing his place among renowned commanders, and adds: "Kesselring has lost his best available positions in the southern half of Apennine Italy. It looks as though he must get clean out of it if he can." "Scrutator," in the "Sunday Times," says: "Taken as a whole, and viewed in relation to the immense difficulties of the ground and the fortifications which had to be overcome, General Alexander's offensive must be pronounced as a brilliant success. We seem likely, as a result of the battle, to see the Italian front line drawn north of Rome."