The Evening Star MONDAY, MARCH 5, 1945. TIGHTENING CO-OPERATION

Evening Star, Issue 25425, 5 March 1945, Page 4

The Evening Star MONDAY, MARCH 5, 1945. TIGHTENING CO-OPERATION

An important outcome of the 'Yalta Conference disclosed by President Roosevelt is the close tactical liaison operating between the Allied Supreme Commander in the west, the Russian Commander-in-Chietf, and. the Commander of the Allied armies in Italy, •allowing for a direct daily exchange of information between the three army groups. Commentators have frequently pointed out. a seeming lack of unity between the Allied command in the | west and the Russians, and have gone so far as to attribute certain unfavourable developments to this lack. This has been by way of carping criticism, of which a superfluity recently tended to convert alleged breaches in Allied unity into fact. • While the two lfronts were a thousand and more miles apart the two main army groups had to act in accordance with the exigencies of the hour and the situation in general. There were, in effect, two wars, and if the ultimate goal was the defeat of one common antagonist the strategic significance of the various operations applied only in the broadest sense. So far as was necessary there was "an exchange of information, although this exchange might take a labyrinthine course through tie chiefs of staffs in Washington and London. The fact that it did follow such a course should make it apparent that a closer' liaison was not advantageous, and that the couree of events, on fronts so widely separated aud where terrain, weather, and the immediate military position differed vastly, could not be other than it was. Now, with the fronts only 350 miles apart and with air factors bearing a closer relationship, a much tighter co-operation is essential. That has been recognised, and it has speedily been put ' into effect. One of the first results of the new arrangement is to be seen in the bombing by American and British aircraft or points directly related to the Russian advance on Berlin and other German key centres. For days now the heavy bombers have attacked vital targets in the path of the Russian advance, paralysing German transport iu the east as effectively as in the west. The disruption so achieved must undoubtedly have made it more difficult for the enemy to switch his forces to points seriously menaced by the Red army, and in that has aided the Russians to strike such devastating blows in other parts ctf the 'eastern front when the threat to one has been temporarily checked. As the fronts draw nearer, still closer co-operation will be imperative, and it may be that a single commander' will have to be appointed, but that is something for the future,, and is a point not-likely to have been missed by the consulting leaders. In the meantime, cementing the unity, Field-Marshal Alexander has conferred with Marshal Tolbukhin in Hungary, holding discussions on strategy, but the important part of the Field-Marshal's subsequent statement •on the meeting was : "Henceforth we shall not be dealing with ciphers, but with people whose hospitality we have shared and whom we know and like." Field-Marshal : Alexander also conferred with Marshal Tito, and his succinct description of the Yugoslav leader makes the latter more real than anything yet has done. It is well that the legendary atmosphere be removed from Tito as the Italian, Yugoslav, and Russian armies converge into a single front, and as. instead df being something of a "lone wolf," he becomes one of the directing commanders in the final blows to be delivered in unison. In Field-Mar-shal Alexander's movements there is' a concrete example of the workings of the new order.