INVASION OF EUROPE

Greymouth Evening Star, 6 April 1943, Page 5

INVASION OF EUROPE

AXIS TRANSPORT PROBLEM MANY THRUSTS EXPECTED NEW~YORK. April 5. Transport will probably be Geri many’s greatest problem in repelling an invasion of Hitler’s European fortress,’ ” says the 'Berne correspondent of the “New York Times,” in a message surveying the possibility of a successful landing by the Allies. The very size of the fortress rules out its continuous fortification. Neutral correspondents have been allowed to see some of the defences and write admiringly of them. Not all the cement in Europe would enclose the continent in a ring of fortifications. It seems certain, therefore, that the Germans and Italians have resorted to a chain of minor works linked at intervals with important redoubts where men and material can be concentrated. In the initial phase of an Allied assault mobility may prove to be the supreme test for the defender. “The attack may come at many points, and it will be essential for the Germans to move troops rapidly to parry the thrusts. Here coal, oil, ana petrol will tell their tale. Coal production in Germany has fallen notoriously below the average, because inexperienced men have replaced miners called to the colours. But even if stocks of fuel were unlimited, transport would still be a problem due to wear and tear on tracks, highways, locomotives, and rolling stock. The German High Command has partly met the problem by establishing big camps and redoubts in Norway, the Low Countries, and Brittany, and even as far as Greece, with the object of reducing transport to a miniminn. Furthermore, Germany is preparing inner defences.” The correspondent says various points are suitable for Allied landings. ' One is the French Channel coast, between Cherbourg and the Seine Estuary. Sicily would be tempting after the clearing of Tunisia, though competent observers do not look for major operations there, or even in Italy, for political rather than military reasons. Other zones are the North Sea and the French Atlantic coasts, and Jugoslavia, where guerrillas are already a thorn in the side of the Axis. If Crete could be retaken Salonika would offer possibilities.

SABOTAGE OFFENSIVE

“A concerted sabotage offensive, aimed principally at railway lines, is now under way in occupied Europe and Germany itself, according to private reports reaching Stockholm,” says the “New York Times.” “A strategically important railway bridge across the river Oder at Frankfurt was blown up, necessitating rerouting of vital military traffic, including bulk transport to the central front, via Kuestrin. This resulted in congestion and delays. “Bombs exploded in Berlin’s Friedrichstrasse and Potsdamer railway stations last week, causing damage. Similar incidents are reported from the occupied territories. The Germans are forced to use special guards to patrol railways, particularly in France and Denmark. “It is also learned that the Gestapo has executed 40 members of the Nazi Party for conspiracy, aimed either at Goebbels or Himmler. The purge caused a stir in Berlin, in spite of the Gestapo’s efforts to hush it up.”

BALKANS DEFENCE

LONDON, April 5. The-special correspondent of the “Daily Telegraph” inside Europe says: “It is authoritatively admitted in Sofia that Hitler and King Boris are discussing plans for the defence of the Balkans against an Allied invasion. It is now expected that Bulgaria will give the Axis full military co-opera-tion. “The Bulgarian War Minister (General Mikhov) precipitately left for Sofia following an inspection of fortifications on the Aegean coast. New defences are being constructed on the Bulgarian-Turkish frontier and the Black Sea coast.”

The ‘Daily Telegraph” says that although Bulgaria has been ordered to take up arms on behalf of the Axis only King Boris and a small coterie favour such a course.

BULGARIAN ATTITUDE

(Recd. 11.30 a.m.) LONDON, April 5

Military preparations in Bulgaria are at present greater than since April, 1941, says the “Daily Express” correspondent, at Istanbul, pointing out that after the meeting of Hitler and King Boris Germany ordered the repatriation by May 15 of all Germans living in Bulgaria. Germany expects a Russian attack against the Bulgarian Black Sea coast and a British and American invasion from the south.

Germany recently withdrew from the Russian front war material which she gave Bulgaria, but she is now reequipping the Bulgarian, forces. Moreover, Germany, after the recentriots in protest against sending Bulgarian troops to the Russian front, decided that Bulgars would be required only for the defence of the Balkans. This was confirmed at the meeting of Hitler and King Boris. Bulgarians living in the Black Sea ports of Burgas and Varna have been ordered to move three miles inland, and Bulgar troops at these ports are now openly under German command. Fortifications arc being built along the whole Black Sea coast, to which guns have been moved from the Greek Metaxas Line. The “Times’s” Istanbul correspondent says everybody agrees it is unlikely that King Boris who has kept in the background for nine months and adopted a Sphinx-like attitude, should have desired to meet Hitler, so it is inferred that the meeting resulted from German initiative. In other words, Hitler summoned King Boris to hear what he had to ray. 'The “Times” correspondent concludes: Everybody in Bulgaria since last Summer has been able to read the writing on the wall and realises hove the war situation is developing, and for this reason feeling is increasing against further commitments for Germany.

FIRES IN DENMARK

(Recd. 1.15 p.m.) LONDON, April 5. Increasing evidence of underground Danish resistance is afforded by the Danish Radio’s announcement that the police are offering a reward of twenty thousand kroner for information regarding four saboteurs who damaged five factories at Hilierod last night. The announcer said the saboteurs first overpowered the guards at a flax factory, and set on fire barns and haystacks. The police within the next hour were called out to four separate fires, followed by explosions, including a rubber-tyre factory and electric works at both of which production was brought to a standstill. The police believe that the same saboteurs recently attacked Valbi machine shops, where similar methods were used.