AXIS DILEMMA

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21153, 22 July 1943, Page 3

AXIS DILEMMA

LEADERS’ TALKS

SITUATIONREVIEWED

ILLUSIONS DISCARDED

(By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright.) (11 a.m.) LONDON, July 21 The chiefs of the German and Italian High Commands and oilier military experts participated in the conference between Herr Hitler and Signor Mussolini, says the Berlin radio. Herr Hitler on Monday morning travelled by air to a north Italian town where Signor Mussolini was waiting. The conversations continued into the afternoon.

Broadcasting a long commentary from the German News Agency's diplomatic correspondent, the Berlin radio said: "During the meeting between the Axis leaders, the military situation created by the desperate attacks of the overwhelming Russian forces against the European defensive front and the British and American landings in the Mediterranean was examined. As a result of a sober, factual and illusionless examination of the situation, in which the developments in the Mediterranean area probably were the chief topic, the Fuehrer and II Duce, as the military commanders-in-chief of the Axis Powers, will have considered the measures made necessary by the situation and will have decided on I hem.

“That these are of a military nature is clear from the short statement issued, which exposes the absurdity of the enemy’s political machinations. The curt statement about the military character of the meeting can be regarded as a particularly impressive answer to the British and American attack against Italian territory. That this attempt is destined to fail is proved by the attitude of the Italian people after the terror raid against Rome. They are anything but receptive to the enemy’s whisperings. That the attempt will fail will also be apparent from the results of the decisions which the Fuehrer and II Duce probably have taken with theii awareness of their responsibility for the fate of Europe.” Italians Seeking Help

The matters of military importance which Hitler and Mussolini discussed are not hard to guess, says The Times' diplomatic correspondent. They have met at a time when the German armies have been once more balfled, when the Italian armies are visibly weakening under the Allied pressure, and when the war industries of both countries are more and more subjected to concentrated bombing. There is no doubt that the Italians have been pressing the Germans ten 1 much more substantial help than so far has been offered. It is likely that it has been represented afresh that unless such help is given quickly, the consequences may be disastrous.

The bareness of the official statement about the dictators’ latest meeting is noteworthy compared with the liambuoyant statement issued after the last meeting in April. On this occasion, not even the “cordiality’’ or “unanimity” of discussions was thought worthy of mention. The Daily Mail points out that after the dictators’ last meeting it was stated that all measures to repel the two-front war in Europe had been completed. Hitler and Mussolini also

“again expressed their determination to wage the war by -the total mobilisation of all their forces until filial victory.” No such pledge appears to have been given after Monday’s talks. The main topic of the HitlerMussol.ini talk was the feasibility of cutting the Axis losses in Sicily in favour of a more easily conducted defensive operation on the mainland south of Naples, says the New York Times’ Berne correspondent.