Lake Wakatip Mail Thursday, January 25, 1945. A YEAR OF DESTINY

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 4675, 25 January 1945, Page 2

Lake Wakatip Mail Thursday, January 25, 1945. A YEAR OF DESTINY

The year 1945 dawned upon the world a new year red with fire and blood and heavy with hate. The war in Europe goes on; the war in the Pacific is still far from its decisive stage,. There could be only one prospect more sombre than the continued endurance of the portion—blood and toil, tears and sweat—that Mr- Churchill promised the British people, in the long-ago summer of 1940. That is a renewal, after another truce, of the horrors of the past five years, superimposed upon those of 1914-18. It is the, belief that complete victory alone can offer a hope of ‘asting peace and the determination that, the military power of Germany and her Asiatic confederate shall be, utterly destroyed, that steel the nerves and invigorate the fighting arm of the United Nations, in spite of every obstacle and in face, of every reverse. Were they content with anything less than unconditional surrender they could have peace with the Axis very soon. Germany especially, her - defeat as certain as anything in war can be, would grasp at a formula short of that unconditional surrender which roughly expresses the Allied will to reduce her to military impotence. But the Allies dare -not let the war stop without an absolute decision. There were high hopes with some that Germany would be defeated by 1944. The disappointment, however, with the evidence of the under-estimation of German

strength, was of less concern than the appearances of differences in the Allied camp. These preceded, and were to some extent exploited by, the German counter-offen-sive in the Ardennes. In varying proportion they were the product of war strain, of manoeuvres for position in post-war Europe, and of the legacy of bitterness and anarchy that the German occupation has left in liberated countries. Fortunately to a large extent the divisions among the United Nations have been healed by the shock of the German break-through, which has now been vigorously countered. This points to the fact that unless the Allies maintain substantial agreement regarding aims and methods there must be a lack of strategic co-ordination, and a consequent risk of a struggle not prosecuted with combined energy lasting far into 1945. No less anxiously than the Russians awaited the opening of a “second front” in the west did the Anglo-American people hope for the great Russian winter offensive. That has come, and with the Allied checking of Rundsteds’s break-through, has made the general picture of events a much happier one. Much more than the early defeat of the enemy is dependent -upon the preservation of Allied unity in council and on the battlefront. Germany’s overthrow, before she can do further and perhaps irreparable damage to the fabric of European life, is the prime essential of a durable peace. The arch-enemy of world peace must after an Allied victory be disarmed. A united front will be as essential after victory has been won as before in order to circumvent any schemes of the successors of the Nazis to plot and arm underground until the time comes to launch a third world war in quest of plunder and revenge. Germany’s recent counter-stroke in Europe and the destruction caused by her V-bombs and rockets on England are further evidence of the formidable ' nature of her military power, and no further warnings should be needed by the Allies, who cannot afford disagreements now or in the future. Possibly they were too ready to assume that victory was close at hand and to consider their separate, interests accordingly. The ranks should be closed anew in this year of destiny. May the forthcoming conference among Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin revive again the spirit of the Teheran declaration.