Weather Blamed For German Retreat

Manawatu Times, Volume 68, Issue 50, 1 March 1943, Page 5

Weather Blamed For German Retreat

Received Sunday, 7 p.m. ZURICH, Feb. 27. A semi-official German spokesman. Colonel Pleu, in an article in the Voel kischer Beobachter, said the main rea-

sons for the German defeats were that winter had come too soon, catching the Germans outside winter quarters. The Russians had carried out evasive strategy at Stalingrad aud had also conserved a relatively large proportion of their fighting strength for the winter offensive. The Germans fell victims to the Russians’ long-sighted strategy of attrition. The Russians were better able to withstand the climate. The cold affected German weapons, froze oil and grease and telephone batteries, and food became uneatable. Bread had to be thawed. The catastrophe was no fault of the troops, who fulfilled their duties to the bitter end, but was duo purely to strategic causes. The Neuezucrcher Zeitung, quoting Col. Pleu, says the last statement can be regarded as a sweeping criticism of Hitler’s leadership.