Leave Nothing To Chance In Invasion Preparations

Northern Advocate, 30 June 1943, Page 3

Leave Nothing To Chance In Invasion Preparations

(Rec. 11 a.m.) LONDON. June 29.; Attributing the delay in launching; r cross-sea invasion to the need forj thorough preparation, the “Daily! Mail's” military writer (Captain Lid- : dell Hart) has given several warnings! which must be borne in mind in up-; predating the present situation. The; extent to which thorough preparation is essential is partly due to increased, realisation of the strength of the enemy’s defences under present condition, says Captain Hart. That has been impressed upon our executive and I soldiers by the lessons of North Africa | which render them less easily deceived by superficial appearances. To i the contrary, they know how much \ve I owed to our preponderant strategic

advantages and superiority in numbers. besides such factors as absence; in the final phase of minefields which i so often thwarted our earlier manoeuvres. They also ‘realise that they; cannot count on the enemy’s shortage; of such obstructive methods when we: invade the Continent, which lends

itself better than the desert to obstruc-. lion bv demolitions and fortifications. Captain Hart recalls at El Alamein and Tunisia that the path for an Allied offensive was largely cleared by successfully provoking the enemy into successive and costly attacks which

might have held up the Allies, while the most successful strokes were those which followed their opponents’ false moves. The same development has occurred in Russia where the most striking victories since the autumn of 1941 have been counter-offensives. What Axis Hopes To Do Captain Hart believes the enemy is pinning his faith to prospects of making our plan for unconditional surrender so hard that fulfilment will be impossible because of exhaustion. The rnemy hopes to secure modified terms or gain a fresh opportunity for turning the tables. Our best chance may lie in develop ing' new methods of tackling the defensive problem. Nevertheless, wo may be able to profit from the extent to which the enemy is stretched and once his guard is pierced the very extent of hi§ early conquests may prove to have been a false move. Id

addition, an attacker who changes over to the defensive is apt to suffer many disadvantages, especially in morale at the early stage. On the •fiber hand, given time or encouragement, he may recover his balance i'vccordingly, our first step in Europe must be sure and quick. Delay is dangerous to our prospects, but so is a

stumble. Writing in the “Daily Express,” the

military correspondent (Mr Morley Richards) says the sustained day and right Allied bombing of Mediterranean targets from Sardinia to Athens has a Jeeper purpose than hitting military objectives. Bombing is designed tc keep the enemy, guessing and the blows are aimed with varying degrees of ferocity at all areas potentially threatened with amphibious operations on the mainland and the islands.

For the enemy to try to estimate from bombing where the invasion will be made is practically impossible. The number of German troops at present in potential battle areas is not large, but most of them seem to be stationed in positions where they can be rushed to invasion points. It seems likely the Allies visualise knocking Italy out of the war with a few concentrated blows. While the German High Command may fear

Italy’s withdrawal from the war, it is essential for them that this should not happen for many months. This would explain the limited, but strong aid. at present being sent to Italy. The Allied leaders must now decide whether they can afford to wait much longer before attacking Italy. Move Headquarters Westward According to reports reaching London, Field-Marshal Keitel’s staff is moving to Western Germany, where new supreme headquarters for the Wehrmacht have been established, says

Llie “Daily Express” military correspondent. German troops also are being transferred from central and eastern Gei’many to meet invasion threats in western and southern Europe. A Vichy f.stimate that 120 Axis divisions arc ■Rationed fi’orn Norway around the

coastline to Salonika -nay be an exaggeration, but the number of defensive divisions cannot be far under the -stimate. This mean? that 1.500,000 of Germany’s frontline soldiers are /pread around Europe's approaches, with an additional 2,000.000 on the Russian front. Keitel. Chief of the Supreme Command, was previously based on the

Russian front. If reports of his transfer westward are correct it probably means the Germans have decided to abandon the prospect of a new offen--.r/e against the Russians, so as to concentrate on an Anglo-American attack scheduled in 1943.