STALIN AND DEFENCE COMMISSAR

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 77, 6 October 1942, Page 5

STALIN AND DEFENCE COMMISSAR

RUMOURS OFFICIALLY DENIED New York, Oct. 5 Rumours circulated in Switzerland and broadcast by Axis propagandists that M. Stalin has relinquished the Defence Commissariat are explicitly discredited in Moscow. The following message was received from the Associated Press of America’s correspondent at Moscow: “M. Stalin remains leader of the Red Army, although Marshal Shaposhnikov was praised on his 60th birthday as an eminent leader.” The erroneous report was apparently a misunderstanding of Russian broadcasts anent birthday congratulations.—P.A. A London message published yesterday stated: —Marshal Boris Shaposhnikov has been appointed Defence Commissar and Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Forces. He is also given a seat on the Central Committee of the Communist Party. The functions of Com-mander-in-Chief were previously discharged by the Defence Committee unj der M. Stalin’s chairmanship consisting [of Marshals Shaposhnikov, Voroshilov. Budenny and Timoshenko.

day Is Commander in Chief of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek’s armies, the General had a simple answer. “CAN THROW THEM OUT” “I claim we got a beating. We got run out of Burma and it is humiliating. I think we ought to go back and find out what caused it.” But in the same breath he added, “The Japanese are not supermen. They are tough and well-trained, and do not care whether they get killed or not. “When you are fighting such an outfit. you need sometahing more than a piecemeal, rag-tag, bob-tail affair. “If we get properly proportioned and properly equipped, we can throw thaoi out.” This is General Stillwell s conviction, and this is what many who know him are convinced that he can do. But he does not minimise the ground to be covered. “There is a great deal of work to do first, and there are mistakes to be repaired,” he admits. “The United States means business and we won’t be satisfied until we see American and Chinese troops in Tokio together,” he adds. His reference to Chinese troops entering the Japanese capital alongside Americans is only one reason why the Chinese love him and put their faith in him. For one thing, as commander of the Chinese fifth and sixth armies, he quickly won the respect and admira - tion of the native Chinese troops. GenChiang admires his military ability, his confidence that China will win, and his dogged pursuance of his duties in China.

The rest of China likes him for these same reasons, but doubtless at least a few respect his ability to speak more Chinese dialects than most Chinese can speak for themselves.

His knowledge of China is not limited to the present war. He has long been an admirer of the Orient, and his military knowledge of China—gained first-hand from observance of the Sino Japanese war—is no less thorough than his knowledge of Chinese art and cul ture. He first went to Pekin. China, in 1920 —he was then a Major—and began his study of that country. He visited China again in 1926 and enlarged upon his earlier observations. A term as infantry instructor at Fort Benning, Georgia, followed for a Short time, and then he again went to China, this time to serve at Tientsin with the 15th Infantry until the beginning of 1928, and then for a year as Chief of Staff of American forces in China. He was assigned as military attache at the American Embassv in Peiping in 1935. When war broke out he was sent to China by President Roosevelt on a secret mission, which later turned out to be that of military chief under Gen. Chiang Kai-shek. General Stilwell was graduated from West Point two classes behind Gen. ) Douglas MacArthur. The proximity of classes might account for the similarity l of their general military views. Both are men of the “offensive.” General Stilwell adds to his typical American practicality, dryness, and candour, a tenacity which is one of the prime requisites on the battle front. His pungent observation that “in the United States we were too dumb to see through their (the Japanese) intention and now we are paying for it.” itself inspires the belief that the Japanese themselves will be ultimately paying For “Uncle Joe' fMilwell doesn’t let many things stand in his way. The Germans will vouch for that—at least, those who remember how he ordered his men to swing baseball bats to clear the way of German autos which blocked American troops moving in to oi cupy the Rhineland during the World War.