PRESENT POSITION THE WESTERN FRONT

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 79, 3 October 1944, Page 2

PRESENT POSITION

THE WESTERN FRONT

VIEWS OF LONDON COMMENTATORS

(Rec. 9.55 a.m.) London, Oct. 2. Britain is still ringing with the stories of the Airborne Division at Arnhem which stirred the country more deepl> than all the victorious exploits of British arms from Bayeux to Brussels. It is regarded as one of the glorious tragic episodes which will never die in national memory. Suggestions arc being made that the men who participated should receive some special medal or clasp. Reviewing the present position, “Liberator” in the “Observer” expresses the opinion that the Germans have got over the stage where they could be rushed It appears that the period of pursuit has come to an end for the time being and that the Normandy victory has now yielded all its immediate fruits. The Germans have succeeded in forming a new crust which is very much thinner than the old one which contained a bridgehead at Caen. "Liberator” continues ; “The outcome of the final battle of Germany once it is joined cannot possibly be in doubt, but the question is when it can be joined?” He refers to the problems of supply over long distances and the remaining short period of normal campaigning weather. Whether an autumn or winter campaign in western Europe is possible is a question no one can answer with complete certainty. The Germans may thus have an outside chance of delaying the decisive blow until the spring, not that this should gain them anything worth gaining. It will be a bitter and uncomfortable winter with nothing in prospect but inevitable utter defeat in the spring. “Liberator” declares that the time has come for our political leaders to make some legitimate advances to quicken victory and a clear statement of what, after unconditional surrender, is likely to happen to Germany might be of immense value as psychological support to an armed attack, “but statesmen could and should knock Goebbels’s arguments to pieces as he desperately appeals to his people’s apprehensions.” CERTAIN RECOVERY MADE Fear, far more than force, is to-day the raw material of Germany’s remaining strength. Captain Cyril Falls in the “Illustrated London News” says the Germans have made a certain recovery partly because they have fallen back closer tdi their bases anc’. reinforcements, but to an even greater extent because the Allied forces have been so greatly stretched and are so distant from their ports. He says the situation regarding the ports is very difficult and the longer the delay in restoring communications the sterner will be the task of invading Germany. Regarding the weather he says while a normal October would not involve severe handicap to active operations the same cannot be said of the next four or five months. But nowhere in the west will conditions or ground like those in Italy last winter have to be faced, and there is no reason why the Allies should not continue the campaign through the winter, though there is a reasonable prospect that they will bring the war in Europe to an end before it is over.

Captain Falls says this is a vital moment for inter-Allied strategy. Were the opportqnities to be allowed to slip through our fingers now, the effects might be a disagreeable and costly prolongation of the war. .He considers that the risks are justified,. for the winter which lies ahead is one of Germany’s most powerful allies and we must do a’l we can to prevent it bringing effective reinforcements and support to our enemy.

L’ddel Hart in the “Daily Mail” expresses the opinion that Nijmegen may become a second Caen in the strategic picture. The British menace at an obvious dangerpoint for Germany has focussed the enemy’s attention, drawing thither proportion of his forces that are out of all proportion to the total he has available to cover the rest of his 400-mile front in the west. That should create opportunities for other Allied armies further south and ease their way once they can break the stin crust that at present faces them.